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Dale Earnhardt Jr featured former NASCAR driver Casey Atwood in the latest episode of his Dale Jr Download podcast.
Casey Lee Atwood was born on August 25, 1980 in Tennessee, USA. He was born into a family that was fond of racing which provoked him to be interested in motorsports from a very young age.
When he was 10, he started racing in go-karts and moved up to Late Model Stock racing five years later. Atwood also dropped out of high school in 1999 to pursue racing as his career.
In 1998, Casey Atwood debuted in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (then called the Busch Series) with Lockamy Racing and finished the race in 21st place. In his next race, however, he made history by becoming the youngest pole-sitter in the history of the Xfinity Series at just 17 years old.
It was also his home race, held at the Nashville Speedway. He managed to finish in second place, quite an achievement for a teenager's second Xfinity race. The youngster's win at Milwaukee Mile in 1999 also made him the youngest Xfinity winner at the time.
Atwood's best finish in the series was in 2000 at eighth place in the championship. He gathered two wins and six pole positions in his Xfinity Series career. He also raced in the Cup Series (then called the Winston Series) in 2001 and 2002, finishing the seasons in 26th and 35th place, respectively.
Casey Atwood reminisces Bobby Hamilton's help during his early NASCAR career
Getting early into NASCAR, Casey Atwood was assisted by the late Bobby Hamilton, who was also a fellow driver and had his team in the sport.
Atwood was taken up by Bobby Hamilton Racing for the Craftsman Truck Series race in 2005 as well. Speaking to Dale Earnhardt Jr, he opened up about his relationship with Hamilton. Reminiscing his early days, Atwood confessed that he felt like he would never get a chance to race out of Nashville.
He said:
"I don't know that I was really like you said I don't think I was thinking about it a whole lot back then. I think the car was painted like that because of Bobby and he was helping us.
"I never really thought anything else was going, I thought that was it. We didn't have the money to go anywhere else so I thought I'd just be racing Nashville."
Casey Atwood retired after the 2009 Xfinity season. Although he never won the championship, he remains one of the most impressive drivers in his relatively short career span.
