Phoenix Reports
Tire Problems Ruin Atwood’s Run In The
Phoenix Sun
Casey Atwood led 71 laps and rode in the
top 3 for nearly 200 laps. Tires were the talk of the day due to eight cars
having flat right fronts. Atwood was one of them. While leading the race, he got
a flat right front, putting him 1 lap down. Atwood fought back, regained a lap
and brought the car to a 14th place finish. Clearly a very disappointing day for
Casey Atwood who appeared to be on track for possibly his first Winston Cup win.
The 21 year old rookie grabbed his first
career Bud pole award Friday when he qualified his Intrepid with a speed of
131.296 mph. He became the fourth Raybestos rookie contender to grab a pole this
season.
Atwood’s crew did all they could do to try
to keep him up front. The first pitstop was a 14 second stop, getting the No. 19
out in first, retaining the lead.
There was in fact nothing his crew could
do when he ran over debris slicing the right front tire on lap 185. “I just
hit something. I felt it going down, and when I got to turn 4, it just
popped."
Burton wins tire-blown race
Jeff Burton can thank the heat for this
victory. Goodyear’s tires which have been under scrutiny all year long were a
huge factor in Sunday’s race at Phoenix.
While leading, Rusty Wallace lost a right
front tire after running over debris lost from a previous accident which
happened due to a flat. Laps later, Casey Atwood who regained the lead when
Wallace was forced to pit, also ran over debris.
Wallace, Atwood, and Burton took turns
swapping positions throughout the first 185 laps of the race. With Wallace and
Atwood out of the picture, Burton had clear sailing for his second victory at
Phoenix. With the win, Burton becomes only the second driver to have two
victories on the 1 mile track.
There were eight blown right front tires
in all by days end. Three belonged to the Wallace brothers, Kenny and Rusty. A
Goodyear technician stated "there were a number of factors", in the
tire controversy. The heat, air pressure, camber, and car setup, all played into
the tires giving way. So did running over debris.
Fighting the heat and troubles on the
track, Burton grabbed his second straight win at Phoenix.