Evernham’s Chief Responsibility Is Trying Different Adventures

After seven years of directing Jeff Gordon’s racing career with a single-mindedness that has brought three Winston Cup championships in the last four years, and more than $26 million in winnings, Ray Evernham is branching out.

Instead of continuing to devote 80-hour weeks strictly to preparing Gordon’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to race in NASCAR’s premier series, the man given much of the credit for his driver’s success is becoming a partner in a driving school and co-owner of a car in the Busch series.

“I don’t want to be doing this [working on a Winston Cup car] forever,” Evernham, Gordon’s crew chief, said during a break in practice for Sunday’s Daytona 500. “At some point, you have to think about what’s ahead for you in life. I think maybe now is the time.

“This sport is changing so quickly. It’s becoming more of an exercise in engineering. I want to look at some new ventures, but I want to stay close to racing, close to Jeff Gordon and [car owner] Rick Hendrick. I’ll give up some of my duties with the crew because I have confidence in the men I have, so I don’t see any slackening of the effort behind Jeff.”

Evernham will be part of a driving school at the soon-to-open Irwindale Raceway in partnership with Frank Hawley, a former drag racing champion and drag racing school owner.

He will also be co-owner of a Busch car with Brooke Gordon, Jeff’s wife. It will be driven in five races this year by Gordon and in five others by Ricky Hendrick, 18-year-old son of Rick Hendrick.

“Obviously, I won’t be spending a lot of time in Irwindale, but I’ll still be doing more than just lending my name to the school,” Evernham said. “I have helped set up the curriculum and I plan to send a lot of people to the school, including Ricky Hendrick and others working on our Busch team. I think it’s important for mechanics and crewmen to know what it feels like to be a driver, to sit in the seat.”

The idea for the partnership stems from 1996, when Evernham went through Hawley’s drag racing school in Gainesville, Fla. The school has since moved to Pomona.

“I was very impressed with Frank’s philosophy as it pertained to racing,” Evernham said. “We kept in touch, talking now and then, so when he called and asked me to join him, I knew it would be a class operation. I would not have considered lending my name to it if I didn’t have confidence in it.

“I look on it as more than a place to develop race car drivers, I look on it as a place to develop mechanics, fabricators, team managers, any job related to racing. There is a real shortage of capable crewmen in racing. This should be a good place to have new ones develop.”

Evernham will be at the ceremonial opening of the Evernham/Hawley Race Training Center on April 29, the Thursday before the California 500 at California Speedway in Fontana. He also expects to be on hand for the first class on May 3.

“We plan to do a lot more than just teach the best line to take around the track,” he said. “There are specific ingredients that make winning drivers, crew chiefs and mechanics, and Frank and I believe that these winning ways can be taught to anyone willing to listen.

“There is no farm system in racing, the way there is in other sports, like baseball, so we are looking at a way to bring new talent into stock-car racing. Irwindale is an ideal site because probably 95% of all oval-track racing is conducted on tracks that are a half-mile or less.”

The Irwindale track, which will open March 27, will have half- and one-third mile ovals, both paved.

Fielding a Busch car, said Evernham, is another part of his desire to develop new talent that will take NASCAR to an even higher plateau.

“Jeff and I got our start, in a way, in the Busch series and this offers us a nice opportunity to help others,” he said. “It gives Brooke a chance to get more involved in the sport too.”

But why is Gordon dropping down to drive in a lesser series?

“Without Jeff, we wouldn’t have the big sponsorship money,” Evernham said with a sly grin.

Gordon will drive the Gordon-Evernham Motorsports Chevrolet--it also will carry No. 24--March 6 at Las Vegas Speedway, March 27 at Texas Motor Speedway, May 29 and Oct. 9 at Charlotte and Aug. 21 at Michigan Speedway.

In the Texas race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be defending champion, which many NASCAR observers feel may be the beginning of a long rivalry.

“It will be interesting to see how different it feels as a car owner, compared to a crew chief,” Evernham said.

Realistically, he is much more than a crew chief today. Responsibilities, which a few years ago primarily encompassed being the No. 1 mechanic, have grown to the point where he also is coach, teacher, schedule maker, philosopher and team spokesman, as well as the one who makes decisions on the mechanical side.

“Ray Evernham is the most focused crew chief I have ever met in my life,” said Don Hawk, Dale Earnhardt’s business manager. “He would make a very successful director of a major sporting enterprise. He works people hard, but certainly no one works harder than Ray himself.

“He and Jeff have raised the bar. It’s like they are pole vaulting, and the rest of us are high jumping. It just means we’re going to have to work harder, harder and harder.”

Evernham’s demanding routine is legendary in Winston Cup garages. Each of his crewmen files a 15-page report after each race, crew meetings are held at team headquarters in Harrisburg, N.C., at 7:25 a.m. Mondays after a race weekend, and there is a race-day morning checklist of 32 items that crew members must check off before Gordon climbs in to drive.

“Our sport is like no other,” Evernham said. “In the NFL, if an equipment guy puts the wrong cleats on a guy’s shoes, he can change them real fast. Not in racing. There’s virtually no room for error. The best thing I can do is get the right people in the right job, then stand back and let them go. If they tell me the car is ready, I know it’s ready.”

Evernham and Gordon did not become a regular team until 1991, when Gordon was named the Busch series’ rookie of the year while driving a Ford for Bill Davis. The next year, when Gordon was approached by Hendrick to switch to Chevrolet, he insisted that Evernham be part of the package.

“Ray and I had worked together so well that we had decided, even before we talked with Hendrick, that we wanted to do whatever we did together,” Gordon said. “What’s happened is just mind-boggling to me. At times, Brookie and I sit down and try to understand it all. We’d never have reached the position we’re in now if Ray hadn’t been part of it.

“He not only does all of his work with the crew and the car, but also talks to me on the radio during the races and is always reassuring me that everything is going to work out. And it usually does.”

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Ray Evernham at a Glance

Has been Jeff Gordon’s crew chief since 1991, when he started his career in the Busch Series Grand National Division. Moved to Hendrick Motorsports in 1992 with Gordon.

Has helped Gordon and the “Rainbow Warriors” pit crew to 169 victories and three Winston Cup championships in four years.

Former Winston Cup crew chief of the year has been involved in motorsports for more than 20 years. Built and drove Modified Division cars from 1979 to 1983 and again in 1991.

Daytona 500

Qualifying:

9:30 a.m.

Thursday

Race:

9:15 a.m.

Sunday

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