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Ray Evernham | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Evernham at theIndianapolis Motor Speedway in 2016 | |
| Born | Raymond Donald Evernham Jr. (1957-08-26)August 26, 1957 (age 67) Hazlet, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupation | Consultant |
| Known for |
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| Spouse | Erin Crocker |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | Ray Evernham Enterprises |
Raymond Donald Evernham Jr. (born August 26, 1957) is an American consultant forHendrick Companies, formerly anauto racing crew chief forBill Davis Racing andHendrick Motorsports, owner of his own teamEvernham Motorsports from 2001 to 2010, and analyst forESPN'sNASCAR coverage. A three timeWinston Cup Series Champion with driverJeff Gordon, in 1999, Evernham won theNASCAR Winston Cup Illustrated "Person of the Year". Evernham was inducted to theNASCAR Hall of Fame, Class of 2018.
Evernham is the co-founder of the racing seriesSuperstar Racing Experience (SRX).
Evernham was amodified racer. When he was 26 years old, he was hired by theInternational Race of Champions (IROC) as a chassis specialist. Drivers were impressed that he could translate what they were saying about the car's handling into technological adjustments.[1]
He crashed atFlemington Speedway in the middle of the 1991 season.[1] He damaged his brain stem, which leftdepth perception impairment.[1] He said, "When you wreck that bad, you don't remember anything about it."[1] As a driver, he added, "I couldn't meet my own expectations, and that frustrated the hell out of me." His accident prompted officials to put foam blocks in the corners to lessen impacts.[1]
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Evernham started working for NASCAR driverAlan Kulwicki at the end of 1991 after being the crew chief for Australian Touring car legendDick Johnson in his team in 1989 and 1990. Their personalities clashed, and Evernham stayed with Kulwicki for six weeks before quitting atDaytona.[1] As he was walking out of the garage area and NASCAR,Ford engineers Lee Morse and Preston Miller stopped him.[1] They had worked directly with the Ford teams, including Kulwicki's, and they were impressed with Evernham.[1] They suggested that Ford might find Evernham another assignment outside of NASCAR's top division (Winston Cup).Jeff Gordon had just become a Ford driver and he had mentioned that he would like to work with Evernham again. The two had worked briefly together in 1990, when Evernham had worked on some chassis setups for Gordon'sPontiac team.[1] Evernham thought back to that brief time with Gordon, remembering, "From the first day we ever worked together, boom! We hit it off. We had fun, we did good, he was what I wanted, and I was what he wanted."[1] Gordon's owner,Bill Davis Racing, did not want to hire Evernham for their NASCARBusch Series team. "Bill Davis didn't want me," Evernham later recalled. "But Ford paid my salary to go and work for Bill Davis, because Jeff wanted me there so bad."[1]
Evernham remained the crew chief for Gordon after he moved up into theWinston Cup Series forHendrick Motorsports from thefinal race of the1992 season to 1999. Gordon and Evernham won 47 Cup races, 3 Cup championships (1995, 1997, and 1998) and were the dominant team in NASCAR Cup competition at the time.
For his work as a crew chief, Evernham was voted into theNASCAR Hall of Fame's Class of 2018.[2]
As the head of the "Rainbow Warriors" pit crew (referring to the rainbow paint schemes used on the car) Evernham is considered one of the innovators in improving the duration and efficiency ofpit stops, the period where a driver receives new tires, fuel, repairs, and adjustments to the handling of the car. Instead of using the team's mechanics as the pit crew, Evernham created a group of specialists (often former athletes) who would train to perfect their assigned task (tire changing, tire carrying, jacking up the car, etc...). Much like professional sports teams Evernham incorporated choreography, put his crew members through strength and agility training, and analyzed pit stops on film between races to point out spots where his crew excelled or could improve. These methods led to the car spending less time in the pits, gaining spots on the race track. Evernham is credited with changing the expected duration of a 4-tire pit stop from over 20 seconds to less than 15.[3]
Evernham leftHendrick Motorsports andGordon/Evernham Motorsports in 1999 to form his own team,Evernham Motorsports. The team ran debuted in theWinston Cup Series in 2000 out ofBill Elliott's race shop in a limited schedule withCasey Atwood. Evernham was also tabbed byDaimlerChrysler to bringDodge back into prominence in NASCAR's elite racing series, leading the development of theIntrepid R/T race car that debuted in 2001. The team operated with direct factory backing and sponsorship from the nearly 3,000 Dodge Dealers, theMopar performance brand, and theUAW.[4][5] Evernham fielded cars in theSprint Cup Series,Nationwide Series, andCraftsman Truck Series, as well as in theARCA,USAC andDodge Weekly Racing Series. Drivers for the team included Elliott, Atwood,Jeremy Mayfield,Kasey Kahne,Elliott Sadler,Erin Crocker,Patrick Carpentier, andChase Miller. Bill Elliott gave the team its first win in 2001 atHomestead Miami Speedway.
On August 6, 2007, it was announced thatGeorge N. Gillett Jr. had purchased a majority share in the team, and that the name had been changed to Gillett Evernham Motorsports.[6] On January 9, 2009, GEM then completed a merger withPetty Enterprises and brought the team's famous No. 43 car into the fold, changing the name once again to Richard Petty Motorsports.[7] Late in the 2009 season, RPM announced that it was to merge withYates Racing, leaving Dodge to runFordFusions.[8] In late 2010, the team was bought out byRichard Petty and several investment groups,[9] and Evernham sold his remaining share in the operation.
In May 2011 Evernham sued Gillett Jr., alleging that Gillett did not fulfill his responsibilities as co-owner, Gillett's management problems led to the demise of the team and that in the process, he lost $19 million. In 2012 the suit was settled under undisclosed terms.
Evernham has dipped into television several times as an analyst. He has worked three separate stints forESPN/ABC: in 2000, 2008–2010, and 2012–2013. He has worked both race coverage and studio coverage at various points.
Evernham is host of the showAmeriCARna onVelocity since 2013.
Evernham works onNBCSN since 2015 as a color analyst and is paired up withRalph Sheheen on broadcasts of the Whelen Modified Tour and Whelen Southern Modified Tour.
In July 2020, Evernham and former NASCAR driverTony Stewart formed the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), a stock car series that began in summer 2021.[10]
During the 2006 season, former Evernham driverJeremy Mayfield was fired from the No. 19 car for 'lack of performance,' as stated by the Evernham team. Court documents reveal that Mayfield blames Evernham's personal life, included a claim that a "close personal relationship" had developed between the then-married Evernham and development driverErin Crocker, and "sub-par" equipment as the reasons he had not won a race in 2006.[11] Evernham admitted that he had an ongoing relationship with Crocker. Furthermore, he said about Crocker, "The proper thing to do and something her and I would like to do is move her to another race team."[12] Evernham and Crocker eventually were married at a private ceremony in Las Vegas on August 26, 2009.[13]
Evernham is also known for a 1995 penalty which was then the largest fine inNASCAR history. The $60,000 fine ($123,800 today) was imposed for using unapprovedsuspension parts on Jeff Gordon's car in a May 1995 race.