Evernham Enjoying Life in Slow Lane

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dressed casually in jeans and a black, button-down oxford, Ray Evernham leaned back into his chair and twirled the large gold ring on his right ring finger - the ring he received as crew chief for Jeff Gordon's 1999 Daytona 500 victory.

"I've got two of these Daytona 500 rings, but I can't get a parking pass," Evernham joked Wednesday from the infield of the Daytona International Speedway.

A decade ago he was celebrating in victory lane. A year ago he was on the pit box guiding another young driver, Kasey Kahne, to a top-10 finish in the Daytona 500. This week, he had to borrow a parking pass from fellow ESPN television analyst Rusty Wallace.

"I thought to myself, this is full circle. ..."

And of his own careful doing.

In one of the first lengthy sit-down, ease-back interviews the former champion crew chief touched on a number of topics -- from his relationship with Gordon to his pursuit of a land speed record with drag racing star Doug Herbert to his happiness post-ownership.

Anyone that knows Evernham would be struck by his laid-back manner -- a stark contrast to the high-energy, uber-control days of leading Gordon's famous "Rainbow Warriors" team to three championships or his pursuit of another for himself as team owner from 2001-2008.

Evernham didn't rule out working with Gordon or Rick Hendrick again in the distant future, but says he has no interest in working as a Cup crew chief ever again.

"Never going to happen," Evernham said. "That would be like asking John Elway, as bad as he probably wants to play football, would he come back and quarterback? You just can't do it.

"That was a different time. The job is different now. I'm a different person. It would take me two or three years to learn it all over again and I'm too old for that."

Evernham currently owns a small minority stake in Richard Petty Motorsports –- which used to be Gillett Evernham Motorsports -- which was originally Evernham Motorsports –- the Cup team he started in 2001 to usher in Dodge's return to the sport.

He has an exclusivity agreement with the Petty team as their NASCAR consultant and minority owner.

His heart is also in another project. He's currently trying to come up with $20 million in funding to help Herbert in a quest for a land speed record –- a feat dedicated to Herbert's two sons who were killed in a car accident a year ago.

"The physics of making a car go fast are the same," Evernham said. "It's aerodynamics, horsepower, traction, power to weight. The engineering –- it's good. I've been involved in some projects lately that have got my engineering brain working again and it's good. It's refreshing.


"But I really want to take a little bit at a time and see exactly what I want to do before I commit 100 percent to anything. Right now I'm committed to ESPN, and I'm committed to helping Doug (Herbert) get that done."

Evernham was similarly candid and revealing on other topics, including:

Relinquishing majority ownership of his team:
"There's no doubt . ... I gave everything I had. There was nothing left. If you really are a championship-caliber athlete you have to have that killer desire, that fire. When you see you don't have that, then the best thing you can do is walk away, otherwise you're just making excuses as to why you're not winning."

On his relationship with former boss Rick Hendrick and with Gordon:
"I don't know where that will go, but Rick and I have stayed close and Jeff and I have stayed close."

On Gordon:
"I'd really like to see Jeff end his career on a high note because I will tell you, it really sucks for him when people start to question if he has the desire, does he have this, does he have that. He is this close (holding his fingers together).

"Jeff Gordon will definitely win races. If it were the old points system I'd guarantee you he'd win another championship. But with the Chase it's just too hard to predict."

On why he sold his team:
"I can't say something turned me off to it.

"The sport changed. You either change with it or do something else. I love racing and I was very fortunate to do what I did as an owner, but quite honestly the handwriting was on the wall. I was not going to lead that thing to a championship."

On current state of mind:
"After a while you have to decide how competitive you want to be. So I'd rather kick back, design cars, help people, not have to be fighting all the time.

"I feel like I can contribute now without being competitive."