Ray Evernham Moves On As Old Team Disappears

As announcements came down the last two weeks detailing the future of driver Kasey Kahne and revealing the direction of Richard Petty Motorsports, it felt like a long good-bye was at last complete -- the days when Richard Petty Motorsports was Evernham Motorsports done and gone.

But the NASCAR team's original namesake, Ray Evernham, told FanHouse.com Wednesday he's not really sentimental about the complete metamorphosis of the one-time championship contending operation he built from scratch.

"Obviously there's a certain sentimental value looking at what we had all hoped it would become and knowing that it didn't,'' Evernham said. "The reality is the (George) Gillett family now owns the majority interest and has had control for years. It's no different than if you sell your house or your car.''

"It's not the path I would have taken, but they own the controlling interests and the path they take is theirs," he said.

"Eventually the Ray Evernham DNA will be completely removed."

The only substantial trace left beginning in 2011 will be the car number 9.

Gone will be the drivers Evernham hired and guided. Kahne, who won the 2004 Rookie of the Year title and whose six-win 2006 campaign in the No. 9 established Evernham's team as a legitimate title contender, will move to Red Bull Racing in 2011 and then replace Mark Martin at Hendrick Motorsports the following year. Evernham's other hire, Elliott Sadler, still doesn't know where he'll be next season.

Gone is Dodge, the car manufacturer that partnered with Evernham in 1999 to bring the make back into NASCAR's marquee Sprint Cup Series in 2001 after a 23-year absence. The challenge of making it on his own was so compelling and the partnership with Dodge so alluring that Evernham walked away from the Hendrick Motorsports operation, where he won three Cup championships as Jeff Gordon's crew chief. The team switched to Ford power this year.

Long gone is the name, Evernham Motorsports. Its formal lineage included: Gillett Evernham Motorsports before merging with Petty Enterprises and then Yates Racing to become Richard Petty Motorsports last year.

Long, long gone is the team's legitimate shot at title contention. And that, Evernham says, is probably what hurts to watch more than anything. It's had as many mergers (two) as wins in the last two years and likely won't have any of its four drivers qualify for this season's Chase for the Championship.

"I would like to have accomplished more,'' said Evernham, who gave up day-to-day control of the team in 2008.

"I look back at some of the the mistakes I made, like taking on too much too soon. I got so emotionally and physically caught up and just couldn't control it all.

"I paid attention to the business side and we did really well with that, but it hurt the performance on the race track. And the competition side is what I'm good at.

"I look back and feel it was a great experience. I have some fond memories, but I have to admit to many lessons learned.''

Evernham still owns a piece of the team and has an exclusive consulting agreement with the organization in terms of Sprint Cup Series -- both deals he is currently negotiating an end to.

He said even as RPM has made headlines in recent weeks, it hasn't been something he's followed closely.

"I have a huge interest in Kasey and Elliott and watching them, but I probably pay more attention to what goes on at Hendrick from a sentimental side,'' Evernham said. "Think about it, my drivers are gone, the (RPM) team's switched from Dodge to Ford, they've sold the engine shop. ...it's all cycled out.''

Evernham said he did not get involved with any negotiations between Kahne and his former boss Rick Hendrick and told them both it would have been a conflict of interest. But he is glad for both. And he doesn't rule out joining Kahne at Hendrick some day soon.

"I've made no secret that if I was able to unwind my contract (with RPM), I would love to work with Rick Hendrick,'' Evernham said.

"I've been honest about not coming back as a crew crew chief but doing different projects -- consulting, that kind of thing. Right now there's no one in the Cup Series I'd work for but Rick Hendrick. ... but that's not to say, when I'm eventually freed up I wouldn't consider other options.''

Until that time, the great championship crew chief and team owner is spending his time in the broadcast booth as an analyst for ESPN and fielding a sprint car for his wife, driver Erin Crocker.

A week before"sprint car racing's "Super Bowl," the Knoxville Nationals he fired the team's crew chief and rolled up his own sleeves to go it on his own. And the rookie sprint car crew chief qualified for the A-Main feature.

"That made made me feel good,'' Evernham said. "That even on a small basis my values are good, it was a great feeling knowing that confidence you get from working hard and believing in yourself.

"We delivered.''