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Former crew chief Ray Evernham has found his stride as a Winston Cup team owner.
Evernham refuses to accept the credit that he's the reason a driver perceived as washed up and a young crew chief are turning a second-year team into a power.
Driver Bill Elliott hasn't finished in the top 10 in points since 1997, but is eighth now as the Winston Cup circuit heads to Michigan for Sunday's Pepsi 400.
"What makes me smile is that we've been coming and everybody writes us off,'' Evernham said. "Now, we win a couple of races, sit on some poles and we're just great. This business is too fickle to worry about that stuff.''
Evernham, 44, tries to distance himself from the glory days, when he and Jeff Gordon ruled the sport with three championships and 47 victories at Hendrick Motorsports.
"It's a different day, a different time, a different world, and I have to worry about what we're building, not what I once was part of,'' Evernham said as he sat in a director's chair outside his big red hauler. "What we're looking at is Bill Elliott, Mike Ford and Dodge.''
Elliott was winless for six seasons before Evernham hired him, Ford had never called the shots on raceday, and Dodge had been missing from NASCAR's elite division for 16 years. It hardly seemed a success story in the making.
But Evernham never wavered, firm in his belief that the 1988 series champion would perform well given the right situation. Elliott had been stuck on 40 career victories since starting his own team in 1995.
The 46-year-old Elliott didn't disappoint Evernham, winning in the team's first season and then back to back last month. He has two poles and four front-row starts in the last four races.
Evernham emphasizes that "Mike Ford is the guy who built this team. Some days I don't even ask them what springs are on the cars.
"But I feel bad for Mike because everybody's saying Ray Evernham this and Ray Evernham that. Ray Evernham's a car owner, not a player anymore.''
Ford, 32-year-old a former mechanic for Dale Jarrett's team, says Evernham's concept makes his job considerably easier.
"When we do well, everybody shares in the credit,'' Ford said. "When we don't do well, the blame falls on everybody.''
Evernham defines his role as providing an environment in which Elliott's team and those of Jeremy Mayfield and Casey Atwood can flourish. The other teams have not developed as quickly, but Evernham is hopeful the chemistry of Elliott's unit can be duplicated.
All three teams are well-financed, with Dodge itself sponsoring Elliott and Mayfield. Evernham laughs when asked if he has been given a blank check to go out and win.
"I've not lacked for anything I wanted,'' he said. "But if I told them I wanted Michael Schumacher, I think I'd have a little trouble getting that.''
Elliott's victory two weeks ago in the Brickyard 400 left Evernham on the verge of tears. Twice, he turned away from the camera while trying to regain his composure.
He admits being overcome by the enormity of the victory in NASCAR's second-biggest race. In the emotion or the moment, he forgot to thank all his sponsors, a sin no big-time car owner wants to commit.
"In the flash of a car going across a line of bricks, that was a major accomplishment in my life, but it was kind of embarrassing to me, honestly,'' Evernham said. "That day, heaven forbid, if I dropped dead right after the checkered flag it wouldn't have mattered. I've got way more than my share.''
As a short track driver in the 1980s, Evernham won some championships, but had to quit after suffering a serious brain injury in 1991. He still misses driving but is realistic about his abilities.
"I didn't have that much talent to begin with, so when I lost it, it was over for me,'' he said. "The years of working with Jeff Gordon put me in my place. There's no way you could ever race with somebody like that.
"That's like saying just because you play golf you can beat Tiger Woods.''
Evernham doesn't even think about championships. He, Ford and Elliott insist the idea is to win races and let the points work themselves out.
"You can't just say I'm going to win a championship,'' Evernham said. "That's like trying to put a roof on the house before the foundation is built.''
Evernham refuses to accept the credit that he's the reason a driver perceived as washed up and a young crew chief are turning a second-year team into a power.
Driver Bill Elliott hasn't finished in the top 10 in points since 1997, but is eighth now as the Winston Cup circuit heads to Michigan for Sunday's Pepsi 400.
"What makes me smile is that we've been coming and everybody writes us off,'' Evernham said. "Now, we win a couple of races, sit on some poles and we're just great. This business is too fickle to worry about that stuff.''
Evernham, 44, tries to distance himself from the glory days, when he and Jeff Gordon ruled the sport with three championships and 47 victories at Hendrick Motorsports.
"It's a different day, a different time, a different world, and I have to worry about what we're building, not what I once was part of,'' Evernham said as he sat in a director's chair outside his big red hauler. "What we're looking at is Bill Elliott, Mike Ford and Dodge.''
Elliott was winless for six seasons before Evernham hired him, Ford had never called the shots on raceday, and Dodge had been missing from NASCAR's elite division for 16 years. It hardly seemed a success story in the making.
But Evernham never wavered, firm in his belief that the 1988 series champion would perform well given the right situation. Elliott had been stuck on 40 career victories since starting his own team in 1995.
The 46-year-old Elliott didn't disappoint Evernham, winning in the team's first season and then back to back last month. He has two poles and four front-row starts in the last four races.
Evernham emphasizes that "Mike Ford is the guy who built this team. Some days I don't even ask them what springs are on the cars.
"But I feel bad for Mike because everybody's saying Ray Evernham this and Ray Evernham that. Ray Evernham's a car owner, not a player anymore.''
Ford, 32-year-old a former mechanic for Dale Jarrett's team, says Evernham's concept makes his job considerably easier.
"When we do well, everybody shares in the credit,'' Ford said. "When we don't do well, the blame falls on everybody.''
Evernham defines his role as providing an environment in which Elliott's team and those of Jeremy Mayfield and Casey Atwood can flourish. The other teams have not developed as quickly, but Evernham is hopeful the chemistry of Elliott's unit can be duplicated.
All three teams are well-financed, with Dodge itself sponsoring Elliott and Mayfield. Evernham laughs when asked if he has been given a blank check to go out and win.
"I've not lacked for anything I wanted,'' he said. "But if I told them I wanted Michael Schumacher, I think I'd have a little trouble getting that.''
Elliott's victory two weeks ago in the Brickyard 400 left Evernham on the verge of tears. Twice, he turned away from the camera while trying to regain his composure.
He admits being overcome by the enormity of the victory in NASCAR's second-biggest race. In the emotion or the moment, he forgot to thank all his sponsors, a sin no big-time car owner wants to commit.
"In the flash of a car going across a line of bricks, that was a major accomplishment in my life, but it was kind of embarrassing to me, honestly,'' Evernham said. "That day, heaven forbid, if I dropped dead right after the checkered flag it wouldn't have mattered. I've got way more than my share.''
As a short track driver in the 1980s, Evernham won some championships, but had to quit after suffering a serious brain injury in 1991. He still misses driving but is realistic about his abilities.
"I didn't have that much talent to begin with, so when I lost it, it was over for me,'' he said. "The years of working with Jeff Gordon put me in my place. There's no way you could ever race with somebody like that.
"That's like saying just because you play golf you can beat Tiger Woods.''
Evernham doesn't even think about championships. He, Ford and Elliott insist the idea is to win races and let the points work themselves out.
"You can't just say I'm going to win a championship,'' Evernham said. "That's like trying to put a roof on the house before the foundation is built.''