Evernham Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing organization that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 2000 by former Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Ray Evernham, entering full-time competition as a two-car operation in 2001 and fielding additional full-time entries in alliances with Ultra Motorsports and the Valvoline corporation. The organization was renamed Gillett Evernham Motorsports in 2007 after former Montreal Canadiens and Liverpool F.C. owner George Gillett bought a controlling interest from founder Evernham, and merged with Petty Enterprises in 2009 to become Richard Petty Motorsports.
Team history
Evernham Motorsports was founded in 2000 by former crew chief Ray Evernham, who won three championships atop the pit box for Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports. Evernham was named a team manager and owner for Daimler Chrysler's return to NASCAR's top level through their Dodge brand, leading the development of the Intrepid R/T race car that debuted in 2001. The team also operated with direct factory backing and sponsorship from Dodge. The team originally operated out of the former facility of Bill Elliott Racing.
In August 2007, then Montreal Canadiens and Liverpool F.C. owner George N. Gillett Jr. purchased a majority stake in the race team. The operation was renamed Gillett Evernham Motorsports, with Ray Evernham retaining substantial ownership and the role of CEO. Evernham stated the partnership would allow him to focus on "racing operations and team performance", with the Gillett family handling the business end of the operation. GEM proceeded to hire several financial executives to assist with corporate marketing, including former chairman of LendingTree Tom Reddin to replace Evernham as CEO.
At the beginning of the 2008 season, GEM signed a technical and marketing agreement with independent driver Robby Gordon, with plans to eventually absorb Robby Gordon Motorsports into the GEM stable. Under the terms of the alleged merger, Gordon would sell his one-car-operation to GEM for $23.5 million, then receive a four-year contract worth $12 million to drive for the team. The deal fell through, with GEM suing Gordon for violating the terms of the agreement.
After the 2008 season, turmoil emerged when A. J. Allmendinger and Reed Sorenson were signed to drive for the team, while Elliott Sadler was released from his ride in the 19 car and planned to sue the team to keep his job. In the midst of a struggling economy, in January 2009 GEM merged with fellow Dodge team Petty Enterprises, which could no longer find sponsors for any of its cars, thus expanding the team to four cars. The organization was renamed Richard Petty Motorsports in the process. Ray Evernham was not involved in the merger negotiations, and both he and Richard Petty only maintained minority shares in the new team.
NASCAR Cup Series Car No. 7 history
On November 16, 2001, Ultra Motorsports announced they had entered into a joint venture with Evernham Motorsports where the team would switch to Dodge Intrepids from Ford. Casey Atwood, who had been driving Evernham's No. 19 and needed a ride once Jeremy Mayfield became the team's second driver, would take over the 7 car for the 2002 season. The venture was known as Ultra-Evernham Motorsports, with Ultra owner Jim Smith handling day-to-day operations and Evernham handling technical and competition aspects of the team. Ray Evernham described it as "doing two and a half teams." In January 2002, Sirius Satellite Radio was named as the sponsor for the 7 car. In his sophomore season, Atwood struggled severely, with a 29.4 average finish for the year and a best finish of 11th. The poor performance was attributed to a lack of competitive equipment (with the team using second-hand Evernham machines), and a lack of effort on driver Atwood's part. The partnership was dissolved after Smith decided to remove Atwood from the car with two races left in the season. Ultra Motorsports Truck Series driver Jason Leffler was named the interim driver. Jimmy Spencer would take over the car in 2003 for the once again independent Ultra Motorsports Dodge.
Car No. 7 results Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts 2002 Casey Atwood 7 Dodge DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL CAR PHO HOM 35th 2621
Car No. 9 history
Bill Elliott (2001–2003) The No. 9 debuted in the 2001 Daytona 500 with Dodge's return to NASCAR. After half a decade as a driver and owner, 1988 Winston Cup Series champion Bill Elliott joined Evernham as a driver and re-assumed the No. 9 that he drove with Melling Racing. Elliott won the pole for the Daytona 500 and finished fifth. He marked the season with his first win in seven years at Homestead–Miami Speedway and finished 15th in points. Elliott would score two wins and finish 13th in points in 2002. He scored his final career win at North Carolina in fall 2003. After a ninth-place finish in the points that season, Elliott announced that due to the pressures of a full Nextel Cup schedule, he would step down from his full-time ride and would race the team's research and development car.
Kasey Kahne (2004–2008)
Elliott was replaced by rookie driver Kasey Kahne, a successful open-wheel racer just starting to gain respect in the Busch Series, who left a development contract with Ford to sign with Evernham's Dodge team for the 2004 season. Tommy Baldwin Jr. would serve as crew chief for the No. 9 team. Kahne was arguably the least accomplished driver in a rookie class that included Busch Series winners Brian Vickers (the 2003 Champion), Scott Riggs, Scott Wimmer, and Johnny Sauter, as well as Craftsman Truck Series winner Brendan Gaughan. Kahne would have the strongest performance out of all the young drivers, earning three second-place finishes through the first eleven races and five on the season, including two close finishes with Matt Kenseth and Elliott Sadler. Kahne earned four poles and 14 Top 10 finishes to score a 13th-place finish in points, winning the Rookie of the Year honors by over 100 points. In 2005, he won the spring Richmond race, but finished 23rd in the final point standings.
Near the end of the 2005 season, Evernham initiated a crew swap between his teams, citing performance issues with both cars. As a result, Kahne received most of what was Mayfield's team from 2005. In 2006, Kahne won six races, including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May. He also made his first Chase for the Nextel Cup, finishing eighth in the standings at the end of the season. His six wins were a series high in 2006 and he also tied for the most pole awards with Kurt Busch at six. On September 18, 2007, it was announced that Budweiser would sponsor the No. 9 car beginning in 2008, after Dodge Dealers/Mopar/UAW had sponsored the team since 2001. In his first year with the Budweiser sponsorship, Kahne had two wins and finished 14th in points.
Car No. 9 results Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts 2001 Bill Elliott 9 Dodge DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH POC SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MAR TAL PHO CAR HOM ATL NHA 15th 3824 2002 DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL CAR PHO HOM 13th 4158 2003 DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX TAL MAR CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN CLT MAR ATL PHO CAR HOM 9th 4303 2004 Kasey Kahne DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN CLT MAR ATL PHO DAR HOM 13th 4274 2005 DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL DAR RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN CLT MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 23rd 3611 2006 DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 8th 6173 2007 DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON NHA DAY CHI IND POC GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 19th 3489 2008 DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON NHA DAY CHI IND POC GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 14th 4085
Car No. 10 history
Scott Riggs (2006–2007)
In 2006, Scott Riggs and his Valvoline sponsorship moved over from struggling MB2 Motorsports. In addition to sponsoring 22 races in 2006, Valvoline also maintained an ownership stake in the team through Senior Vice President James Rocco (like with MBV), called Valvoline-Evernham Motorsports (also written as Valvoline-Evernham Racing). The team nearly won on several occasions including Charlotte, Talladega, and Texas — where he crashed out in second place with two laps to go. He finished 20th in the final standings despite missing the Daytona 500. Going into 2007 with high hopes, Evernham's performance suffered; Riggs failed to qualify for six races and had five DNF's with only one Top 10 finish all season. He was released with two races remaining in favor of former Champ car driver Patrick Carpentier, who had also replaced him at Watkins Glen.
Patrick Carpentier (2007–2008)
Carpentier, who was 36 years old at the time, became the full-time driver for 2008, part of a unique rookie class stacked with open wheel veterans all trying to emulate the success found by Juan Pablo Montoya the previous year. This included IndyCar Series Champions Dario Franchitti and Sam Hornish Jr., and CART and Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve, as well as DEI development drivers Regan Smith and Aric Almirola. With Valvoline taking a backseat role in 2008 and Stanley Tools moving to the No. 19 car, GEM signed LifeLock for eight races, an identity security company making a large entrance investment into NASCAR. Charter Communications and Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper also sponsored several races. Carpentier won the pole at Loudon but otherwise struggled, as did his fellow open-wheel counterparts. He had no Top 10s, missed six races — including the Daytona 500 and at Pocono, where Terry Labonte drove in his place - and was out of the Top 35 in points when he was released after failing to qualify at Talladega. Mike Wallace drove at Charlotte, before second-year driver A. J. Allmendinger took over, after being released from Red Bull Racing in favor of Scott Speed. In his five races for GEM, Allmendinger was impressive, posting three Top 15s and often outrunning his teammates. Allmendinger was initially rewarded with a full-time ride in the No. 19 car, replacing Elliott Sadler. This was derailed when Sadler intended to sue the team and Allmendinger to keep his job, when Reed Sorenson was signed as a third driver, and when several sponsors threatened to leave the team in response to the recent moves.
Car No. 10 results Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts 2006 Scott Riggs 10 Dodge DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 20th 3619 2007 DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON NHA DAY CHI IND POC MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL TEX 37th 3125 Patrick Carpentier GLN PHO HOM 2008 DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON NHA DAY CHI IND GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL 37th 2625 Terry Labonte POC Mike Wallace CLT A. J. Allmendinger MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM
Car No. 19 history Casey Atwood (2000–2001)