Former Evernham Crew Chiefs Labbe and Baldwin now crew chiefs for Yates: Look for some organizational changes at Robert Yates Racing. Slugger Labbe will take over as crew chief of the #88, which is driven by Dale Jarrett, and Tommy Baldwin will lead the #38 crew and Elliott Sadler. Yates ended rumors that he will start a third team; he says he first wants to make the 88 and 38 teams stronger. But there still are plans for additional buildings on Yates' property in Mooresville, N.C. (Sporting News)

Nov. 16, 2005:

Evernham team swap, Baldwin to start own team: As the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup season winds down, planning for 2006 is already well underway at Evernham Motorsports. For President and CEO Ray Evernham, it is anything but business as usual. Evernham is developing a new architecture for team success, one designed to foster better collective thinking, decision making and intellectual innovation. In 2006, Evernham will do away with the crew chief position on all of his race teams, instead installing a leadership team similar to many corporate structures. Each of the Evernham Motorsports Nextel Cup teams will have a Team Director, a Car Director and an Engineer. Evernham designed the new team structure with an eye toward the future and the continued evolution of the sport.
#19: For 2006, the leadership and team members of Evernham Motorsports will shift their alignment to better share the knowledge and thought-processes throughout the organization. The team that comprises the #91 Evernham Dodge Charger today will move to the #19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger, driven by Jeremy Mayfield. It will be led by Chris Andrews as Team Director. Kirk Almquist will be the Car Director and Tim Malinovsky will be the Engineer.
#9: The #19 team will shift to the #9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger, which Kasey Kahne will continue to drive. Kenny Francis will be the Team Director for the #9 team, Mike Shiplett will be the Car Director and Keith Rodden will be the Engineer.
#10: The #9 team will support the new No. 10 Valvoline/Stanley Tools Dodge Charger and driver Scott Riggs. Rodney Childers is the acting Team Director, and the leadership team will be announced at a later date.
The new team structure will be in effect for the final race of the 2005 season at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 20, 2005. Tommy Baldwin, Team Director of the #9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger, will serve as a team consultant at Miami before moving on to pursue his dreams of running his own team. "Tommy will be leaving Evernham Motorsports to hopefully start his own operation," added Evernham. "He's very interested in being a team owner, and I want to help him get started just like Rick Hendrick helped me get started. I've known Tommy since he was 10 or 11 years old, and wish him the very best in the future."
"I appreciate the opportunity to work with Ray for several years," said Baldwin. "I've learned an awful lot from him. I also appreciate him letting me move on and helping me accomplish what I want to accomplish in the future. I came to Ray some time ago and told him this is what I've wanted to do. He didn't have any problems with that. He was in the same position with Rick (Hendrick) when he wanted to move on. Ray has helped me through all this and helped my decision making. I'm thankful for his friendship. Kasey and I have talked about this," he added. "He's going to win plenty of races with me or without me. He just has a God-given talent. I'm not worried about that. I'm glad I've become really good friends with him, and hopefully we can carry that into the future." The remaining positions within the new team structure at Evernham Motorsports are expected to be named in the next few weeks. (Clear!Blue/Evernham Motorsports PR)

Nov. 15, 2005:

Evernham cars in new 2006 schemes: When the green flag falls at the 2006 Daytona 500 next February, the Dodge Chargers of Jeremy Mayfield and Kasey Kahne will be sporting bold new paint schemes reflective of the bold design of the popular Dodge Charger production vehicle. The new 2006 Dodge Dealers paint scheme provides Kasey Kahne and Jeremy Mayfield distinctive yet familiar team identities. The new scheme maintains the Dodge trademark red color and provides greater on-track visibility for Dodge Dealers. "For the first five years of competition in Dodge's modern era of NASCAR competition, our two Dodges have carried similar paint schemes," said Linda Mahoney, motorsports marketing manager for Dodge. "Now, we want to give each driver a unique look and identity on the track."The No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger of Jeremy Mayfield will still feature the bright red hood with the signature Dodge Ram's head and branding for the Dodge Dealers. But, the Dodge Charger will carry black doors and fenders with red numbers on the side and white numbers on the roof. Mayfield drove a black car in several races in 2005, and made a special request for a cool black Dodge Charger for 2006. Kasey Kahne's No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger also will have a new look for 2006. His Charger will carry the same bright red hood and Dodge Ram logo as the No. 19, but will have white doors and fenders. The numbers on the side of the car will be black and the top of the car will be white. (Evernham Motorsports)

Nov. 11, 2005:

Kahne new Crew Chief? #9-Kasey Kahne could have a new crew chief next season, with Chris Andrews taking over for Tommy Baldwin, according to team sources. Where Baldwin might wind up is unclear. At the moment Andrews said he expects to be working with Scott Riggs, the newest addition to Ray Evernham's lineup. (Salem Journal)

Oct. 31, 2005:

Update on Labbe and Baldwin to stay with Evernham? Slugger Labbe and Evernham Motorsports parted ways after Labbe asked to be reassigned from his job as crew chief for Jeremy Mayfield at the end of the season. As of Sunday, Labbe had three crew chief job offers and expected to make a decision this week. There were rumors Tommy Baldwin, crew chief for Mayfield's teammate Kasey Kahne, wanted out, too. Baldwin said he's not going anywhere. (Sporting News)

Oct. 15, 2005:

Evernham picks up new sponsor: Car owner Ray Evernham has sponsorship for his third car all but locked up, signing Stanley Tools to a 10-race deal for next season. What's interesting about the deal is that for a secondary sponsor, Stanley landed some of the biggest races on the schedule. The toolmaker will be featured at Daytona in July, the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, and three of t

Aug 26, 2005

Evernham to have announcement: It is widely expected that Scott Riggs, will be named to the #10 Valvoline Dodge of Evernham Motorsports . Evernham Motorsports is to announce plans for the #10 Valvoline Dodge at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, Aug 27th around 2:45pm/et.

Elliott future unsure Bill Elliott, who is semiretired from Nextel Cup racing and making only a few runs this season for Ray Evernham, says he has not decided what to do next season. "I'm just taking it a day at a time," Elliott said. "If it looks like it's a pretty good deal, I might do it. If it's not, I'm not. "I told Casey Atwood the first year he was with Ray, I told him to enjoy it, because the first time you turn around you'll be 41, and you'll look back and wonder where it all went. "A lot of those guys who raced around me are not around today. They've retired or gone somewhere else. I guess I'm fortunate to be able to accomplish the things I've accomplished and today enjoy a different look and a different part of the sport." (Knoxville News)

Aug 22, 2005

Slugger Labbe wins Wypall Wipers Award

Aug 21, 2005

Jeremy Mayfield wins in Michigan

Aug 15, 2005

Evernham would like to see "league control": Ray Evernham doesn't like the contract talk that has been the buzz of the NASCAR Nextel Cup world the past week, with stars such as Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray committing to lucrative deals with other teams more than a year before they're finished with their current contracts. Evernham, who owns three teams, said Sunday at Watkins Glen International that the big contracts are necessitating "some kind of league control" in Nextel Cup. "I think there needs to be some kind of league control the same as there is in other sports," said Evernham. "The sport's grown, it's evolved and it's going to get out of control if you don't do something, and until that happens it's kind of dog eat dog. (Buffalo News)

Aug 12, 2005

Crocker to run races in Evernham #91 in '06? Evernham also would not rule out Crocker as someone to one day drive the No.91 car that will be the third Nextel Cup team in the Evernham Dodge stable in 2006. If anything, having Crocker around the shop is helping her boss be more politically correct. "I don't want to put a date in the sand and say we've got to have a driver (for the 91 car)," Evernham said. "You notice I didn't say 'guy', because with Erin now I've got to make sure I say 'driver' or she gets mad." As for which Busch races Crocker will drive toward the end of this season, an announcement is still forthcoming. The original plan was to have Crocker debut last Saturday at Indianapolis Raceway Park, but Evernham held off on that. (The Republican)

Aug 6, 2005

Riggs to Evernham and Valvoline? Riggs reportedly is under consideration to join Valvoline at Ray Evernham's new third team in'06. Evernham said yesterday the team has been meeting with available drivers but has nothing locked in yet. "This is more about building the company and growing our partnership with Valvoline and to rush out and make a decision on a driver is not in our best interests," Evernham said. "We're trying to review that. Do you want a veteran? Do you want someone who has potential to produce and hasn't yet? We're going through the same things that probably the 6 car and the 2 car are. Finding the right fit nowadays is a lot harder." (Times-Dispatch)

Aug 1, 2005

Rondeau joins Evernham Motorsports: Pete Rondeau has negotiated his release from Dale Earnhardt Inc. and joined Evernham Motorsports. Rondeau started the season as Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief but was removed from that position after 11 points races. He joined Evernham on July 18 as director of research and development. (Sporting News)ke the racing better and safer for all of the competitors." (NASCAR.com)

July 25, 2005

Gibbs, Labonte and Evernham: And what might happen next at Gibbs' is uncertain. While Bobby Labonte insists he has no plans to leave Gibbs, that has not quieted the NASCAR garage, with the talk continuing, focused on the possibility car owner Ray Evernham would like to hire Labonte for his new third team next season. Gibbs may be moving his FedEx sponsorship from his new third team, with Jason Leffler, to the team for which Labonte currently drives, which has been sponsored for years by Interstate Batteries, according to sources close to the team. And there could be more to the change, though it's not at all clear just what. And it's not clear just how Gibbs' Interstate Batteries sponsorship might be aligned next season. Interstate boss Norm Miller is a close friend of Gibbs and is the man whose sponsorship helped launch Gibbs in NASCAR more than a decade ago. But over the years, the Texas battery maker has watched bigger and bigger companies join NASCAR as sponsors. (Salem-Journal)

July 1, 2005

Evernham and Valvoline make it official: Evernham Motorsports on Friday announced that it has agreed in principle to form a partnership with Valvoline to create Valvoline Evernham Racing LLC, which will campaign the No. 10 Valvoline Dodge Charger for the 2006 season. Under the arrangement, Valvoline will be the primary sponsor on the No. 10 Valvoline Dodge Charger for a majority of the races and will be a major associate sponsor on the No. 10 Dodge Charger for the remaining races in the season. A driver and crew chief for the team will be announced at a later date. Much of the team personnel will transfer to the No. 10 team from Evernham Motorsports' No. 91 team. "This is the next step in our quest for a championship," said Ray Evernham, president and CEO of Evernham Motorsports. "In today's competitive environment, you need a multiple-car team to win races and championships. When you have more race teams, it speeds your development and learning tremendously. With this expansion, we can compete more effectively against other multiple-car organizations. "Having Valvoline as a partner -- not just a sponsor -- makes this an incredible program," Evernham said. "They have been a tremendous supporter of mine for many years, and our relationship has now grown into joint ownership of a team. Valvoline has a great history in this sport, and a deep understanding of what it takes to be successful. I look forward to winning championships with them." The third team will be housed out of the new third facility at Evernham Motorsports headquarters in Statesville, NC. It will lease engines and shop space from Evernham Motorsports and have full access to Evernham R&D. The team expansion allows Evernham Motorsports to continue to grow and advance its operations. The expanded stable also allows Evernham Motorsports to accelerate its R&D efforts, increase its test dates, enhance its ability to collect and analyze data, and make improvements more quickly and efficiently. (More at NASCAR.com)

Foyt test with Evernham: A.J. Foyt IV, grandson of legendary NASCAR and open-wheel star A.J. Foyt, recently tested in an Automobile Racing Club of America car with Evernham Motorsports, and could figure in the organization's driver development plan soon. "A.J. was very fast in the car and we were very impressed with him. He's probably going to run some Busch races for us later this year and we'll do some further testing," team owner Ray Evernham said. Foyt, 21, is in his third season in IRL's IndyCar series. His career-best start is sixth and career-best finish ninth. (ThatsRacin)

June 20, 2005

Kahne's Illegal Adjustable Spring Air Dam: NASCAR says the part, an adjustable spring-loaded air dam, was found during Friday's pre-qualifying inspection. Vice president for corporate communications Jim Hunter says the part never made it onto the track. "A penalty will be forthcoming - I don't know what," said Hunter. "The rulebook says it cannot be adjusted, so it did not conform to our rules." Kahne, who qualified fourth, finished 18th in Sunday's race. He and the team face a loss of points and fines. (TSN)

June 18, 2005

Evernham Close to starting 3rd Team: Evernham Motorsports is close to getting the money needed for a third full-time entry in NASCAR's top series. The third full-time Nextel Cup entry would take over the No. 91 team that is now a part-time ride for Bill Elliott, team owner Ray Evernham said Friday. Elliott would not be the driver, but the NASCAR veteran, who cut back to a limited schedule in 2004, can remain affiliated with the program, the owner said. "I would love to run a third team,'' Evernham said. "We have the infrastructure in place. We've built the new building (in Statesville, N.C). We have the people ready. We have the plan ready. But I'm not going to pull the trigger until I know the money's in place.'' (NASCAR)

June 16, 2005

College Jocks Find Life in the Pits: After Bob Dowens finished playing college football, he turned pro. But not in the NFL -- in the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. Once a defensive back at Fairleigh Dickinson University, the 28-year-old Mr. Dowens is now a professional tire carrier in a Nascar pit crew. At Evernham Motorsports, the stock-car racing team for which Mr. Dowens works, pit-crew members practice five days a week. A pit coach studies videos to hone their footwork and hand speed. A trainer has them lift weights and run sprints. "This is a professional sport as far as I'm concerned," Mr. Dowens said recently, drenched in sweat after a morning workout. "It's 95 degrees out, and today we were running an obstacle course. Last week, I was so drained, I almost couldn't eat lunch afterwards. This is as tough as any football practice." Today, teams like Evernham look increasingly for college jocks whose strength and speed can save precious tenths of a second in a race. One of Mr. Dowens's teammates, jack-man Ed Watkins, was a 300-pound offensive lineman at East Carolina University. The Chip Ganassi Racing team's pit crew includes baseball players from Wake Forest University; football players from Wake, the University of Kentucky and the University of North Carolina; and a hockey player from Dartmouth. Top tire-changers -- the guys who air-wrench lug nuts off and on -- can make $100,000 a year. The average at Evernham is about $60,000. Mr. Dowens figures he'll be a bit over that, with bonuses, this year. (Find Exclusively on AOL and Wall Street Journal)

June 15, 2005

Bill Elliott to Race in Michigan: Bill Elliott has had a special relationship with Michigan International Speedway ever since he competed in his first race at the two-mile oval in June of 1976. And after a year's absence from MIS, the redhead from Georgia returns to one of his favorite tracks for this weekend's Nextel Cup race. He will be driving the No. 91 McDonald's Dodge Charger in the Batman Begins 400. Speaking of Batman and McDonald's, when Elliott drove the McDonald's Batman Forever car in 1995, it was the first-themed car that competed in a NASCAR Cup race. McDonald's was Elliott's primary sponsor from 1995-2000. Sunday's race will be Elliott's fifth of the season as he continues to run a part-time schedule under the Evernham Motorsports umbrella. His previous races were at California, Atlanta, Texas and Charlotte. "Anytime I can race at Michigan, I feel like I'm back home," said Elliott. "I've been fortunate over the years to have raced well there and come away with some victories." Actually, Elliott has won seven times at MIS, making him the track's fourth all-time winningest driver. He also has claimed six poles -- only David Pearon with 10 has had more No. 1 starting spots at MIS. (Evernham Motorsports)

June 12 2005

MB2 Buyout? Valvoline to Evernham? MB2 Motorsports will shortly announce the buyout of Valvoline, which had held partial ownership of its No. 10 Dodge under the name MBV. That buyout would free Valvoline to move over to sponsor a third Ray Evernham Dodge in 2006. (Gaston Gazette)

June 11 2005

A third Evernham Car? Evernham Motorsports, says chances are "better than 50pct" that he will have a third Cup team in 2006. He said he has tentative agreements with significant sponsors, and he pulled up short when asked who would drive the car. Evernham says he has constructed a building for the proposed new team and has personnel aboard. "I think you can get the team started and kind of take it from there. The sponsor is going to have to have realistic expectations. For a first-year team, to jump right up there and win races, there's not too many people who do that. (SPEEDTV)

June 9 2005

Former Cup driver Atwood, Back with Evernham in Busch: It's not a full-time ride, but at least it will get Nashville's Casey Atwood back on the track for a couple of races. Atwood is scheduled to compete in upcoming NASCAR Busch Series races at Kentucky Speedway (June 18) and Pikes Peak International Raceway near Colorado Springs, Colo., (July 23). Atwood will drive a car fielded by Evernham Motorsports, for whom he once drove in the Nextel Cup Series. The 24-year-old racer lost his Busch ride with Fitz-Bradshaw Racing late last season and has not landed another full-time ride. He drove a few NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races for Mt. Juliet-based Bobby Hamilton Racing earlier in the year. (Tennessean)

June 8 2005

Kahne and Mayfield testing: Mayfield and the No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger team are scheduled to test at Carolina Motorsports Park, in Kershaw, S.C., next Thursday, April 16. The team will use the test to prepare for the June 26 roadcourse race at Infineon Raceway. (Evernham Motorsports)

Labbe Back: Crew chief Slugger Labbe plans to return for the Pocono race after missing Sunday's race with Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Kenny Francis reunited with driver Jeremy Mayfield at Dover while Labbe dealt with the illness. He attempted to return to work Tuesday but vowed to be back in Mayfield's pit box Sunday. "You'll see a slimmed-down Slugger at Pocono," spokesman Denny Darnell said Tuesday. (USA Today)

June 5 2005

Mayfield Signs Extension with Evernham

June 3 2005

Earnhardt, Jr., Kahne and Gordon Most Popular Driver Voting: A record 1.75 million votes have been cast for the Chex NMPA NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award so far this season, and the 3.3 million-vote record set last season seems to be in serious jeopardy. By going to http://www.mostpopulardriver.com , NASCAR fans have cast over 1,750,000 votes, some of those surprising and some exactly what was expected. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the award the past two seasons, leads the voting this year as well, certainly no surprise. Jeff Gordon is second, followed by Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick and Rusty Wallace. Rounding out the top 10 are Tony Stewart, Michael Waltrip, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson. Second-year driver Kahne is a solid third in the fan voting, however, which has raised a few eyebrows. The Ray Evernham #9 Dodge driver won his first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race just a few weeks ago at Richmond, Va. (Chex PR)

June 2 2005

Kahne and Ford Head to Court September: Ford Motor Co., eager to discover and groom future racing talent, took a chance and backed the young driver, and soon Kahne went on to win his first Busch Series race in 2003. But he was hungry for a chance to race for the Nextel Cup. Frustrated that Ford wouldn't allow him to race in NASCAR's premier circuit full time, Kahne secretly struck a deal, the automaker says, to drive Dodge-powered cars in fall 2003. In 2005, he won his first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race, the Chevy American Revolution 400 on May 14, driving a No. 9 Dodge Charger. Ford is now suing Kahne, 25, for breach of contract. The two sides head for trial in September. According to court records, the case has become a bitter standoff between one of NASCAR's biggest financial backers and its rising star. U.S. District Judge Robert H. Cleland summed up the case at a hearing last week: The company "lost a diamond in the rough," who jumped at the chance to make more money before his contract was up and gambled that Ford might sue him. Kahne's lawyers have blasted Ford repeatedly, noting that Kahne won rookie-of-the-year honors in the 2004 Nextel Cup season with a Dodge team. He earned $4.8 million racing in 2004 and has pocketed $1.7 million this year. (Seattle News)

May 10, 2005

Kurt Busch's Team Wins Pit Crew Challenge: Kurt Busch's team won the National Pit Crew Championship, defeating Jeremy Mayfield's crew in the final round with a mistake-free stop Monday night. Busch's crew, which helped him win the Nextel Cup championship last season, didn't make a single mistake during the competition and picked up $100,000 for the win. Mayfield's team earned $25,000 for finishing second. Joe Nemechek's crew was third – missing out on a spot in the finals because of a two-second penalty for a loose lug nut in the semifinals. (AP/SOSD)

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