Owner(s) | Ray Evernham George N. Gillett Jr. |
---|---|
Base | Mooresville, North Carolina |
Series | NASCAR Cup Series |
Opened | 2000 |
Closed | 2008 |
Career | |
Debut | Cup Series 2000 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 (Richmond) (as Evernham Motorsports) [1] 2007 Centurion Boats at the Glen (Watkins Glen) (as Gillett Evernham Motorsports) Xfinity Series 2003 Target House 200 (Rockingham) Craftsman Truck Series 2006 GM Flex Fuel 250 (Daytona) |
Latest race | Cup Series 2007 Pennsylvania 500 (as Evernham Motorsports) 2008 Ford 400 (as Gillett Evernham Motorsports) Craftsman Truck Series 2006 Ford 200 (Homestead) |
Races competed | Total: 760 Cup Series: 626 492 (as Evernham Motorsports) 134 (as Gillett Evernham Motorsports) Xfinity Series: 109 Craftsman Truck Series: 25 |
Drivers' Championships | Total: 0 Cup Series: 0 Xfinity Series: 0 Craftsman Truck Series: 0 |
Race victories | Total: 20 Cup Series: 15 13 (as Evernham Motorsports) 2 (as Gillett Evernham Motorsports) Xfinity Series: 5 Craftsman Truck Series: 0 |
Pole positions | Total: 32 Cup Series: 27 23 (as Evernham Motorsports) 4 (as Gillett Evernham Motorsports) Xfinity Series: 5 Craftsman Truck Series: 0 |
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 . [2] [3]
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. [4] [5] The team originally operated out of the former facility of Bill Elliott Racing. [6]
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. [7] GEM proceeded to hire several financial executives to assist with corporate marketing, including former chairman of LendingTree Tom Reddin to replace Evernham as CEO. [8]
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. [9] 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. [10] The deal fell through, with GEM suing Gordon for violating the terms of the agreement. [10]
After the 2008 season, turmoil emerged when A. J. Allmendinger and Reed Sorenson were signed to drive for the team, [11] [12] while Elliott Sadler was released from his ride in the 19 car and planned to sue the team to keep his job. [13] 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. [2] [3] [14]
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." [15] [16] In January 2002, Sirius Satellite Radio was named as the sponsor for the 7 car. [17] 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. [18] [19] 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. [20] [21] Jimmy Spencer would take over the car in 2003 for the once again independent Ultra Motorsports Dodge. [19]
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 | Owners | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | Casey Atwood | 7 | Dodge | DAY 35 | CAR 39 | LVS 41 | ATL 32 | DAR 26 | BRI 18 | TEX 35 | MAR 38 | TAL 26 | CAL 28 | RCH 22 | CLT 17 | DOV 14 | POC 11 | MCH 39 | SON 21 | DAY 20 | CHI 28 | NHA 36 | POC 28 | IND 38 | GLN 27 | MCH 42 | BRI 18 | DAR 28 | RCH 24 | NHA 34 | DOV 32 | KAN 42 | TAL 34 | CLT 30 | MAR 21 | ATL 38 | CAR 29 | PHO | HOM | 35th | 2621 |
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. [22] 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. [23]
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. [23] [24] Kahne was arguably the least accomplished driver in a strong 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. [25] Kahne would have the strongest performance out of all the young drivers, earning three second-place finishes through the first eleven races [24] 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. [25] In 2005, he won the spring Richmond race, but finished a disappointing 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. [26] 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, [27] 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.
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 | Owners | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | Bill Elliott | 9 | Dodge | DAY 5 | CAR 23 | LVS 14 | ATL 16 | DAR 23 | BRI 17 | TEX 14 | MAR 14 | TAL 32 | CAL 14 | RCH 37 | CLT 26 | DOV 40 | MCH 9 | POC 27 | SON 9 | DAY 35 | CHI 10 | NHA 21 | POC 4 | IND 8 | GLN 24 | MCH 3* | BRI 19 | DAR 5 | RCH 17 | DOV 30 | KAN 40 | CLT 15 | MAR 42 | TAL 20 | PHO 27 | CAR 40 | HOM 1 | ATL 14 | NHA 22 | 15th | 3824 |
2002 | DAY 11 | CAR 11 | LVS 8 | ATL 35 | DAR 10 | BRI 21 | TEX 9 | MAR 31 | TAL 19 | CAL 4 | RCH 14 | CLT 9 | DOV 2 | POC 30 | MCH 11 | SON 8 | DAY 17 | CHI 7 | NHA 34 | POC 1 | IND 1* | GLN 21 | MCH 22 | BRI 17 | DAR 3 | RCH 16 | NHA 23 | DOV 18 | KAN 5 | TAL 19 | CLT 35 | MAR 42 | ATL 33 | CAR 39 | PHO 30 | HOM 7 | 13th | 4158 | |||
2003 | DAY 32 | CAR 32 | LVS 14 | ATL 39 | DAR 9 | BRI 18 | TEX 43 | TAL 13 | MAR 13 | CAL 4 | RCH 20 | CLT 26 | DOV 22 | POC 19 | MCH 24 | SON 4 | DAY 16 | CHI 11 | NHA 31 | POC 17 | IND 5 | GLN 20 | MCH 15 | BRI 16 | DAR 5 | RCH 37 | NHA 4 | DOV 14 | TAL 13 | KAN 2* | CLT 4 | MAR 9 | ATL 4 | PHO 14 | CAR 1* | HOM 8* | 9th | 4303 | |||
2004 | Kasey Kahne | DAY 41 | CAR 2 | LVS 2 | ATL 3 | DAR 13 | BRI 40 | TEX 2* | MAR 21 | TAL 30 | CAL 13 | RCH 28 | CLT 12 | DOV 21 | POC 14 | MCH 2 | SON 31 | DAY 25 | CHI 36 | NHA 8 | POC 3 | IND 4 | GLN 14 | MCH 5 | BRI 21 | CAL 2 | RCH 24 | NHA 4 | DOV 42 | TAL 27 | KAN 12 | CLT 32* | MAR 15 | ATL 5 | PHO 5 | DAR 5 | HOM 38 | 13th | 4274 | ||
2005 | DAY 22 | CAL 40 | LVS 38 | ATL 5 | BRI 14 | MAR 2 | TEX 35 | PHO 17 | TAL 24 | DAR 3 | RCH 1* | CLT 26 | DOV 35 | POC 27 | MCH 18 | SON 41 | DAY 16 | CHI 41 | NHA 6 | POC 27 | IND 2 | GLN 17 | MCH 29 | BRI 42 | CAL 6 | RCH 8 | NHA 38 | DOV 16 | TAL 13 | KAN 19 | CLT 23 | MAR 17 | ATL 35 | TEX 42 | PHO 27 | HOM 16 | 23rd | 3611 | |||
2006 | DAY 11 | CAL 4 | LVS 4 | ATL 1 | BRI 10 | MAR 35 | TEX 1 | PHO 6 | TAL 39 | RCH 34 | DAR 21 | CLT 1 | DOV 7 | POC 7 | MCH 1 | SON 31 | DAY 25 | CHI 23 | NHA 8 | POC 31 | IND 36 | GLN 22 | MCH 4 | BRI 12 | CAL 1* | RCH 3 | NHA 16 | DOV 38 | KAN 33 | TAL 2 | CLT 1* | MAR 7 | ATL 38 | TEX 33 | PHO 7 | HOM 4* | 8th | 6173 | |||
2007 | DAY 7 | CAL 38 | LVS 35 | ATL 39 | BRI 19 | MAR 25 | TEX 20 | PHO 31 | TAL 12 | RCH 40 | DAR 20 | CLT 23 | DOV 11 | POC 22 | MCH 32 | SON 23 | NHA 25 | DAY 9 | CHI 32 | IND 40 | POC 27 | GLN 26 | MCH 31 | BRI 2* | CAL 10 | RCH 8 | NHA 20 | DOV 32 | KAN 9 | TAL 16 | CLT 8 | MAR 15 | ATL 9 | TEX 18 | PHO 40 | HOM 24 | 19th | 3489 | |||
2008 | DAY 7 | CAL 9 | LVS 6 | ATL 28 | BRI 7 | MAR 17 | TEX 25 | PHO 36 | TAL 23 | RCH 10 | DAR 22 | CLT 1 | DOV 31 | POC 1* | MCH 2 | SON 33 | NHA 30 | DAY 7 | CHI 15 | IND 7 | POC 7 | GLN 14 | MCH 40 | BRI 40 | CAL 8 | RCH 19 | NHA 11 | DOV 26 | KAN 21 | TAL 36 | CLT 2 | MAR 33 | ATL 33 | TEX 24 | PHO 13 | HOM 6 | 14th | 4085 |
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). [28] 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, [29] who had also replaced him at Watkins Glen. [30]
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. [31] With Valvoline taking a backseat role in 2008 [32] 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. [33] 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 five races — including the Daytona 500 — and was out of the Top 35 in points when he was released after Kansas. Second-year driver A. J. Allmendinger replaced Carpentier, after being released from Red Bull Racing in favor of Scott Speed. [34] 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. [12] This was derailed when Sadler intended to sue the team and Allmendinger to keep his job, [13] when Reed Sorenson was signed as a third driver, [11] and when several sponsors threatened to leave the team in response to the recent moves.
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 | Owners | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Scott Riggs | 10 | Dodge | DAY DNQ | CAL 19 | LVS 28 | ATL 11 | BRI 41 | MAR 10 | TEX 7 | PHO 38 | TAL 9 | RCH 14 | DAR 31 | CLT 13 | DOV 20 | POC 8 | MCH 29 | SON 27 | DAY 20 | CHI 15 | NHA 10 | POC 22 | IND 21 | GLN 23 | MCH 14 | BRI 4 | CAL 17 | RCH 10 | NHA 35 | DOV 34 | KAN 34 | TAL 19 | CLT 17 | MAR 30 | ATL 22 | TEX 31 | PHO 22 | HOM 7 | 20th | 3619 |
2007 | DAY 37 | CAL 41 | LVS 23 | ATL 43 | BRI 31 | MAR 8 | TEX 27 | PHO 42 | TAL 11 | RCH 30 | DAR DNQ | CLT 20 | DOV 23 | POC 18 | MCH 33 | SON DNQ | NHA DNQ | DAY 41 | CHI DNQ | IND 29 | POC 24 | MCH 36 | BRI 18 | CAL DNQ | RCH 40 | NHA 32 | DOV 34 | KAN 13 | TAL DNQ | CLT 36 | MAR 16 | ATL 29 | TEX 13 | 37th | 3125 | ||||||
Patrick Carpentier | GLN 22 | PHO 33 | HOM 40 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2008 | DAY DNQ | CAL DNQ | LVS 40 | ATL 35 | BRI DNQ | MAR 29 | TEX 28 | PHO 33 | TAL 31 | RCH 43 | DAR 40 | CLT 37 | DOV 29 | POC 32 | MCH 24 | SON 23 | NHA 31 | DAY 14 | CHI 30 | IND 18 | GLN 20 | MCH 30 | BRI DNQ | CAL 18 | RCH 25 | NHA 31 | DOV 41 | KAN 29 | TAL DNQ | 37th | 2625 | ||||||||||
Terry Labonte | POC 32 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mike Wallace | CLT 31 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A. J. Allmendinger | MAR 15 | ATL 14 | TEX 26 | PHO 16 | HOM 11 |
The No. 19 car was Evernham Motorsports' first foray into racing in the Cup series. It debuted in the 2000 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 at Richmond International Raceway as the No. 19 Motorola-sponsored Ford with 20-year-old Busch Series driver Casey Atwood as the driver. In that race, the car scored a 19th-place finish. [1] The abbreviated season was capped off by Atwood's tenth-place finish at Homestead that year.
For Evernham's full-time debut in 2001, Atwood was named as the driver of the 19 car, teammate to Bill Elliott in the No. 9. The team was part of Dodge's return into NASCAR, with Dodge Dealers sponsoring the entire season. [35] The year was off to a sluggish start when Atwood failed to qualify at the spring Atlanta race, but picked up steam towards the end of the year, winning the pole at Phoenix International Raceway, and almost winning the Homestead race before relinquishing the lead to teammate Elliott late in the race. Atwood barely missed wrestling the rookie of the year crown away from Kevin Harvick, despite Harvick finishing much higher in the points (ninth) and winning twice.
Evernham decided to make a driver change prior to the start of the 2002 season, possibly because Atwood's overall career results were mediocre to underwhelming up to that point during his tenure with the team. He signed Jeremy Mayfield, who had recorded three wins for Penske Racing but who had been fired in September 2001 and had not run since, to join Elliott and drive the No. 19. [16] As part of the move, Evernham agreed to the aforementioned deal with Ultra Motorsports which gave Atwood a car to drive. Mayfield struggled in his initial year with Evernham, posting just four top tens and finishing 26th in points. He won a pole at Talladega Superspeedway the next year however, and improved to 19th in points. 2004 was even better, winning at Richmond and barely making the cut for the inaugural Chase for the Nextel Cup. He claimed one more win in 2005 and qualified once again for the Chase.
However, after the 2006 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, where an early-race crash dropped the No. 19 team out of the top-35 in owner points (thus requiring the team to qualify for each race on time), owner Ray Evernham replaced Mayfield with Bill Elliott for the race at Watkins Glen, citing a lack of performance through the 2006 season. However, in affidavits filed in court Mayfield blamed his lack of performance and subsequent termination from the team on Evernham's heavy involvement with development driver Erin Crocker, and the "close personal relationship" that developed between the two. [36] [37] [38]
On August 16, Elliott Sadler, after leaving Robert Yates Racing, was officially named the driver of the No. 19 car for the remainder of the 2006 season, as well as being named the driver for the 2007 season. [36] In his first race, Sadler qualified second and finished tenth. This was the No. 19 car's best finish of the 2006 season until Sadler scored a sixth-place finish at New Hampshire several weeks later. Sadler finished 22nd in driver points, while the No. 19 team finished 34th in owner points, guaranteeing it a spot in the first five races of the 2007 season. Sadler would score only two top tens in 2007, finishing 25th in points.
In November 2007, Best Buy was announced as the new sponsor for fifteen races in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Later Stanley and McDonald's were announced as the two other primary sponsors on the No. 19. [8] In May, Sadler reached a two-year contract extension with the team. [39] However, on December 27, 2008, GEM announced that A. J. Allmendinger, who drove the team's No. 10 car at the end of the season, would be replacing Sadler in the No. 19 for the 2009 season. [12] At the same time the team also announced several of its sponsors were considering leaving the team and that Ray Evernham had cleared his personal belongings out of the team's race shop, but it was not clear whether it was related to the hire. [39] On January 3, 2009, Sadler's attorney announced that he would be seeking a breach of contract lawsuit against GEM for the dismissal. [13] Looking to avoid the lawsuit GEM and Sadler's attorneys reached a settlement six days later that would return Sadler to the No. 19 for 2009 while keeping Allmendinger with the team. [40]
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 | Owners | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | Casey Atwood | 19 | Ford | DAY | CAR | LVS | ATL | DAR | BRI | TEX | MAR | TAL | CAL | RCH | CLT | DOV | MCH | POC | SON | DAY | NHA | POC | IND | GLN | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH 19 | NHA | DOV | MAR 25 | CLT | TAL | CAR | PHO | HOM 10 | ATL | 54th | 328 | ||
2001 | Dodge | DAY 20 | CAR 18 | LVS 24 | ATL DNQ | DAR 26 | BRI 20 | TEX 36 | MAR 26 | TAL 30 | CAL 39 | RCH 12 | CLT 42 | DOV 29 | MCH 30 | POC 38 | SON 41 | DAY 28 | CHI 28 | NHA 12 | POC 15 | IND 41 | GLN 22 | MCH 10 | BRI 17 | DAR 25 | RCH 27 | DOV 9 | KAN 43 | CLT 24 | MAR 25 | TAL 39 | PHO 14 | CAR 20 | HOM 3 | ATL 20 | NHA 16 | 26th | 3132 | ||
2002 | Jeremy Mayfield | DAY 39 | CAR 29 | LVS 2 | ATL 23 | DAR 16 | BRI 14 | TEX 18 | MAR 11 | TAL 36 | CAL 38 | RCH 5 | CLT 39 | DOV 35 | POC 36 | MCH 36 | SON 28 | DAY 13 | CHI 34 | NHA 19 | POC 38 | IND 39 | GLN 15 | MCH 16 | BRI 25 | DAR 20 | RCH 10 | NHA 24 | DOV 20 | KAN 9 | TAL 20 | CLT 28 | MAR 28 | ATL 27 | CAR 21 | PHO 25 | HOM 33 | 26th | 3309 | ||
2003 | DAY 8 | CAR 41 | LVS 21 | ATL 22 | DAR 30 | BRI 23 | TEX 25 | TAL 18 | MAR 40 | CAL 35 | RCH 25 | CLT 43 | DOV 21 | POC 15 | MCH 13 | SON 10 | DAY 8 | CHI 10 | NHA 34 | POC 38 | IND 41 | GLN 16 | MCH 28 | BRI 10 | DAR 6 | RCH 2 | NHA 11 | DOV 2 | TAL 38 | KAN 3 | CLT 12 | MAR 33 | ATL 7 | PHO 43 | CAR 3 | HOM 6 | 19th | 3736 | |||
2004 | DAY 25 | CAR 11 | LVS 14 | ATL 2 | DAR 9 | BRI 17 | TEX 34 | MAR 36 | TAL 21 | CAL 14 | RCH 22 | CLT 8 | DOV 8 | POC 2 | MCH 19 | SON 30 | DAY 22 | CHI 5 | NHA 10 | POC 9 | IND 11 | GLN 7 | MCH 11 | BRI 22 | CAL 16 | RCH 1* | NHA 35 | DOV 7 | TAL 38 | KAN 5* | CLT 30 | MAR 6 | ATL 26 | PHO 21 | DAR 19 | HOM 35 | 10th | 6000 | |||
2005 | DAY 23 | CAL 28 | LVS 20 | ATL 13 | BRI 17 | MAR 15 | TEX 11 | PHO 13 | TAL 4 | DAR 33 | RCH 13 | CLT 4 | DOV 14 | POC 14 | MCH 22 | SON 7 | DAY 12 | CHI 6 | NHA 19 | POC 18 | IND 4 | GLN 11 | MCH 1 | BRI 18 | CAL 26 | RCH 6 | NHA 16 | DOV 7 | TAL 14 | KAN 16 | CLT 11 | MAR 28 | ATL 38 | TEX 35 | PHO 24 | HOM 10 | 9th | 6073 | |||
2006 | DAY 36 | CAL 22 | LVS 25 | ATL 41 | BRI 16 | MAR 26 | TEX 31 | PHO 26 | TAL 13 | RCH 32 | DAR 38 | CLT 15 | DOV 18 | POC 23 | MCH 36 | SON 22 | DAY 36 | CHI 24 | NHA 29 | POC 37 | IND 41 | 34th | 2983 | ||||||||||||||||||
Bill Elliott | GLN 27 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elliott Sadler | MCH 10 | BRI 39 | CAL 16 | RCH 13 | NHA 6 | DOV 16 | KAN 40 | TAL 29 | CLT 35 | MAR 38 | ATL 21 | TEX 37 | PHO 17 | HOM 36 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2007 | DAY 6 | CAL 24 | LVS 14 | ATL 18 | BRI 27 | MAR 24 | TEX 17 | PHO 34 | TAL 15 | RCH 27 | DAR 21 | CLT 36 | DOV 26 | POC 21 | MCH 35 | SON 14 | NHA 33 | DAY 33 | CHI 33 | IND 28 | POC 32 | GLN 17 | MCH 32 | BRI 29 | CAL 35 | RCH 27 | NHA 38 | DOV 17 | KAN 8 | TAL 24 | CLT 41 | MAR 40 | ATL 14 | TEX 12 | PHO 27 | HOM 38 | 25th | 3140 | |||
2008 | DAY 6 | CAL 24 | LVS 12 | ATL 43 | BRI 19 | MAR 15 | TEX 26 | PHO 41 | TAL 29 | RCH 20 | DAR 42 | CLT 8 | DOV 42 | POC 34 | MCH 9 | SON 19 | NHA 5 | DAY 39 | CHI 12 | IND 4 | POC 27 | GLN 15 | MCH 9 | BRI 32 | CAL 34 | RCH 37 | NHA 24 | DOV 27 | KAN 10 | TAL 10 | CLT 20 | MAR 41 | ATL 25 | TEX 35 | PHO 30 | HOM 28 | 24th | 3364 | |||
The 98 car started as the 91 car in 2002. Three drivers drove the No. 91: Dick Trickle at Talladega Superspeedway (failing to qualify); [41] [42] [43] Hank Parker Jr. at Rockingham Speedway with sponsorship from USG Corporation; [41] [44] and Casey Atwood at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a sponsorship from Mountain Dew (after being released from the No. 7 car). [20] The car returned in 2003 at Pocono Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with Atwood driving the 91 Mountain Dew Live Wire-sponsored Dodge at Pocono and an unsponsored entry at Indy. [45] [46] In 2004, Bill Elliott relinquished his full-time duties to drive the No. 91 in a part-time deal at Las Vegas, Texas, and Indianapolis. [23] Elliott also ran three races in a No. 98 Dodge under his own Bill Elliott Racing banner, utilizing Evernham equipment and crew members and the owners points of Mach 1 Racing, in part to avoid conflict with sponsor Coca-Cola (Evernham's No. 9 and No. 19 cars were both sponsored by Mountain Dew). [47] He returned to drive the 91 in a part-time deal in 2005 in nine races held at Fontana, Atlanta, Texas, Charlotte, Michigan, Indianapolis, Michigan, Fontana, and Texas. [48] Elliott had sponsorships from UAW, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Stanley Tools, Auto Value / Bumper to Bumper, and Visteon.
The No. 9 Ultimate Chargers Busch team started as the No. 6 Pepsi-sponsored Dodge Intrepid for Tommy Baldwin Racing. The team made its debut in 2002 at the fall Michigan Busch Series race, where Wally Dallenbach Jr. drove the team to a 14th-place finish. Dallenbach finished in the top ten in his other two starts in the car that year, splitting the car with Damon Lusk. Lusk took over on a limited basis for 2003 but did not finish in the top 10.
In 2004, primary sponsor Unilever backed the Hungry Drivers program to allow for young drivers to compete for a full-time seat in NASCAR. Four drivers were chosen to compete for the seat and the chosen drivers were Scott Lynch, Mark McFarland, Tracy Hines, and Paul Wolfe. Each driver was given three races to prove their talent. After scoring 2 top-20 finishes, including a 12th-place effort at New Hampshire, Wolfe was awarded the No. 6 Busch seat for the 2005 season.
In October 2004, Evernham Motorsports acquired Tommy Baldwin Racing, and with it, the Hungry Drivers program. [49] Paul Wolfe started out the 2005 season, but was let go after the first four races due to poor performance. Kasey Kahne and Jeremy Mayfield took the brunt of the driving duties of the No. 6 team with Kahne scoring the team's first win at Kansas in October. Other drivers would also share in the driving duties of the car, including Mike Wallace, Tracy Hines, Bill Elliott, Casey Atwood, and also Paul Wolfe for three races. Erin Crocker would also make her Busch Series racing debut with the team at Richmond.
For the 2006 season, a number of changes were made to the team. First, a number switch with Roush Racing gave Evernham the No. 9 to use for his team while the No. 6 went with Mark Martin's Busch team. Also, Unilever's sponsorship of the team was expanded. Now called the Ultimate Chargers team, it would feature Kasey Kahne, Jeremy Mayfield, and Scott Riggs as the main drivers of the car throughout the year. Crocker, who competed under the No. 98 with sponsorship from General Mills, and Boris Said also shared driving duties in the car. Kahne, who drove the majority of races for the team, won twice at Las Vegas in the spring and Fontana in the fall. In 2007, Kahne won the spring race at Charlotte and the fall race at Bristol with sponsorship again from Unilever. Kahne, Elliott Sadler, Scott Riggs, Boris Said, and Chase Miller shared the brunt of the driving duties in the car. Deac McCaskill drove for the team in a single race at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.
In 2008, Unilever, along with additional backing from AutoValue/Bumper-to-Bumper and Ingersoll Rand, continued sponsorship of the team with Kahne, Sadler, Patrick Carpentier, and Chase Miller sharing driving duties in the car through the year. Results were mixed for the Nationwide GEM team. For the first time since the program's inception, the team failed to record a win. The car's best results were two second-place finishes. The first was recorded by Kasey Kahne in the spring race at Bristol while Patrick Carpentier finished 2nd in the race at Montreal.
Later in the year, it was announced that primary sponsor Unilever would move to the No. 5 of JR Motorsports. [50] As a result of the loss of the sponsor, the organization announced that the car would move to a part-time schedule for the 2009 season. With the cutback, the team also let go about 65 employees, some of whom were also from the engine shop. [51]
In the 2003 season, the team debuted with Jeremy Mayfield driving the No. 79 Dodge Intrepid, with Mountain Dew sponsoring, at Rockingham. He finished 4th in the only race for the team that year. The team returned for the 2005 season, operating as a 2nd Busch team. Sponsorship for this car came mainly from Trus Joist and Auto Value. Kahne and Mayfield shared the driving duties for the three races the team ran with a best finish of 4th at Richmond in May. Kahne also drove the car to a 12th-place finish at New Hampshire and Mayfield had a best finish of 29th at Charlotte. While the team didn't run in 2006, a couple of the chassis from the No. 79 were run by Erin Crocker in her first couple of races.
In the last race of the 2007 season at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Patrick Carpentier made his second Busch Series start. The car was the No. 19 sponsored by Stanley.
Chase Miller drove the car as a second GEM car in select Nationwide Series races in 2008, with sponsorship from Cellco Partnerships (a joint venture of Verizon and Vodafone) on the car. The team was retired once the Braun-Petty deal was announced.
In 2002, Casey Atwood ran a Dodge-sponsored No. 19 car at Pocono Raceway in the ARCA Racing Series, winning the race from the pole. [45]
In 2005, Erin Crocker made her ARCA Racing Series debut in a No. 98 Dodge at Nashville Superspeedway. Crocker won the pole, and finished 12th after leading 28 laps. Crocker would run six more races with another pole at Kentucky and five top five finishes. Crocker ran seven more ARCA races in 2006, and moved up to NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series full-time with sponsorship from General Mills brands Cheerios and Betty Crocker. [52] Crocker would score another Kentucky pole and three top tens in ARCA, but the success would not translate in the Truck Series, with a best finish of 16th twice leading to a 25th finish in the championship standings. [37] General Mills would leave at the end of the season, leading the Truck Series team to close. [37] Crocker returned to ARCA for 12 races in 2007, with Mac Tools sponsoring five races. [53] [54] Crocker won the pole at Daytona [55] and her third consecutive Kentucky pole, scoring six top fives and eight total top ten finishes.
Kasey Kenneth Kahne is an American dirt track racing driver and former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2018, driving the No. 95 Dumont Jets/Procore Technologies Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Leavine Family Racing. Currently, Kahne competes in the High Limit Racing series, driving the No. 9 sprint car for his own team, Kasey Kahne Racing.
Elliott William Barnes Sadler is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. Sadler is one of 36 drivers who have at least one win in each of NASCAR's top three series. A native of Emporia, Virginia, he is the younger brother of former NASCAR driver Hermie Sadler.
The 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 57th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 34th modern-era Cup series. The season began on Saturday, February 12. The ten-race Chase for the Nextel Cup started with the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, September 18, and ended on Sunday, November 20, with the Ford 400.
Jeremy Allen Mayfield is a former American stock car racing driver. He drove cars for the Sadler brothers, T.W. Taylor, Cale Yarborough, Michael Kranefuss, Roger Penske, Ray Evernham, Bill Davis, and Gene Haas. In 2009, he drove for his own team, Mayfield Motorsports.
Casey Lee Atwood is an American former stock car racing driver. A former competitor in NASCAR competition, he is the youngest pole winner in Busch Series history, earning a pole start at the age of 17.
Anthony James Allmendinger, nicknamed "The Dinger,” is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the Nos. 16 and 13 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s for Kaulig Racing.
Bradley Reed Sorenson is an American former professional stock car racing driver and spotter. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 27 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Premium Motorsports, the Nos. 74/77 Camaro for Spire Motorsports, and the No. 7 Camaro for Tommy Baldwin Racing. As of 2024, he works as a spotter for Kaulig Racing's No. 11 of Josh Williams in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Sorenson began competing in NASCAR in 2004 as a Busch Series driver; he has four wins in the series. His first Cup start came in 2005 before moving to a full schedule the following year.
Raymond Donald Evernham Jr. is an American consultant for Hendrick Companies, formerly an auto racing crew chief for Bill Davis Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, owner of his own team Evernham Motorsports from 2001 to 2010, and analyst for ESPN's NASCAR coverage. A three time Winston Cup Series Champion with driver Jeff Gordon, in 1999, Evernham won the NASCAR Winston Cup Illustrated "Person of the Year". Evernham was inducted to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Class of 2018.
Erin Mary Crocker Evernham is an American race car driver and broadcaster with the Motor Racing Network's Winged Nation. In the past, she played soccer, tennis, and varsity lacrosse on both her high school and college teams. She eventually moved to focus more on building a family after starting a personal relationship with her team owner and superior, Ray Evernham, whom she eventually married.
The 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 58th season of professional Stock car racing in the United States and the 35th modern-era NASCAR Cup series season. It was started at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 12 with the Budweiser Shootout and ended on Monday, November 20, with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Chase for the Nextel Cup began with the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, September 17, at New Hampshire International Speedway. This was the last full-time season with the Gen 4 car.
Ultra Motorsports was a NASCAR Winston Cup and Craftsman Truck Series racing team. Jim Smith helped start the team and the Craftsman Truck Series. It ran full-time in the Craftsman Truck Series from 1995 to 2005, earning 31 series wins and a championship in 2005 with Ted Musgrave. Early in 2006, Ultra announced that they would close up shop after a fallout with Ford.
The 2007 3M Performance 400 was the 23rd race in the 2007 NASCAR season was scheduled to be held on Sunday, August 19, 2007 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. However, a day-long rain postponed the race until August 20, but another rainstorm postponed the race until the following day.
Akins Motorsports, formerly Akins-Sutton Motorsports was a NASCAR team based in Mooresville, North Carolina, which is near Charlotte. The team was formed in 1992 by Brad Akins, owner of several car dealerships in Georgia and team pit crew member, and Bob Sutton who served as the team's financial manager. At the time the team was sold to Braun Racing in 2006, it was owned by longtime team general manager Doug Stringer. The team was known for its Great Clips-sponsored #38 team in the Busch Series, which was later fielded by Braun Racing and Turner Scott Motorsports.
The 2008 Toyota/Save Mart 350 was the sixteenth race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, and the first of two scheduled road course races on the 2008 schedule. The event was held on Sunday, June 22, 2008, at Infineon Raceway at Sears Point in Sonoma, California, televised on TNT starting at 3:30 PM US EDT, and broadcast on radio via Sirius Satellite Radio and Performance Racing Network starting at 4 PM US EDT.
The 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 61st season of professional stock car racing in the United States, the 38th modern-era Cup series, and the last Cup season of the 21st century's first decade, the 2000s. The season included 36 races and two exhibition races with the regular season beginning with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway and ending with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The final ten races were known as 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup. Rick Hendrick won the Owners' Championship, while Jimmie Johnson won the Drivers' Championship with a fifth-place finish at the final race of the season. Chevrolet won the Manufacturers' Championship with 248 points.
Kenneth Francis is an American NASCAR crew chief. He began his racing career at the age of eight, racing go-karts. He continued to drive the race car until 1996 when he began working on engines for Butch Mock Motorsports. Six years later, Francis became a crew chief for the first time while he was employed at Robert Yates Racing. He is currently employed at Hendrick Motorsports as the Vehicle Technical Director organization-wide.
Curb Racing is a former NASCAR team competing mainly in the Sprint Cup Series and Xfinity Series from 1984 to 2011. The team was owned by Mike Curb, CEO of Curb Records and 45th Lieutenant Governor of California. Curb also had numerous business partners affiliated with his NASCAR operations, including Gary Baker, Cary Agajanian, John Andretti, and Donald Laird. The team fielded cars for several notable NASCAR drivers, including Richard Petty, Dale Jarrett, Jimmie Johnson, and Greg Biffle.
Michael Gene Shiplett is an American NASCAR crew chief who works for Bret Holmes Racing as Bret Holmes's crew chief.
Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded as a result of the merger between Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM) and Petty Enterprises, with former Montreal Canadiens and Liverpool F.C. owner George Gillett having a controlling interest in the organization. In late 2009, the team merged with Yates Racing and consequently switched to Ford for the 2010 season. Evernham had no involvement in the team by this time.
The 2004 Samsung/Radio Shock 500 was the seventh stock car race of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season and the eighth iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 4, 2004, before a crowd of 216,000 in Fort Worth, Texas at Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent tri-oval shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 334 laps to complete. At race's end, Elliott Sadler of Robert Yates Racing would win in a photo finish against Kasey Kahne of Evernham Motorsports to win his second career NASCAR Nextel Cup Series win and his first win of the season. Sadler would win by 0.028 seconds over Kahne. To fill out the podium, Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports would finish third.