10 years ago Saturday -- Sept. 26, 1999 -- was the end of an era for Jeff Gordon.
For as long as Gordon had been a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver, Ray Evernham had been his crew chief. The run produced three championships and 47 wins but came to end when Evernham decided to start his own venture into Sprint Cup ownership. The questions came quickly.
Would Jeff Gordon have the same success? Or would the loss of Evernham spell the end of Gordon's reign in NASCAR?
10 years later, Gordon's success has proved that Gordon could go it alone just fine, but also leaves the question of what could have been.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dressed casually in jeans and a black, button-down oxford, Ray Evernham leaned back into his chair and twirled the large gold ring on his right ring finger - the ring he received as crew chief for Jeff Gordon's 1999 Daytona 500 victory.
"I've got two of these Daytona 500 rings, but I can't get a parking pass," Evernham joked Wednesday from the infield of the Daytona International Speedway.
A decade ago he was celebrating in victory lane. A year ago he was on the pit box guiding another young driver, Kasey Kahne, to a top-10 finish in the Daytona 500. This week, he had to borrow a parking pass from fellow ESPN television analyst Rusty Wallace.
Welcome to the 2007 NASCAR FanHouse Year in Review. Follow along each day until the end of 2007 as we look back on the top 25 drivers of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series for the 2007 season.
Driver: Elliott Sadler -- Emporia, Virgina Team: No. 19 Dodge Dealers Dodge, Gillette-Evernham Motorsports Points: 25th (-3583) 2006: 22nd Key Stats: 2 Top-10s, 4 DNF's Back in 2008?: Yes, same team
Elliott Sadler's 2007 campaign was a direct showing of the struggle that car owner Ray Evernham's teams had all year.
Sadler's year started well in 2007 after posting a sixth-place finish in the crazy finish of the Daytona 500, but it would be down hill for the rest of the season. Following Daytona in February, Sadler's No. 19 was penalized 25 points for a violation. He wouldn't find the Top-10 again until the LifeLock 400 at Kansas in October.
In between those high points, Sadler frankly struggled the entire way. A late-summer slump saw the No. 19 finish 28th or worse five races in a row. That's a long way removed from his two win, Chase-making season with Robert Yates Racing in 2004.
"It's been a long season for everyone and not the kind of season we expected when we went to Daytona in February. We have work to do this winter. We just have to put this year behind us and get to work on 2008. "
As for 2008, Sadler picked up a new primary sponsor for his No. 19 Dodge in Best Buy. It will be the first complete year under the Gillette-Evernham Motorsports banner for Sadler after Evernham signed a deal with Canadian investor George Gillette, which will hopefully allow the team to spend more money on R & D for all three teams.
Look for 2008 to definitely improve for GEM veterans Sadler and Kasey Kahne after two dismal years in a row.
Gillett-Evernham Motorsports announced today that the Anheuser-Busch product Budweiser will be the primary sponsor on Kasey Kahne's No. 9 starting in 2008 with -- coincidently enough -- the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona.
No terms of the deal were announced, but you've got to imagine Kahne is excited to be switching from Mountain Dew and Dodge commercials to the access a Budweiser sponsorship allows.
"I just think it's the coolest sponsor out there. There's so many things from NASCAR to drag racing to sports. You go to a baseball game, a football game, the Super Bowl, the Final Four, it's everywhere. I think that's going to be really a lot of fun for myself to be able to get involved in some more of these sports and be able to get involved with it."
Think he's talked to Dale Earnhardt Jr. about perks at all in the past few weeks?
Kahne is admittedly already a "beer man", too.
"I've been a beer guy for a while," he said with a laugh. "I like Budweisers."
And Budweiser thought things would be easy jumping up just one car number. Think they knew Kahne was a fan of their product, too?
I think the new ride looks pretty good, too. To change up the scheme a little bit from that of Dale Jr.'s, Budweiser has brought back the bowtie behind the main logo on the hood, among other subtleties. It's not a huge change, but it's enough to recognize. Note: Apologies that the FanHouse can't get a legal photo of anything at today's announcement, but you can check out the GEM website for a little more. Think Kahne gets some of the Clydesdales as well? Also, be sure to come back at 1:00pm/ET on Wednesday for a LIVE BLOG of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s announcement.
Sitting on the pole isn't a bad way for the winless Clint Bowyer to start his first Chase for the Nextel Cup championship. He was the 45th of 49 drivers to qualify and knocked his fellow first-time chaser, Martin Truex Jr., out of the starting spot to score his second career pole.
Truex almost had hist first career pole ... instead he got beat by 0.035 seconds and got his second career front-row start. Bummer. He really wants in next year's Bud Shootout.
Four more chasers qualified in the top 10 ... Matt Kenseth is the rear chaser starting in 30th.
Dave Blaney qualified 10th, well ahead of Ken Schrader in the #21 car in 34th. If they finished that way--or close--Blaney would be back in the top 35.
Penske Racing's IRL driver Sam Hornish Jr. failed in his first Cup qualifying event.
Winners of the Week Ray Evernham and Boris Said. It might be the last spot, but who cares? The fourth Gillett-Evernham Motorsports Dodge entry is in the field. Ditto for Said. When is someone going to give him a full time job? He's got better records than some current full-timers. GEM? CGR? BAM? Any takers? Losers of the Week Michael Waltrip and Jeremy Mayfield both scored their 15th DNQs of the season, Dale Jarrett his 10th. Kevin LePage, who holds the record for most DNQs this season, claimed his 20th. John Andretti is batting 0.500 after failing to qualify for the eighth time 16 attempts.
"I think at this point, I want to earn that credibility back. I want to earn some more respect and go off on my own and do what I came here to do."
"I feel good about my driving. I just want things to be positive again ... I still feel like I can make a difference and make my name in this sport.
Yeah ... good luck with that, honey. You've already made your bed, now you have to lie in it a name for yourself.
Women in motorsports face enough challenges. They don't need one of their own developing a bad reputation for moving up the career ladder swiftly when she starts sleeping with the boss.
Changing Perception Won't Be Easy
For a little longer than a year now I've been reading comments and receiving emails about Crocker and how she has set the advancements for women in racing back decades by getting romantically involved with her owner. Those sentiments haven't changed much now that she and Evernham had a public "coming out" party.
Kasey Kahne confirmed that his phone has been ringing, but that the other owners are dreaming if they think he's going to leave Evernham Motorsports. He claims to have no such plans:
"I've had plenty of different teams calling to talk to me because we're running bad. I haven't talked to any other teams. I have never once talked to another team owner. It's just another reporter putting something out there with no facts. It's not true."
Kahne is signed with EMS through 2010, but is reported to have an exit clause if there is a change in ownership
Team owner Ray Evernham denies Kahne has a way out (or admits he has figured out how to work around it) and says Kahne hasn't given any indication that he wants out. Do they ever?
Evernham:
"Right now what we're trying to do is get this thing sorted out. Kasey has been one of my biggest supporters. The way he's jumped in, you'd think he was my partner. I'm really proud of him."
Hmmm. Kasey, Ray's partner? There's an idea. Maybe Evernham has been looking to the wrong people. The driver / owner thing worked out well for Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick ...
Even though his team doesn't look to appealing this season, NASCAR owner Ray Evernham is still trying to get in on some of this free agent action.
When Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he was leaving DEI, Evernham expressed his interest even though he knew it was a long shot:
"It's like trying to get a date with Jennifer Aniston -- if you see her, you've got to at least ask."
Now that Kyle Busch is available, Evernham is once again raising his hand:
"Quite honestly, I said [to Kyle], 'At least talk to us before you make a decision.' I did let it be known that I want to talk to him. All we can do is lay out the program compared to what else is available for him and see what he thinks of us. His driving ability is just unbelievable. I've worked with other drivers through that [age] period, and I'd like to have another shot to do it again."
While he's anxious to talk, Evernham isn't too keen on the evolution of silly season itself and how it's become a free-for-all:
"There will have to be more controls over who and when you can talk to the crew members and the drivers. If I have a contract with you, and you have two or three more years on your contract and you go and tell me that you've signed with somebody else when your contract is done, you've basically killed my program.
"So sooner or later, there'll be a lawsuit over something like that, and that'll start to change it."
After discovering that sleeping with the boss didn't make her a better driver, Erin Crocker recently closed the book on her year-or-so long personal relationship with NASCAR owner Ray Evernham.
The two remain committed to each other, however, in the development of her racing career.
After a lackluster stint in the Craftsman Truck Series last season, Crocker, 26, returns to ARCA this weekend in Nashville in the #98 EMS Dodge Charger with a renewed determination:
"Part of me is upset because I don't have a big schedule, but at least I'm getting to race. I've had the big hype. What I need now are positive results .... Maybe I was pushed too fast. [Ray's] understanding and he believes I can do it. It's been more difficult than I thought it would be, but I'm determined to succeed in this sport."
Evernham, who closed the #98 Truck team after failing to secure sponsorship for the faltering female driver, has partnered with Mac Tools for their ARCA debut. The Mac Tools Mac Card Dream Garage Sweepstakes will be the main promotional marketing initiative supporting this sponsorship. The four race primary sponsorship will begin with the April 27th race at Kansas Speedway and continue at Kentucky Speedway on May 12th, Pocono Raceway on June 9th and Michigan International Speedway on June 15th.
Crocker has competed in 13 career ARCA events, logging four poles, six top-fives and eight top-10s. In her most recent start at Daytona, she took the pole, becoming only the second woman in ARCA history to lead the field to the green flag at the high banks of Daytona International Speedway.
And the quest for the next female NASCAR driver continues.
They're not the cream of the crop, but they have solid footing in the Top 35 heading to Martinsville. They don't have to worry about qualifying, but they need to make adjustments if they want to secure their spot in the Chase. Here are your teams in the middle of the road:
Chip Ganassi / Felix Sabates: Two teams solidly in the Top 35--the #40 in 11th and the #42 in 19th. Their third team, the #41 isn't faring quite as well in 29th, but they're inside for at least one more week.
The CGRFS cars have gained an average of 3.3 positions from the end of last season.
While the teams cars are on the rise, so is one of the team's stars. Juan Pablo Montoya's entry into NASCAR is one of the most talked about stories in all of auto racing--there's the F1 angle, the international angle, the diversity angle and the he'll push anyone and anything out of his way to win angle ...
Ganassi is also off to a good start in the Indy Racing League, which kicked off Saturday and saw the third one-two finish for Ganassi drivers Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon.
10 years ago Saturday -- Sept. 26, 1999 -- was the end of an era for Jeff Gordon.
Kasey Kahne, this Bud is for you.
Sitting on the pole isn't a bad way for the winless Clint Bowyer to start his first Chase for the Nextel Cup championship. He was the 45th of 49 drivers to qualify and knocked his fellow first-time chaser, Martin Truex Jr., out of the starting spot to score his second career pole. 
Winners of the Week
Since sleeping it away with owner 
Kasey Kahne confirmed that his phone has been ringing, but that the other owners are 
Even though his team doesn't look to appealing this season, NASCAR owner Ray Evernham is still trying to get in on some of this free agent action.
After discovering that sleeping with the boss didn't make her a better driver, Erin Crocker recently closed the book on her year-or-so long personal relationship with NASCAR owner Ray Evernham.
They're not the 
