Evernham Motorsports

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

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

Team history

The Evernham Shop in 2005.

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]

NASCAR Cup Series

Car No. 7 history

Main article: Ultra Motorsports

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]

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	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

Car No. 9 history

See also: Bill Elliott Racing

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.^[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]

Kasey Kahne (2004–2008)

Kasey Kahne's 9 car in his rookie season of 2004.

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.

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	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

Car No. 10 history

Scott Riggs drove the 10 for Evernham from 2006 to 2007.

Main article: MBV Motorsports

Scott Riggs (2006–2007)

Riggs (right) at Las Vegas in 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).^[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]

Patrick Carpentier (2007–2008)

Patrick Carpentier at Daytona in 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.^[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.

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	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

Car No. 19 history

Casey Atwood (2000–2001)

Casey Atwood in the No. 19 at Dover International Speedway in 2001

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.

Jeremy Mayfield (2002–2006)

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]

Elliott Sadler (2006–2008)

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.

Elliott Sadler in the No. 19 in 2008.

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]

Car No. 19 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	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

R&D car history

2002–2007

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.

Car No. 91 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	Owners	Pts
2002	Dick Trickle	91	Dodge	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL DNQ	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL				66th	111
	Hank Parker Jr.																																				CAR 33	PHO
	Casey Atwood																																						HOM 37
2003				DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	TAL	MAR	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC 40	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND 31	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	TAL	KAN	CLT	MAR	ATL	PHO	CAR	HOM	61st	113
2004	Bill Elliott			DAY	CAR	LVS 20	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX 36	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND 9	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	TAL	KAN	CLT	MAR	ATL	PHO	DAR	HOM	48th	595
2005				DAY	CAL 43	LVS	ATL 22	BRI	MAR	TEX 33	PHO	TAL	DAR	RCH	CLT 20	DOV	POC	MCH 35	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND 23	GLN	MCH 11	BRI	CAL 40	RCH	NHA	DOV	TAL	KAN	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX 32	PHO	HOM	45th	695
2007	Boris Said	98		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 40	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	59th	43

Xfinity Series

Car No. 9 history

Tommy Baldwin Racing (2002–2004)

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.

Evernham Motorsports (2005–2008)

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]

Car No. 19 history

Evernham No. 79 (2003, 2005)

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.

Evernham No. 19 (2007–2008)

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.

Truck Series and ARCA

Casey Atwood (2002)

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]

Erin Crocker (2005–2007)

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.

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External links

• Richard Petty Motorsports (Official website)
• Evernham Motorsports owner statistics at Racing-Reference
• Ray Evernham owner statistics at Racing-Reference
• Gillett Evernham Motorsports owner statistics at Racing-Reference