Evernham strikes back as work ethic questioned
By Marty Smith, NASCAR.COM
August 26, 2006
05:52 PM EDT (21:52 GMT)
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BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Ray Evernham stares at his feet inside the No. 9 transporter, arms folded. He is closed, lock-tight. Ticked. Then the topic is broached, and he begins to answer.

As the words spill out he lifts his head slowly, locks eyes with the questioner. His gaze is piercing. The arms unfold and the hands clutch the counter. Veins pop. He is agitated.

Kasey Kahne and Ray Evernham
Kasey Kahne is trying to put a Ray Evernham car in the Chase for the third consecutive year. Credit: Autostock

In recent weeks his work ethic has been questioned. The tireless pursuit of perfection that has long defined him, that made him legend, is tarnished.

His rebuttal is simple: Say what you want about my personal life, but don't ask. And never question my desire.

Questions about any personal relationship with developmental driver Erin Crocker will not be addressed. Ask until you're blue in the face. Ask 10 different ways. He doesn't see where it has any bearing on the overall performance or well-being of Evernham Motorsports.

"I didn't talk about it before this and nothing's changed," he said. "If people will crucify you for having a personal life, I'm sorry."

Above all else, don't question his want to succeed, to win. Don't mock a weekly schedule that includes multiple conference calls, internal meetings, external meetings with sponsors, bankers and lawyers, two sponsor appearances, 55 hours spent in the office and 40 more at the racetrack.

All said, he'll make 110 appearances on behalf of EMS sponsors this year.

He wants people to know that. He certainly wanted me to know that.

This is our conversation Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway, verbatim:


So you're extremely frustrated with people commenting about your commitment, and you reputation?

Evernham: Allegations are allegations. I guess that's exactly what those are. I'm more frustrated about the fact that my work ethic is being challenged for the way I've worked the past 15 years in the sport.

I'm at my shop every day. I'm a seven-day-a-week person. Along with 110 appearances, I run my company. I run all my companies. I have five or six different companies, including one in England that I run. I've built this thing.

I think that upset me more than anything else, the fact that I always had a good reputation for working and managing. I have put together a plan as this company grows. I started with five people six years ago. I got 330 people now.

Am I as hands-on with the car as I used to be? No. But there's not another owner in the sport other than Jack Roush that's as hands-on as I am. And if you're going to grow and face the big business and face Toyota and face the people that are coming, you've got to learn big business.

People are going to say whatever they're going to say about my personal life, but my work ethic being questioned, I take issue with that.

You've said you wouldn't talk about your personal life, but it's important. People are trashing you.

Evernham: I know, Marty. But all you can do is all you can do. People are going to have their opinion in life. But as I've said, I never have let my personal life get involved with my professional life.

I've been through some tragedies. I've been through years of battling leukemia with my son. I've been through an awful lot, and I never let any of that affect [my professional life].

Right now we're going through some hard times personally, but I don't let it affect me. I work. Talk to other people in the sport. My personal life stays separate. I keep it that way.

So it hasn't been a distraction at all?

Erin Crocker and Ray Evernham
Erin Crocker drives for Ray Evernham in the ARCA and Truck series. Credit: Autostock

Evernham: My personal life -- I will guarantee you it's been anything but that. I have a tendency to work harder so that it doesn't become a distraction. And I have separated all of the things, completely, so there is no way that it can be a distraction to anything Evernham Motorsports has going on.

I manage the company the same way I always have managed, and keep anything that I could affect personally out of my control.

Can you see how someone could infer that, though, when you're at an ARCA race or a Truck race? Is it unfair to infer that it's a distraction?

Evernham: I think it's unfair, because, again, if my company is strong and I have good people in place and I don't take days off -- I don't understand the difference in taking a day off to go to the beach or taking a day off and going to the ARCA race.

When you have an ARCA or Truck sponsor that you're committed to for 40 appearances and you have to make sure the performance of that is right, too, that's all part of Evernham Motorsports.

Again, it's not like it's a day off when I'm going to a Truck race or an ARCA race. I've missed some Busch races, I've missed some Truck races, I've missed some ARCA races and I've missed some Cup races. I haven't made it to all of anybody's races.

What about the company as a whole? Has this situation been a distraction to the company? Some people point to that, given Kasey Kahne's recent struggles, despite the fact that he wrecked out of two of the last three races on the last lap.


Evernham: A lot of things have happened to the 9 team that have no effect on [my personal life]. If you look at what's hurt the 9 team it's engine failures and some crashes. Other than that it's been a top-10 car everywhere they've gone.

The 10 car [Scott Riggs] is right on the schedule we put it on. Look back over the notes, try and find me a first-year team that's done as well as they're doing.

The 19 car has struggled, and we've worked hard on that, my team and my staff. I sat everybody down months ago and said, "Hey, let's talk this out. What do we need to do?"

My people are behind me 100 percent, and the people that are close to me know that I'm busting my a** every day to do the right things.

Dodge said last week it was behind you 100 percent, no matter what. Has there been any sponsor?

Evernham: There hasn't been any backlash from any sponsor -- not one. The enemy of any lie is time. And everybody knows we're just going to keep quiet and work and see. I've said this before -- it's not about what you say you're going to do, it's about what you do.

Everybody knows I do work hard, the partners and sponsors that see what's going on here know how much potential this company has and knows we're working on the right things.

Do you have a relationship with Erin Crocker?


Evernham: Again, Marty, I'm not going to talk about my personal life.

Do you have plans to add a fourth team?

Evernham: Yeah, we're trying to do that. We can't do it next year. We're not going to make next year, but we've got some things that I'm in the middle of putting together right now.

The plan really was to go to four teams and we just couldn't get everything together fast enough. But we see the value in adding the 10 car. It really helped our company.

It helped information, our strength there, and we are going to try to get to four teams as quickly as we can.

How's your relationship with Jeremy Mayfield?

Evernham: Honestly...

Does it matter?

Evernham: I don't know. I don't know how to comment on that. I think, in the end, all you have to do is read the court documents and you can figure that out.

Were you shocked?

Evernham: Like I said, I want to talk about going forward. I said everything I had to say in the court documents.

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Hmmmmm, interesting article. Confirms what I already thought about Mr. Erinham (name is the official copyright of Moenemdown11).

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Posted 8/28/2006 9:41 PM ET
By Nate Ryan, USA TODAY

Ray Evernham says his personal life has no impact on his Nextel Cup team.
But he admits the discussion of his personal life could be damaging for a high-profile owner whose three cars answer to more than 60 image-conscious sponsors paying the bills to keep Evernham Motorsports in NASCAR's premier series.

"I do worry about those things," Evernham said. "Obviously what people are saying, maybe it makes our partners nervous or whatever. I've got to just keep showing people that my personal life doesn't affect this business. My son battled leukemia for 2½ years while we were in the middle of championship battles.

"The bottom line is I'm here and working, and there should be enough faith in my past history and the person that I am."

Evernham, who guided Jeff Gordon to three Cup titles as a crew chief before spearheading Dodge's 2001 re-entry into NASCAR, is enduring a trying year. He separated from his wife, Mary, and went through a bitter split with driver Jeremy Mayfield that has kept his team the scuttlebutt of the circuit this summer.

After being fired three weeks ago, Mayfield filed a civil suit that alleged Evernham hadn't spent enough time with his No. 19 Dodge, partly because he was distracted by a "close personal relationship" with Craftsman Truck Series driver Erin Crocker.

Evernham won't answer questions about Crocker, 25, but he bristles at the suggestion he has become an absentee owner. Evernham, who will make more than 110 sponsor appearances this year, estimates he works about 90 hours a week managing the team at the track and its 250,000-square-foot headquarters in Statesville, N.C. The team added a third car this year for Scott Riggs, and Kasey Kahne is tied for the series lead with four victories.

"We're having the best year performance-wise and growth-wise we've ever had," said Evernham, who turned 49 Saturday but canceled a birthday dinner with his family last week because of a last-minute sponsor meeting. "I'd certainly drag anyone who thinks I'm not working to do my schedule for a week. While they're cutting the grass, sitting in the pool, working on their boat or having time with their families, I'm working hard.

"I'm hurt by it, but I'm not going to be bitter. If someone wants to think less of me for having a personal life, there's nothing I can do about it."

Evernham singled out criticism from Speed Channel analyst Jimmy Spencer as unwarranted. On NASCAR RaceDay at Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 20, Spencer said Evernham's team was "failing" after Kahne fell out of the top 10. Spencer said his opinion was based solely on performance.

"If someone's going through a divorce or fooling around with another driver's wife, that's none of my business, and I don't think it's fair game," Spencer said. "I don't think that's got anything to do with racing. But if you don't make the Chase, there's a certain amount of failure in your organization."

With two races until the Chase for the Nextel Cup, Kahne is 90 points out of qualifying for the 10-driver, 10-race title playoff. Even if he doesn't put a car in the Chase for the first time, Evernham said his organization still will have been improved by Mayfield's replacement, Elliott Sadler.

"We're a better team already," he said.

Evernham said his sponsors and crewmembers are "100%" behind him, and he remains committed to being an owner.

"I have a passion for it, and I have 330 employees and families to make sure I provide for," he said. "I'm not the type of person that runs. When I decide to leave this deal, maybe I'll go in the TV booth or maybe I'll work with (NASCAR President) Mike Helton. But when I do, it's going to be on my terms and not because people are saying bad things.

"I want to be remembered for what I did, not what people said I did."


Yeah Smoke, it is very intersting indeed! The more he doesn't say or refuses to talk about the worse it would appear the situation is! Hmmmm...

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I just read the most interesting and informative blog about this and am 'importing' it here for all of you, because it says it all, in my opinion!


Now that The Story That Must Not Be Told has finally started hitting the cyberfan, at least in part -- NASCAR.COM and the Sporting News spell it out, That's Racin' continues to dance around it, and RacingOne settles for condescending Pete Pistone editorials blaming everything on Jeremy Mayfield while running the other way -- can we talk about Erin Crocker and Ray Evernham?

Yeah, it's no one's business; yeah, they're both adults (although their birth certificates state at least in terms of age Evernham is far more adult than Crocker); yeah, a personal relationship is just that; yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. One minor problem with all of the above, though.

It's called business. Business has rules, written not on paper or carved in stone but rather developed through centuries of experience in what does and doesn't work. Said rules say one thing very loud, and very clear.

In the business hierarchy of which you are a part, you never date anyone above or below you in that hierarchy.

Never.

The whys should be obvious to all. Even when both employees are of the same rank within an organization, a romantic relationship is fraught with peril. You are immediately the center of gossip, your commitment to assigned duties will be severely questioned every time you spend any time with the one you're dating while on the job, and should the relationship end... oh, envision being not only in close quarters with your ex throughout the entirety of the work week, but having to interact with them on a strictly professional level when in all likelihood you'd much rather rip each other's lungs out through the nose, all played out in front of your co-workers who will either feel a certain obligation to choose sides or thoroughly enjoy your emotional distress being the office's greatest laugh provider.

Now, take this and include the additional element of dating someone who's either your boss or your underling. We'll examine dating the boss first. If you are a woman, and your boss is a man, and you indulge in a relationship, congratulations on with every kiss kissing your career good-bye. You will earn the immediate antipathy of your co-workers for making yourself the workplace equivalent of a teacher's pet, only more so. Any career advancement you make will be assigned to your performance in bed, not the performance of your duties. Do less than a satisfactory job, and the only reason you're still working there is because you're working it with the jerk in the corner office. Any perks you receive are because you're prostituting yourself. And when the relationship ends, the only difference between you deciding to call it off or him is how long it'll be before you're cleaning out your desk.

Should you be the boss in this scenario, what the hell are you thinking? Is getting some worth it when she has ample ammo for harassment and/or coercion charges stocked and ready, all generously supplied by your lack of self-control? If you're married, you are instant toast the moment she decides to make it so. You have handed her the keys to the kingdom, and if you ever displease her she is not going to given them back without making you bleed. Even if you're single, the stigma of "oh so that's the only way you can get a girl" will hang all over you. Your other employees will hate your guts for anything and everything you do that in the least smacks of favoritism toward your little love muffin. Actually, they'll hate your guts period for making them work under a joke.

Okay, apply the above to the aforementioned. Even should one file the midlife crisis aspect of the scenario -- and let's be honest, gentlemen, how many of us who are in Evernham's position of staring at forty-nine in a week wouldn't consider it a dream come true to be dating a twenty-five year old -- under the "no ones business but their own" category, Evernham and Crocker have created quite the little mess for themselves and each other.

For starters, refer to the job performance issue. How many teams would willingly accept a driver, even a rookie driver, who in the truck series this year has finished in the top twenty a grand total of twice while leading a whopping three laps in sixteen races? Whatever Crocker's accomplishments in sprint cars might be, it hasn't translated into so much as a hint she has the ability to compete in any division of NASCAR. And before anyone says she's done okay in the few ARCA races she's run, bear in mind she has resources most drivers in that series can only dream of poured into her car... while Brent Sherman can and does smoke the ARCA field when he runs there. 'Nuff said about that. This drive for diversity is stuck in neutral. And we're supposed to accept at face value the (ahem) "personal" relationship has nothing to do with how, despite complaining he doesn't have time to breathe between running the business and keeping the sponsor-induced obligations satisfied let alone spend time at the track, Evernham continues to pour himself into Crocker's every appearance because she's the great girl hope of NASCAR? Uh-huhsureyeahright.

Move on to the messages being sent by both parties. What are Crocker's actions telling other female drivers? Sleeping with the boss is an OK way to make sure you stay employed? If the boss does ask you to lay some pipe and you say no, hey thanks Erin for providing him with you as an example why she ought to reconsider? It doesn't matter how qualified you are as a driver, someone will point to Crocker as an example of proof you really got your ride by giving a ride hint hint nudge nudge wink wink? Way to strike a blow for equality there, Ms. Crocker. As to Mr. Evernham, should he attempt to move Crocker up the ranks when she's demonstrated zero ability to handle where she's at, or leave her in trucks if she doesn't start showing signs of belonging there... now that'll make the sponsors happy. Assuming you have any left. I bet Dr. Z is simply ecstatic over this.

Like it or not, NASCAR is a business. Business has rules. Evernham and Crocker have broken one of those rules, and a fundamental one at that. In doing so they have hurt themselves, they have hurt the people they work with, and they have hurt the organization for which they work. Nice going, you two. Hope you have a real long and happy time together. Oh, and by the way, you're not going to be able to blame Jeremy Mayfield for what will happen to you from here on out.


posted by Diecast Dude @ 11:45 PM

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Here is some drama for you! What if Ray calls it quits with Erin Crocker down the road (their personal relationship)! Sleeping with the boss that is a bad thing-you know how bosses can be!!!!!!!!!

You nailed it. I really don't give a damn what he and Erin do. And I don't care what the problem with Jeremy was. I do know that upset in a company causes problems. It seems that now part of the problem is taken care of Kasey is running better. I sure hope all this sh*t stops soon the whole team needs some tranquility. I want my guy in the chase. Thats enought tension to handle he don't need all this other crap.

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Amen to that WV-K!!!

Evernhams teams aren't doing so well! I hope Kasey can make the chase! I know you love Kasey!

gosh evernham is an assH0le, he had a great wife and a kid who he was all about helping with luckemia, now he doesn't give a sh!t, now he breaks up to go out with erin cocker, she is not a girl i would go near, why pick someone so ugly? anyways she will never be takin seriously as a real driver,, she'll be another patty moise... wrecking cars because there are no good women nascar drivers... at least yet..

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Hendrick Power and Ginn Racing and Aric Almirola!

The concept of mixing pleasure with business is an interesting debate at a minimum. As was stated earlier in business it is an unwritten law that relationships do not , cannot, should not happen. My reply to that is BULL. I certainly don't approve of them, never had one and don't understand them .... BUT realistically there is no law and people from ages ago and right on up through until the end of time will attempt to prove that theory as something wrong. In their minds they are right. In my mind it is personal and none of my business. Since very few of us NASCAR followers actually work for Evernham why do we get wound so tight about it. I'm sure that somewhere there is a percentage written of how many times this has been tried and how many times it has failed or succeeded. Do you know those percentages ????? If not then more than likely you really don't care about their personal business. I know I don't.

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