Trouble in Turn2

What Happened

After a breakthrough 2006, Evernham Motorsports tumbled out of the Chase, went winless and didn’t dust itself off until it was too late. Top driver Kasey Kahne didn’t win a race, scored his first top 5 in August and had only 8 top 10’s all season. He was usually fast on Fridays, but would sink like a mob-hit victim in concrete shoes on Sundays.

The season began on a good note. Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler both scored top 10’s at Daytona. After missing the 2006 Daytona 500 Scott Riggs, by virtue of his top 35 owner points position made the race and finished 37th. Restrictor plate races had been a hole in the team in past seasons, but the results marked progress. Surprisingly the problems began the following week on an intermediate track and perpetuated for the rest of the season.

Meanwhile Elliott Sadler avoided trouble but with poor handling cars on a weekly basis, he was merely turning laps. He hovered around the top 20 all year.

What Went Well

Evernham was able to at least solve some of the issues on the #9 car and by late summer Kahne was again running in the top ten. His best effort came at Bristol when he dominated. Winning the pole, leading 305 laps and finishing 2nd to Carl Edwards. Of his 8 top ten finishes, 6 came in the final 12 races, including four on intermediate tracks.

Since his rookie year, Kahne has also been one of the best qualifiers in Cup. That continued in 2007 when he scored two poles and had an average start of 14.3.

Following a recent trend in NASCAR Evernham brought George Gillett on as an investor. With the new capital, Evernham pledged to return to the racing aspects of the business. It’s a long term solution that one hand puts Evernham in a position where he is most effective-in the shop. On the other hand, Evernham’s entire business philosophy was to build the company so that it wouldn’t be so reliant on one or two individuals. Additional revenue is also on its way in the form of new sponsorship for 2008. Budweiser and Best Buy will cover Kahne and Sadler’s respective cars.

What Went Wrong

How much time do you have? The team went winless, no driver made the Chase, all three cars combined to lead a meager 336 laps, Scott Riggs struggled to qualify, all three teams were penalized for cheating at Daytona.

Kahne and Riggs began the year with resounding bangs. The problem was that the bangs came from crashes, blown engines and banging their heads on the wall in frustration. By race #5 Riggs had dropped from the safety zone of the top 35 and Kahne sat in 35th. Kahne eventually clawed his way back to respectability, but Riggs spent the rest of the season chasing the ground they had gained in 2006. The result was Riggs walking away from the team for a ride at Haas CNC, while Evernham hired open wheel driver Patrick Carpentier to fill the #10 car’s seat.

Elliott Sadler had a forgettable season as well. His 25th place finish and measly two top tens was his worst effort since 2000. He did have a great car at Bristol until a flat tire spoiled his fun. Team director Josh Browne was let go after the season, marking a fresh start for 2008.

Midway through the season Evernham admitted he allowed the team to go in the wrong direction for too long. He immediately regained more control of the daily racing operations and the results came quickly. He also conceded his relationship with development driver Erin Crocker may have stolen his attention from the Cup program.

Past Team Reviews

DEI|Michael Waltrip Racing|Penske Racing|Haas-CNC|Team Red Bull|Joe Gibbs

• Announcing the first ever Trouble in Turn 2 Giveaway. It’s a UPS truck.

  

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