Jeff Gordon and Ray Evernham had one of the most unforgettable driver-crew chief partnerships that NASCAR has seen. The duo won 47 races and 3 Cup Series titles over seven full-time seasons. In every sense, Evernham played a crucial role in molding Gordon into the racing legend he is regarded today. And like most things in NASCAR, their tale of togetherness began by chance.
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Back in 1991, veteran broadcaster Mike Joy had Alan Kulwicki hire Evernham to work on his team, AK Racing. Kulwicki was one of those rare drivers who had a strong mind for engineering and was known for his obsession with perfectionism. This almost immediately caused sparks to fly between him and his new hire. After just 6 weeks together, the two got into a big clash in Daytona and decided to part ways.
Appearing on Kevin Harvick’s podcast recently, Evernham narrated the sequence of events that went down that fateful day. “The day before the Daytona 500, we got into a shoving match,” he said. “Almost like a fistfight. I quit, he fired me, the whole deal. I am walking out the gate of Daytona and I bumped into Preston Miller and Lee Morse from Ford.”
Miller and Morse were engineers who worked for Ford. Impressed by Evernham’s body of work, they offered him the chance to join one of the carmaker’s teams outside the Winston Cup Series. Gordon had just then joined Busch Series outfit Bill Davis Racing and expressed an interest in Evernham – whom he’d worked with briefly in 1990.
With the pieces falling together, Evernham shook hands with Bill Davis Racing and Gordon to kickstart what would come to be a rich history.
The condition that Rick Hendrick forced on Evernham before signing him for Hendrick Motorsports
Continuing his chat with Harvick, Evernham revealed the one condition that Rick Hendrick had before he signed him up alongside Gordon full-time in 1993. Up until then, Evernham hadn’t worked under the title of a crew chief. “I’m the chassis guy, right? I’m the spring shock, set-your-car-up… I am that guy,” he told Harvick and continued how Mr. Hendrick had forced him to accept being the crew chief despite his inexperience in the role.
Gordon played a huge role in Evernham being brought to Hendrick Motorsports. The duo continued their work from Bill Davis Racing to the Hendrick team in the Cup Series and began posting great results right off the start line. Over 216 starts with Gordon in the Cup Series, Evernham scored 47 wins, 116 top fives, and 140 top tens.
