Ray Evernham Quotations

We are already planning for next year, and we recognize that we need to make several changes to regain the momentum this team had earlier in the year and to ensure we have the right people in the right places to win races and a championship.

When they told me, I don't know, I was blown away. I was fortunate to have a great team with Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon and all the Rainbow Warriors.

Last year we just couldn't really figure out what the car wanted. We felt like there was a lot more potential. ... My guys ... were right.

Scott has shown he can be a winner in NASCAR's Busch and Craftsman Truck series and we look forward to getting him to the winner's circle next season in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series in the No. 10 Valvoline Dodge Charger.

Most of the sponsors and partners you deal with are interested in what your Joyce Julius television numbers are, what your number of impressions are,

I can't ever remember him not responding in a clutch situation. He's what I call a big-money player. Whenever there was a big challenge or big money on the line he would seem to step up.

I can't ever remember him not responding in a clutch situation,

He's had some bad luck, and now, people are unhappy. I guess that's to be expected.

He just doesn't feel like his cars felt like last year.

We are going to run the full (NASCAR Craftsman) Truck Series. We are going to run six Busch races and probably six or seven ARCA races. At this time, it's the best way for our program. Our ultimate goal is to get Erin Crocker to be competitive at the Nextel Cup level. We are just looking at changing our steps a little bit, and we feel that the plan now is a little better plan than we originally came up with.

Just like major corporations move their leadership teams into new assignments every 12 to 24 months to expand their experience and collectively build the organization, we want to share our Group IQ to increase our performance and success,

Right now, the car has not completed a successful test. We need to get that done first. They need to settle down the rules, and they need to find a direction and then we'll build them.

Pit stops have become such a big, big part of our sport. I'm proud to see they're starting to get some of the recognition I think they deserve.

Really, there's a part of me that's concerned, and there's a part of me that takes my hat off to Jack Roush. It's pretty amazing what the man's done. I don't think that NASCAR can be concerned, because everybody else had the same opportunity Roush had. He's been able to capitalize on it.

NASCAR has done a great job branding, a great job marketing, helping everyone with business. But, right now, it's time to focus on what competition's going to be five years from now.

We're excited about the opportunity to work with Scott Riggs,

We knew we had to be exactly right on the money to do this. We had a car again that was fast enough, and we had a problem in the pits.

We saw guys who had pretty good cars and they would lose a second or two on pit road and never be able to make it up. We decided to go after the more athletic side of it.

We've just missed it aerodynamically with the new body on this car,

We've qualified for the Chase for the championship for the second year in a row, but we have high expectations for this team, both for the remainder of the 2005 season and for next year,

and we're going to lend our trucks and truck drivers to take some product down there.

Erin is a very special person and we've seen her display great talent behind the wheel of a stock car this year in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. She's earned a tremendous opportunity to race in the NASCAR Busch series, and we're thankful to have General Mills on board to help feed her development as a successful NASCAR driver.

Erin not having raced on pavement a lot and not having raced traffic and things like that, we felt this would be a better way to get more experience racing without having all the pressure. In fairness to her, I want her to learn without people running all over her all of the time.

There's a good chance there will be some announcements coming up about Anthony teaming up with somebody else that we supply motors for, ... We are working on that, but Anthony is one of the choices for a development driver.

Is she ready to win? No. Is she ready to start her Busch Grand National career? Absolutely.

Is she ready to start her Busch career? Absolutely, ... Is she ready to win? No. She performed above expectations in ARCA.

No matter how good he is, they've got to step up.

The more aerodynamics become involved, the more Dodges seem to suffer,

This is the next step in our quest for a championship,

It's a tough blow. It's a real kick in the pants, but the only choice is you either quit or go on. You don't want to quit, so you just have to put it behind you and go on.

It's a big issue, but as with any sport, that's what happens. What's enough? At some point you've got to say, 'It's enough. Here's what we're going to do; that's all we're going to do.' But then you have agents and you have all these people. They want more, more, more, more, more. You can only do so much.

It's a real kick in the pants. We brought a car that was fast enough to make it on time and had a problem with a gear in qualifying. We knew we had to be exactly right on the money (today), and we had a problem in the pits.

It just blows me away. For the honor to come from people who know the business means a lot more than anything else you'll ever get. This means a great deal to me.

It's pretty stressful. I think last year we were even in a tighter spot. It was even tougher back then, ... Unfortunately your team is rated now on whether you make the Chase ... and everything you do all season long, no matter how good or bad you were, people are going to look back and see if you made that Chase.

It's like having three kids and two of them are doing really well. You're more concerned about the one who isn't.

It's like having three kids and two are doing well, but you're more concerned about the one who isn't. We've got to figure out why they're struggling.

The biggest difference between an athlete like Michael Jordan or someone we always compare Jeff to is the fact that those guys can rely largely on their athletic ability. In our world, no matter how good your athletic ability or your driving ability, you still depend largely on whether you've got the car to get the job done.

It'll set us back some, but we don't know yet how far. We've got to fight hard. I think we're probably a little bit further ahead with our program than Robby was at that time because we've got cars done, we've got things done.

I'm not really a gambler, but I know if you go to Vegas and bet five numbers instead of one that your odds are better of winning. His odds are certainly better than anybody's right now.

I'm very loyal to my friends and family in New Jersey. When someone I went to high school with calls and asks for help, I'm going to do what I can to get the word out.

I'm working on my stuff to get it going fast. That's what I've got to race.

If somebody has come up with a solution that works on the race track, I have not seen it. If it was the Wind Tunnel 500, we would have won that by now.

If you finish 43rd and the other guys finish in the 20s, there's still a lot of cars separating you. If you want it to come down to where all 10 guys have a shot, then it would be great to just be racing 10 guys.

If you're going to race it, you've got to have it. You've got to build it. You've got to test it. They've got to design a tire around it. They've got to get settled in on the rules. The rules for that car are not settled in yet. What are the aerodynamic rules for that car? I've got to build 20 of them, but there are no rules yet. The clock is ticking.

I don't know if NASCAR should be concerned, but I'm concerned. Really, there's a part of me that's concerned, and there's a part of me that takes my hat off to Jack Roush. It's pretty amazing what the man's done.

He's very interested in being a team owner, and I want to help him get started just like Rick Hendrick helped me get started,

I can't stand here and say it's the guy with the most money. I think it's the guy that, right now, has got the best stuff.

The Charger we believe still has a lot more potential in it than the Intrepid.

You won't. (Roush) didn't either, if you remember. He went from one car, and then when he added a second car, it wasn't very good. And then the third car was worse. So he struggled for a while, too, as did Hendrick and everybody else.

The job of the crew chief has certainly changed since I held that position, ... Today, the job of the crew chief is almost too big for one person. When you consider the growing responsibilities of managing the big picture for the team, overseeing all of the details for each race weekend, guiding all of the people and still having time to focus on the competition, it's a challenge.