NASCAR Winston Cup Teleconference Moments

Ray Evernham (Team Owner Evernham Motorsports)

Photo courtesy of NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

"You drop the ball once in awhile."

"You drop the ball once in awhile. That's how you do it. You get a lot of support from a lot of good people. We're growing more and more. I think I've said over and over again that I'm much more comfortable on the mechanical side. My job now is to handle a lot of the administrative stuff. The way you try and deal without dropping the ball is with a good staff of people. I've got some good mechanical and technical people here, and I've also got a good administrative staff. As Winston Cup Racing continues to grow and becomes more and more a huge professional sports franchise, there is a lot more to do. I've been actually looking for help and talking to people out of other business areas, not necessarily to deal with racing, people that understand big companies and big franchises."

Two questions from Gary Larsen of Zoomster.com: The transition from crew chief to owner…has that gone the way you planned?

"No. I didn't know what to plan on. I didn't know what to expect. It has been different. It's been difficult. A day like a Sunday win makes it all worthwhile. I've had to really pay attention to the intangibles. Things you can't touch. When you're a crew chief you tighten a bolt, you change a spring and change a shock. Now it's a lot of planning and people and mental preparation. You don't really feel like you're doing anything that makes a difference. That's the hardest thing for me. Since I'm not hands-on, you don't feel like you're contributing. "

"We've been able to put together a program that did put Dodge in the winner's circle and put Bill Elliot back in the winner's circle. It's gives guys like Mike Ford and the 9 team the opportunity to be a part of a winning team and step up. I feel proud that some of my experience maybe has helped those guys get in a position that they are able to accomplish the things that I used to accomplish on their own."

"Bill Elliot and I were the perfect mix for one another. He was the perfect guy for me and I was the perfect guy for him. He had a race team that didn't have a sponsor and I had a sponsor that was trying to build a race team. Under all those years, injuries and the stress of losing sponsors, there was a great race car driver. He's healthy and he's confident right now. Right now Bill Elliot is as good as anybody on the race track."

"Bill gives 100% every week. When he gets out of that car at the end of the day, there's nothing left. Bill is really good at moving that car around to find out where it's going to go the fastest. That's what separates the good drivers from the great drivers. He wants to win races really bad.

"Bill was the guy. Bill has been the perfect guy for me…the back bone of this organization. I want to make sure he reaps the rewards. It couldn't have been more perfect timing. Dodge was very excited because of Bill's past. Dodge has been a great partner. They want to be involved but they don't question the decisions I make.

"We're going to look at young guys with driver development. Bill and I don't talk about retirement. He can drive that car as long as he wants to drive it. Ultimately time is not on his side. If he doesn't want to drive, he is welcome to be a part o of my organization as long as he chooses to be. Right now, I'm going to keep feeding Bill those special milk shakes and hope he stays for while."

"Bill Elliot has what I call it a high racing IQ. A lot of guys can drive a car fast, but fast isn't what wins you races. Guys that calculate and communicate with the crew win races. A guy who is smart figures out how to win or how to take a 10th place car and make it into a 5th place car, and then take a 5th place car and win with it.

"No matter how good you think you are; time passes you by. The best thing I can do with my guys is give them good advice, give them the resources to get their job done and stay out of their way."