Gordon-Evernham Reunion?

UPDATE For the first time in almost 20 years, Ray Evernham has no real stake in the Daytona 500. The former crew chief turned car owner is mostly retired after giving up his stake in Gillett Evernham Motorsports. Though he still owns a small portion of the company, which was folded into Richard Petty Motorsports last month, Evernham will work mostly as a consultant while doing some TV work for ESPN on the side. That doesn't mean Evernham, who guided Jeff Gordon to three Cup championships with Hendrick Motorsports before going into business for himself, has lost his need for speed. During a meeting with reporters Wednesday, Evernham passed around a picture of a mock-up of a sleek prototype he hopes will one day set the land speed record for a piston-driven car. Evernham is teaming with good friend and longtime drag racer Doug Herbert on the project. Evernham is handling the financing while Herbert is working on the car. They hope to get it to top 500 mph, well past the current record of 420 mph. AP/NASCAR.com

Before Evernham (L) went off to start Dodge's effort in NASCAR, he and Jeff Gordon (R) were nearly unstoppable

02/09/09 Jeff Gordon opened the door this week to the idea of a reunion with Ray Evernham but it wouldn't be as a crew chief if it ever happened. "We've always stayed great friends, and I admire him and he's a sharp guy and he's done a lot, obviously, in this sport,'' Gordon said. "We're always looking to find ways to make ourselves better. If (an Evernham reunion) was ever the case, it wouldn't be in a crew chief role. If it's an engineer, if it's a team manager, whatever options are out there for anybody we always take them serious. With my experience with Ray being so positive in the past, I certainly wouldn't throw it out. It's not something that is happening, but it's not something that I would ever say never would.''

Asked about a possibility of Evernham returning to Hendrick Motorsports in some fashion, car owner Rick Hendrick didn't say no. Instead, he said that he remains close to Evernham. "We consult with each other all the time,'' Hendrick said. "That hasn't changed since he left. He calls me, and I talk to him. We share information. We talked about the fact that the manufacturers were not going to be around as strong as they are three or four years ago. We think a lot alike, and I respect his knowledge a ton. We talk almost every week. We've been consultants to each other.'' Roanoke Times