CONCORD, N.C. – NASCAR Hall of Famer Ray Evernham will be at "Hendrick Homecoming" signing his new book, "Trophies and Scars" on Friday, May 24.
Evernham will sign copies of his book, with any purchase of "Trophies and Scars." There will be a question and answer session on the main stage at "Hendrick Homecoming" starting at 9 a.m. ET on May 24, followed by the signing taking place in the Team Center on the Hendrick Motorsports campus. If you bought a copy of Evernham's book after Thursday, May 9, from the Team Store, you can return to have it autographed during his appearance. Unlike the previously announced autograph sessions, there is no raffle registration to get a book signed by Evernham.
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The book, which came out this year, covers Evernham's rise from the Northeast short-track circuit to become one of the top crew chiefs in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series and his life away from the track. Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon, the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet with Evernham atop the pit box, wrote the foreword to the book.
Evernham came to Hendrick Motorsports with Gordon for his first Cup Series start at the end of 1992 as Hendrick Motorsports was putting together a third team. Evernham would be Gordon's crew chief for his rookie campaign in 1993 through the latter part of the 1999 season. After a solid rookie season, the duo struck for two crown-jewel wins in 1994. The first came at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the next came the first run of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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From there, the Evernham-Gordon combo found success in spades. A seven-win 1995 season saw Gordon lead the championship standings for the entire second half to win the organization's first Cup Series title, edging out Dale Earnhardt. That year, Evernham led Gordon to his best single-season mark in laps led (2,610).
Evernham and Gordon followed that up with three straight double-digit win seasons (10 in 1996, 10 in 1997 and 13 in 1998). In 1996, they narrowly lost the championship to teammate Terry Labonte. The following two seasons saw Gordon and Evernham win back-to-back titles. The 1997 season started with Gordon headlining Hendrick Motorsports' 1-2-3 sweep of the 1997 DAYTONA 500, a race highlighted in the documentary "Refuse to Lose."
The 1998 season saw the team put up eye-popping numbers in addition to its 13 wins—a 5.7 average finish, 26 top-five finishes, 28 top-10s, seven poles, and 1,717 laps led. Gordon and Evernham won four straight races that summer, six of seven and seven of nine events. They closed the season with top-five finishes in 19 of the final 20 races—all top-10 finishes.
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The 1999 season saw them win their second DAYTONA 500 together, part of their final five victories. Late that season, Evernham left Hendrick Motorsports to form his own Cup Series team, Evernham Motorsports. He fielded a team for eight seasons with a driver lineup that included NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, future Hendrick Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne, and several others. Evernham won 13 times in the Cup Series as a team owner.
During his time as a crew chief, Evernham is credited with innovating the modern pit stop through the "Rainbow Warriors." He looked to bring in former college athletes to perform the different pit road roles (tire changers, jackman, tire carrier and fueler) to improve the efficiency and speed of pit stops. This has become commonplace in the sport, with most pit crew roles filled by former collegiate athletes, primarily from football. Evernham's impact in the sport is also illustrated by the tree of crew chiefs that came under his tutelage at Hendrick Motorsports—most notably seven-time Cup Series champion, Hall of Famer and Hendrick Motorsports' vice president of competition Chad Knaus as well as NASCAR on NBC analyst Steve Letarte.
Evernham was inducted as part of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2018 and is one of six crew chiefs in the Hall of Fame. After leaving the ownership ranks, he worked in television with ESPN, ABC and NBCSN. Evernham returned to Hendrick Motorsports for a stint as a consultant. He later teamed with NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart to form the Superstar Racing Experience and was part of the initial season in 2021. The three-time champion crew chief is now working to relaunch IROC, the International Race of Champions, which ran from 1973 to 2006. He had begun his career as a mechanic in IROC. On Sunday, May 12, Evernham will be the grand marshal at Darlington Raceway for the spring race at the South Carolina track, where he compiled five wins with Gordon.
RELATED: See where Evernham stacks up on the wins list at Hendrick Motorsports
FAST FACTS OF EVERNHAM'S TIME WITH HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AS A CREW CHIEF
YEARS WITH HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS: 1992-1999
DRIVER: Jeff Gordon
WINS: 47
TOP FIVES: 116
TOP 10S: 140
POLES: 30
LAPS LED: 10,164
CHAMPIONSHIPS: Three (1995, 1997 and 1998)