Joe Gibbs Racing To Toyota?
Joe Gibbs Racing still hasn’t announced whether it will switch to Toyotas next year, but the buzz is that it will. Some clues? Tony Stewart’s souvenir trailers were selling merchandise at 50 percent off regular price last week at the Brickyard, Stewart’s home track and a place where the Hoosier native is wildly popular.

Also, a source at Richard Childress Racing said it has been approached by Hall of Fame Racing, a satellite Gibbs team, about buying engines from the newly merged RCR-Dale Earnhardt Inc., engine operation in 2008. Presumably, HOF is hedging its bets, if it ends up not being part of a Gibbs move to Toyota.(Ford Racing)

Evernham-Gillett Deal Done
Today, Ray Evernham and George N. Gillett, Jr. announced the creation of Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM), a partnership combining Evernham Motorsports and the Gillett family where Evernham will remain a substantial owner and retain the title of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The strength of Evernham’s championship on-track performance and Gillett’s off-track sports business experience creates a high-performance, high-energy platform to establish GEM’s value and appeal to fans and sponsors, on and off the track.

Recognizing that the rate of change off-track has exceeded the change on-track in the past few years, Evernham forged a relationship with Gillett, whose diverse holdings offer unique business-to-business opportunities, sponsorship activation and fulfillment that will revolutionize what sponsors can expect from a NASCAR team.

Gillett is the owner of the Montreal Canadiens National Hockey League (NHL) team and a co-owner of the Liverpool Football Club in the English Premier League. Gillett’s other business interests include the Bell Centre, home of the Montreal Canadiens and Gillett Entertainment Group (GEG), producers of some 700 sporting and entertainment events in numerous venues throughout Canada and the United States.

GEM will benefit from Gillett’s existing network of sports and entertainment properties, resorts, auto dealerships and auto franchises offering unique access to sponsors and partners and a powerful global connection that no other team can offer.

“It’s very exciting for me to deliver to sponsors and fans the opportunity to align with a worldwide sports leader,” said Evernham, CEO of GEM. “With the business acumen of the Gillett family and its sports brands, we’ve greatly expanded our reach.

This will allow me to focus on our racing operations and team performance, while the Gillett family will focus on our business operations. It certainly allows us to capitalize on our strengths and position GEM for long-term success both on and off the track.”

“Racing is in my blood,” said Gillett, chairman of Booth Creek Management Corporation (BCMC). “It’s not often you get to partner with a leader with Ray’s reputation, talent and championship legacy.”

Evernham, whom motorsports media voted The Greatest Crew Chief of All Time in 2006, spearheaded Dodge’s re-entry into NASCAR in 2001 and earned a pole position in Dodge’s debut at the Daytona 500 with driver Bill Elliott. Prior to founding Evernham Motorsports, Evernham served as Jeff Gordon’s crew chief, earning three NASCAR NEXTEL Cup championships and 47 wins in just 216 starts.

Gillett’s business interests include: Booth Creek Resort Properties, LLC, the owner of luxury ski and golf resorts in North America; Grand Targhee Ski Resort in Wyoming; WorldCast Holdings, a major fishing guide company in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. Booth Creek’s automotive platform includes Summit Automotive Partners, LLC and Vista Automotive Group, owners of some 14 dealerships and 27 franchises in the United States. Other BCMC holdings are Coleman Natural Foods and Wheat Montana Farms & Bakery.

The transaction was initiated and negotiated by Matthew Doherty at McLaren Capital Partners in Los Angeles. Wachovia Securities advised BCMC. Additional announcements regarding the GEM partnership will be forthcoming.

Eury Jr. Earns Crew Chief Award
Crew Chief Tony Eury Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet team were sitting pretty for the start of the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway. They were starting from the pole and were primed for a solid run in the Pennsylvania 500, hoping to solidify their place in the top 12, the cut off for the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Eury Jr., however, was working overtime once the green flag waved, as his driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., was battling a tight race car that was not getting better, slowly dropping him further down the leader board. Eury Jr. kept a cool head and during a mid-race caution, elected to change the Chevrolet’s shocks. The mechanical alterations, as well as effective pit strategy, brought the No. 8 team back from 26th position, to finish the race with a crucial top five. For his gutsy mid-race decision and highly successful pit strategy, Eury Jr. was awarded the WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Race.

By lap 70 of the 200-lap race, Eury Jr. had targeted the car’s shock package as the problem. Finding the time for the daring mid-race shock change would be difficult as the timely endeavor could result in losing laps. After Earnhardt Jr’s. poor-handling race car eventually got the better of him, causing him to spinout on lap 123, Eury Jr. elected to make the change over next few laps of caution. After two lengthy stops the change was made without the team dropping any laps, however, Earnhardt Jr. was now sitting in 26th position. As the remaining laps unfolded, Eury Jr. opted for a two-tire stop during another caution on lap 138, giving Earnhardt valuable track position. With a new and improved Chevrolet, Earnhardt was able to regain the lost speed and handling, fighting his way through the field, finishing the day in second place.

“Once the car got tight, it just kept getting worse and worse,” said Eury Jr. at the conclusion of the race. “We knew it was a top five car so we needed to go for it and make the shock change. We got a bit lucky with the caution only a few laps later, but I can’t say enough about my crew for getting the job done without getting a lap down.”

A panel of voters, including a member of the local media, Kenny Francis, Robbie Reiser and a WYPALL* Wipers representative, agreed Eury Jr’s. mid-race tactics deserved for him to be awarded the crew chief of the race. “That was a gutsy call by Tony, considering it could have been disastrous if they had gone a lap down,” said Reiser on Eury Jr’s. decision. “It paid off for them big time and really put them back in the race.”

As the WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Race, Eury Jr. received $1,000. Earning his second crew chief of the race award puts Eury Jr. tied for second in the overall standings. Robbie Reiser is currently leading with three wins. Tony Eury Jr., Larry Carter, Mike Ford, Donnie Wingo, and Chad Knaus are tied for second, each with two wins. Jimmy Elledge, Tony Gibson, Steve Letarte, Mike Nelson, Darian Grubb, Alan Gustafson, Chip Bolin and Ryan Pemberton each have one win. At the end of the season, the crew chief with the most wins will receive $20,000 and be crowned WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Year.

Race and Commercial Breakdown For The Pennsylvania 500