Ray Evernham News

What a roller-coaster year its been for Ray Evernham, the car owner who hoped to use the Chase for the championship as a springboard to lift him from this season of strife, struggle and, yes, scandal. Instead, he found himself in that same old rut Monday, a day after Kasey Kahne's 38th-place finish pretty much eliminated him from Nextel Cup contention. After a frantic push to even make the 10-race ...

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) _ Ray Evernham was in a celebratory mood at Bristol Motor Speedway, able to enjoy his 49th birthday before the start of Saturday night's race. ``I'm having a great day,'' the car owner said. ``I finally feel like I have a team again.'' Evernham is moving forward following his ugly split with driver Jeremy Mayfield. He fired Mayfield two weeks ago, ending a four-year relationship that seemingly was good until this season. But Mayfield's team ...