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 struggled after Evernham expanded to three cars, and the owner/driver relationship fell apart as things worsened. Mayfield filed an injunction when Evernham tried to kick him out of the No. 19 Dodge, and the two eventually reached an out-of-court settlement to part ways.

Both sides made serious accusations during their brief court battle, with Evernham claiming Mayfield deliberately was tanking this season. Mayfield, in turn, claimed Evernham was spending too much time with developmental driver Erin Crocker and not enough on his Nextel Cup teams. He also alleged Evernham was having ``a close personal relationship'' with the 22-year-old Crocker.

It opened up Evernham, who won three championships as Jeff Gordon's crew chief and built his team from scratch, to a wave of criticism throughout the garage. But he said Saturday he's weathered the storm.

``I don't care what people say about my personal life, I really don't and I won't discuss it,'' Evernham said. ``But when you question my work ethic, that's ridiculous. That's what makes me mad. Don't ever claim that I am not giving everything I have to this company.''

Elliott Sadler, who replaced Mayfield in the No. 19, said he's been impressed with Evernham's attentiveness to his team and said he's found Mayfield's allegations of an ``absentee owner'' to be unfounded. Sadler drove the No. 19 to its first top-10 finish of the season in his debut last week in Michigan, and he qualified ninth for Saturday night's race.

``We're ready to move on, and I have an entire organization behind me for the first time in a long time,'' Evernham said. ``Things are finally good again.''

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TOYOTA'S STEPS: Toyota officials have been quietly working their way around Bristol's garage area, celebrating as their 2007 lineups near completion.

Bill Davis Racing locked up plans Friday by hiring Jeremy Mayfield to join Dave Blaney at the two-car team.

``We think Jeremy is going to be a hell of an addition,'' said Les Unger, Toyota's motorsports manager. ``Dave and Jeremy should get along well and really be able to do a lot for Bill. We're very pleased with the way things are shaping up.''

Mayfield is a two-time Chase for the championship contender with five career victories who only became available in July when car owner Ray Evernham freed him to talk to other teams.

Toyota now has five of its seven drivers lined up for 2007. Team Red Bull needs to hire a teammate for Brian Vickers, and Michael Waltrip is still looking for a third driver for his startup.

Unger said the Camry has been submitted to NASCAR for approval _ and NASCAR officials signed off on it _ and the bulk of its 2007 engine has been turned in. Toyota also is moving forward on its production of the Car of Tomorrow and an upgraded Tundra for the Truck Series.

``We really feel like we are maintaining the timeline we set for ourselves, and the timetable NASCAR has mandated for all of our submissions,'' Unger said. ``We're moving along and looking forward to next year.''

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SLUGGER'S NEW GIG: Slugger Labbe spent the weekend working with Tennessee native Sterling Marlin's team, the first step in what will be a bigger role with MB2 Motorports.

Labbe was released from Robert Yates Racing earlier this month as that team begins a total overhaul before 2007. MB2, which recently took on a new majority owner in developer Bobby Ginn, is expected to expand and brought Labbe in to help coordinate the growth.

``They've laid out a good plan and it looks like they're headed for a bright future,'' Labbe said. ``It's a good opportunity for me. Right now I'm just a consultant, but when we expand in 2007 there will be a lot of things for me to do.''

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SPLIT THE TICKETS: Race fan Melissa Hall and her husband spent more than five years on a wait list for season tickets at Bristol Motor Speedway _ one of the toughest tickets in NASCAR.

When the track finally called with their opportunity to buy, her marriage was nearing its end. So when the house and personal belongings were being split up, the tickets went into the settlement.

Hall, of Bradenton, Fla., gets the two suite seats in the Earnhardt Terrace for one race a year and ex-husband Barry Cowell gets the other. They alternate which race they get each year, so Hall was at Bristol for ``The Night Race'' on Saturday night.

She brought her father, Emerson, who was attending his first Bristol event.

``We waited so long to get the tickets, and we only had them about a year before we got divorced,'' she said. ``We both decided there was no way we are getting rid of these tickets, so we just found a way to make it work. He was at the spring race, I got the night race, and it will be vice versa next year.''

The tickets cost approximately $6,000 US for the season.