Associated Press
The NASCAR notebook …
CHARLOTTE — Former NASCAR crew chief Ray Evernham has signed on as a consultant for one of Rick Hendrick’s companies.
Evernham won three championships in the 1990s as crew chief for Jeff Gordon with Hendrick Motorsports. Now, his company Ray Evernham Enterprises, will consult on special projects for Hendrick Companies.
“Hendrick Performance parts and cars will have a racing pedigree, and Ray is someone who will help ensure that on behalf of our customers and dealers,” Hendrick said in a statement Tuesday.
“He’s assembled a terrific group of people at REE, and I see a lot of opportunities for them to be a valuable resource for our organization on projects like this. I know the kind of high standards Ray sets.”
Rick Hendrick formed Hendrick Companies in 2005 to oversee his strategic initiatives. Evernham’s role will be to help with the development of the Hendrick Performance retail brand of high-performance parts, vehicles, products and related services.
“Rick and I have had many conversations over the years about our passion projects, and there’s so much crossover with what we enjoy working on,” said Evernham. “We both sense an opportunity to do some unique things, whether it’s with performance parts and cars, his dealership business or other ways to build the Hendrick brand.”
Evernham left the Hendrick organization in 1999 to form his own NASCAR team. He’s most recently been a television analyst for ESPN.
The network said Evernham is leaving ESPN for his new role with Hendrick.
“Ray has been a valuable member of our NASCAR team for the past three seasons and we wish him all the best in his new role,” said Rich Feinberg, vice president of motorsports for ESPN.
“If he ever wants to come back, we’d be happy to talk to him.”
CHICAGOLAND
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A former Gatorade executive has been hired as president of Chicagoland Speedway.
International Speedway Corp. on Tuesday picked Scott Paddock to run the suburban Chicago track. The track is preparing to celebrate its 10th year of operation, and will host the opening race in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in September.
Paddock has worked for 15 years in the sports marketing industry. He joined Gatorade in 1998 and was most recently the director of sports marketing.