Evernham celebrates new team

Sunday, August 27, 2006 The attempt to fire Jeremy Mayfield led to an out-of-court settlement. 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. Storm of criticism 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." 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." Saturday's race was not completed in time for today's edition. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.