Evernham thinks Sadler will be good fit with organization's setup
Owner says difference will be communication
Evernham thinks Sadler will be good fit with organization's setup
By David Newton, NASCAR.COM
August 16, 2006
02:11 PM EDT (18:11 GMT)
Ray Evernham hopes improved communication will lead to improved performance for his No. 19 Nextel Cup team now that Elliott Sadler is behind the wheel instead of Jeremy Mayfield.
Sadler will drive his first race for Evernham Motorsports this weekend at Michigan International Speedway.
"We have fought communication and attitude issues kind of all year,'' Evernham said on Wednesday as he announced the signing of Sadler to a multi-year deal. "I believe a fresh attitude with perspective, a different view on things, it can help.
"This business doesn't seem to be about equipment anymore. It's about equipment and about communication.''
The No. 19 car fell out of the top 35 in owners' points guaranteed a spot in the field each week when Mayfield crashed two weeks ago at Indianapolis. He was fired a few days later and replaced last week at Watkins Glen by Bill Elliott.
Sadler, who already had agreed to drive for Evernham next season, then got his immediate release from the No. 38 car at Robert Yates Racing so he could move to the 19 for the rest of this season.
RYR will get a jump on next season with David Gilliland moving to the 38 at Michigan.
Mayfield, who has expressed his disappointment with the performance of the 19 team for several months, will move to Bill Davis Racing in an announcement expected soon.
"You hate to make changes in the middle of year, but when things aren't working sometimes it's better to move forward,'' Evernham said. "We're happy to have a jump on our 2007 plans.''
Evernham didn't place all the blame for the performance of the 19, which made the Chase the past two seasons, on Mayfield.
But he said rumors of change and public comments -- Mayfield questioned Evernham's commitment to the team at Chicago and said before the Indianapolis race he doubted he would return next season -- made the situation worse.
"As you know, when rumors start to get out and when barbs are being thrown back and forth in the media, that completely breaks down the communication of a team,'' Evernham said. "This is about communication.
"It's about performance, and there's got to be trust, honesty and respect on a race team. Sometimes when that performance goes away, those things go away. As hard as you try to save it, you can't.''
Evernham said Mayfield's inability to get comfortable with changes made to the Charger during the offseason also was a factor.
He said the same setups that Kasey Kahne has used to win four races and four poles and Scott Riggs has used to climb to 22nd in points after missing the opener at Daytona didn't work for Mayfield.
When adjustments were made to make the car more like last season, Evernham said, performance got worse.
"I believe in our equipment,'' Evernham insisted. "I believe in our people. I believe in our system. I believe there was a communication breakdown where we could not get the cars to feel the way Jeremy needs them to feel.
"I'm not saying that's totally my responsibility or his. It just happens.''
Evernham said Sadler, who has three career wins, seven poles and 16 top-fives in 271 starts, can change that with "a little more maturity and maybe being surrounded with some people that can help him get the rest of that package in place.''
"Kind of like what we're doing with Kasey Kahne,'' Evernham said. "Kasey was very close to winning some races last year and the year before. We got him more settled down on how to win.
"There's a great amount of potential in Elliott Sadler. He's also got a great amount of marketing value. When you couple those things, there's just a lot more potential with what we see in Elliott.''
Evernham said he initially began talking to Sadler, 31, in July about forming a fourth team at EMS. He said moving into the 19 became the focus when it was apparent Mayfield wouldn't return.
Sadler, who had become disenchanted with the direction of RYR, likes the idea of coming to an organization with a strong engineering program that was lacking at RYR.
"As far as my differences and why I left, I just want to keep it at that,'' said Sadler, who was 20th in points in the No. 38 Ford. "I'm not going to air my dirty laundry with anybody in that situation.
"I just want to talk about moving forward.''
Sadler spent Wednesday testing the Dodge at Kentucky. His initial experience was positive, although he knows working in traffic this weekend will be the true test.
"We know we have a lot of work to do,'' said Sadler, who added he slept better on Tuesday night than he has in a long time knowing everything was settled. "I'm not saying we're going to show up [at Michigan] and blow everybody away, but we think we've got a lot of tools to work with.''
Evernham thinks Sadler will be good fit with organization's setup
By David Newton, NASCAR.COM
August 16, 2006
02:11 PM EDT (18:11 GMT)
Ray Evernham hopes improved communication will lead to improved performance for his No. 19 Nextel Cup team now that Elliott Sadler is behind the wheel instead of Jeremy Mayfield.
Sadler will drive his first race for Evernham Motorsports this weekend at Michigan International Speedway.
"We have fought communication and attitude issues kind of all year,'' Evernham said on Wednesday as he announced the signing of Sadler to a multi-year deal. "I believe a fresh attitude with perspective, a different view on things, it can help.
"This business doesn't seem to be about equipment anymore. It's about equipment and about communication.''
The No. 19 car fell out of the top 35 in owners' points guaranteed a spot in the field each week when Mayfield crashed two weeks ago at Indianapolis. He was fired a few days later and replaced last week at Watkins Glen by Bill Elliott.
Sadler, who already had agreed to drive for Evernham next season, then got his immediate release from the No. 38 car at Robert Yates Racing so he could move to the 19 for the rest of this season.
RYR will get a jump on next season with David Gilliland moving to the 38 at Michigan.
Mayfield, who has expressed his disappointment with the performance of the 19 team for several months, will move to Bill Davis Racing in an announcement expected soon.
"You hate to make changes in the middle of year, but when things aren't working sometimes it's better to move forward,'' Evernham said. "We're happy to have a jump on our 2007 plans.''
Evernham didn't place all the blame for the performance of the 19, which made the Chase the past two seasons, on Mayfield.
But he said rumors of change and public comments -- Mayfield questioned Evernham's commitment to the team at Chicago and said before the Indianapolis race he doubted he would return next season -- made the situation worse.
"As you know, when rumors start to get out and when barbs are being thrown back and forth in the media, that completely breaks down the communication of a team,'' Evernham said. "This is about communication.
"It's about performance, and there's got to be trust, honesty and respect on a race team. Sometimes when that performance goes away, those things go away. As hard as you try to save it, you can't.''
Evernham said Mayfield's inability to get comfortable with changes made to the Charger during the offseason also was a factor.
He said the same setups that Kasey Kahne has used to win four races and four poles and Scott Riggs has used to climb to 22nd in points after missing the opener at Daytona didn't work for Mayfield.
When adjustments were made to make the car more like last season, Evernham said, performance got worse.
"I believe in our equipment,'' Evernham insisted. "I believe in our people. I believe in our system. I believe there was a communication breakdown where we could not get the cars to feel the way Jeremy needs them to feel.
"I'm not saying that's totally my responsibility or his. It just happens.''
Evernham said Sadler, who has three career wins, seven poles and 16 top-fives in 271 starts, can change that with "a little more maturity and maybe being surrounded with some people that can help him get the rest of that package in place.''
"Kind of like what we're doing with Kasey Kahne,'' Evernham said. "Kasey was very close to winning some races last year and the year before. We got him more settled down on how to win.
"There's a great amount of potential in Elliott Sadler. He's also got a great amount of marketing value. When you couple those things, there's just a lot more potential with what we see in Elliott.''
Evernham said he initially began talking to Sadler, 31, in July about forming a fourth team at EMS. He said moving into the 19 became the focus when it was apparent Mayfield wouldn't return.
Sadler, who had become disenchanted with the direction of RYR, likes the idea of coming to an organization with a strong engineering program that was lacking at RYR.
"As far as my differences and why I left, I just want to keep it at that,'' said Sadler, who was 20th in points in the No. 38 Ford. "I'm not going to air my dirty laundry with anybody in that situation.
"I just want to talk about moving forward.''
Sadler spent Wednesday testing the Dodge at Kentucky. His initial experience was positive, although he knows working in traffic this weekend will be the true test.
"We know we have a lot of work to do,'' said Sadler, who added he slept better on Tuesday night than he has in a long time knowing everything was settled. "I'm not saying we're going to show up [at Michigan] and blow everybody away, but we think we've got a lot of tools to work with.''