Ray Evernham has history with Valvoline. Credit: Autostock

Valvoline to partner with Evernham next year

Dodge team will field third Nextel Cup Series team in 2006

STATESVILLE, N.C. -- Evernham Motorsports on Friday announced that it has agreed in principle to form a partnership with Valvoline to create Valvoline Evernham Racing LLC, which will campaign the No. 10 Valvoline Dodge Charger for the 2006 season.

Inside the Numbers Evernham Motorsports' Nextel Cup record Category Stat Starts 336 Wins 6 Top-5s 51 Top-10s 89 Poles 16 Avg. Start 15.7 Avg. Finish 19.8

Under the arrangement, Valvoline will be the primary sponsor on the No. 10 Valvoline Dodge Charger for a majority of the races and will be a major associate sponsor on the No. 10 Dodge Charger for the remaining races in the season. A driver and crew chief for the team will be announced at a later date. Much of the team personnel will transfer to the No. 10 team from Evernham Motorsports' No. 91 team.

"This is the next step in our quest for a championship," said Ray Evernham, president and CEO of Evernham Motorsports. "In today's competitive environment, you need a multiple-car team to win races and championships. When you have more race teams, it speeds your development and learning tremendously. With this expansion, we can compete more effectively against other multiple-car organizations.

"Having Valvoline as a partner -- not just a sponsor -- makes this an incredible program," Evernham said. "They have been a tremendous supporter of mine for many years, and our relationship has now grown into joint ownership of a team. Valvoline has a great history in this sport, and a deep understanding of what it takes to be successful. I look forward to winning championships with them."

The third team will be housed out of the new third facility at Evernham Motorsports headquarters in Statesville, NC. It will lease engines and shop space from Evernham Motorsports and have full access to Evernham R&D.

The team expansion allows Evernham Motorsports to continue to grow and advance its operations. The expanded stable also allows Evernham Motorsports to accelerate its R&D efforts, increase its test dates, enhance its ability to collect and analyze data, and make improvements more quickly and efficiently.

"This is a new era in Valvoline's long racing tradition," said Valvoline Designated Team Owner Jim Rocco. "As is the case with our current team, Valvoline will leave the running of the team -- the competition, personnel, equipment -- to our partner," he said. "Valvoline's expertise is marketing and we will continue to make our NASCAR Nextel Cup Series racing effort serve the needs of our family of brands which include: Valvoline, Eagle One and Zerex."

Valvoline's relationship with Ray Evernham goes back to 1994 when they became an associate sponsor with Hendrick Motorsports and Evernham was crew chief for young Jeff Gordon. Valvoline came aboard as both associate sponsor and technical partner with Evernham Motorsports for its first season in 2001 and has been with them ever since. Valvoline technical personnel have worked with Evernham Motorsports' engine program for the past five years on a variety of issues relating to lubrication and cooling.