Conversation: R. Evernham (cont'd)

Q: How much does it hurt a driver like Jeff Gordon to have his crew chief absent, as Steve Letarte was for the last six races?

Evernham: It doesn't look like it's bothering him a lot. That's one good thing about Jeff -- he can carry the deal on his own. The Hendrick organization has a ton of depth, but when you've got a driver that's as good as Jeff he can guide a young crew chief to make the right decisions. That's invaluable to a guy. It always was to me.

There are some really good drivers in the garage area, but not a lot of them can really help you get that car set up and Jeff Gordon was always one of the best at that. There are some others that I certainly haven't worked with. I'm sure that Tony [Stewart] is, and there some good guys like Kurt and Kyle Busch, guys that can really help you get the car set up right. I think Jeff can really help a young crew chief.

Q: How did you feel about Kasey Kahne running at Knoxville?

Evernham: I don't always feel super about him being in a Sprint Car but he's a racer. We've not had a great year and if it helps his attitude and helps him do some things, it's just not fair to keep a guy from doing what he wants.

I know you have responsibility to sponsors and know that you have responsibilities but he's a racer. Those are the things that got him here. This year we haven't given him a lot to cheer about so hopefully that made him happy.

Q: Who might be a favorite going into the Chase for the Nextel Cup?

Evernham: That Chase really throws a good thing into the mix. If you look historically, there's people who have really turned it on at the end of the year and other guys in the middle of the year. Jeff [Gordon] seems to be on his game and when Jeff's on his game he's tough to beat.

Tony's [Stewart] strong and who knows? I have to tell you that I haven't really looked that much at the people up there because we've been looking so hard at our own problems. If my guys can't win it, then I'd love to see Jeff win his fifth.

Q: What do you think about the Chase format?

Evernham: It's no different than the way it used to be with people winning the championship without winning a race. You know what the points system is going in and you know what the rules are going in and that's just the way it is now, the same as it was under the other points system. You just live with it.

There was some value to the old points system and there's some value to the new points system. I think the new points system in the Chase does add excitement at the end of the year. Everybody knows that TV ratings have to be up because that's what drives the real estate up on these cars. If the real estate is not up on these cars, then we can't afford to do it anyway.

Q: Did you take anything away from last year's Chase?

Evernham: That seems like so long ago. We thought we had learned enough. We thought we were going into this year better than we were last year. We tested harder, we worked on the proper things, we thought we had been prepared. This year we're not even close to making the Chase, we're just trying to get back up to able to run consistently in the top 10 and the top five.