Evernham: Tribulation trumps talent for BK, Junior

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- All you have to do is ask, and former championship crew chief Ray Evernham is likely to have an opinion about it.

There is nothing wrong with that. Now a NASCAR television analyst for ESPN, Evernham's opinions are widely respected in and out of the Sprint Cup Series garage. On Tuesday during a media event at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Evernham got right to the point about two of the hottest topics in the sport -- the antics of one young driver, and the inability of another immensely popular one to regain lost magic.

Those two drivers, respectively, would be Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Keselowski, driver of the No. 22 Dodge in the Nationwide Series and of the No. 12 in Cup for Penske Racing, is coming off an eventful weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. While racing for the lead during the final laps in Friday's Nationwide event, he tangled with eventual race winner Kyle Busch and ended up getting wrecked. Obviously still upset by the incident less than 24 hours later, the 26-year-old Keselowski called Busch an "a--" over the public-address system at the track during driver introductions for Saturday night's Cup event.

Asked what he would say to Keselowski if he was owner of the cars Keselowski drives, Evernham's answer was very clear.

"I would think, as an owner, I would try to be a friend. I would say, 'Look, don't do it again. It's not doing us any good,'" Evernham said. "I think Brad Keselowski is extremely talented, I really do. But I think that he's making things difficult on himself because he's being a little bit inflexible in the way he races people.

"The guys have got to learn. I think people will respect him for his talent. But to have that attitude, like you're never going to back off ... in the end, that doesn't work for you if you want to win championships. I've said that kid is good and I've been a supporter of his. But I don't think what he did on the P.A. system the other night was right or classy or helped his brand at all. So if I'm his owner, I would talk to him as a friend."

Evernham apparently would talk to him at length, as well.

"I think he's a young man new into this sport," Evernham added. "I think he's got enough talent where he deserves the time that Roger Penske or maybe some other drivers would spend to say, 'Look, kid, you've probably got to be a little bit more flexible with your driving. You didn't like the slide job Kyle put on you, but Kyle did race you clean for 20 laps before that -- and you could have easily turned the car left and raced him down into the corner and then shoved him up and taken the win back.'

"Instead, [Keselowski] wanted to prove a point that he wasn't going to back off. And so he didn't back off, and he ended up losing the race because of it. Kyle got mad and spun him."

Evernham won three Cup championships with a younger Jeff Gordon as his driver. He said Keselowski could benefit from the story of how his relationship with Gordon evolved through the years, and how Gordon learned the importance of give-and-take with other top drivers on the track.

"This is a conversation, quite honestly, that I had with Jeff Gordon years ago -- because at that time, there was no sense screwing with [Dale] Earnhardt," Evernham said. "You didn't want to make him mad -- because right or wrong, you were going to come out on the short end of the deal.

"I think Brad Keselowski has a lot more wins and even championships in his future, but he's got to be a little bit more flexible with his driving. And doing stuff like what he did on the P.A., that made people laugh for a few minutes -- but in the end, that's not going to help people think he's a good guy. That just wasn't a classy thing to do."

Evernham added that he believes there is still time for Keselowski to mend his ways with other drivers he has angered during the past two years with his no-holds-barred, aggressive, unapologetic driving style. But Evernham emphasized that Keselowski will need to change.

"I think he's still got time to fix his relationships with other drivers," Evernham said. "He said that about Kyle and whatever, but Kyle Busch is a pretty damn good race car driver -- and if you're going to make fun of him, you'd better be able to at least do what he can do. Brad said that about Kyle and then Kyle lapped him. To me, I would find that pretty embarrassing. I'd be riding out there and thinking, 'Well, he's an a--, but I just went a lap down.'

"So I think people know Brad is young. They do respect his talent. But the other thing with drivers is if he comes back and says, 'Aw, you know what? I probably was over the edge' -- like we all have had to do from time to time. I wish I could stand here and take back a lot of things I've said over the years. All you can do is make sure you don't say them again. That kid easily could make it on his talent; he's just got to make sure he's a little bit more aware of where he's at in the sport right now."

As for Earnhardt Jr., a former two-time champion in what is now the Nationwide Series, Evernham said the driver and son of the aforementioned seven-time Cup champion is too talented not to be winning races. Earnhardt has not won since June of 2008 at Michigan, 81 races ago.

"I'm not close enough to Junior to know what's going on," Evernham said. "I am close enough to Rick Hendrick to know he is trying to do everything he can do. He's putting a lot of effort into getting that turned around.

"In the end, sometimes a person has to decide whether they're committed to something or not. That's just the bottom line. He's talented enough to win races. Ask any driver in that garage and they'll tell you he has the talent. He's talented enough to win championships."

Evernham said that from what he has witnessed, communication between Earnhardt and his crew chief, Lance McGrew, just isn't what it should be. Then again, he noted that Earnhardt seemed to have communication problems prior to that with former crew chief Tony Eury Jr.

"You can't be aggravated all the time. You just can't be," Evernham said. "There are a ton of people out there that are more than happy and willing to help him. Sometimes you have to be a big part of the solution."