Notebook: Evernham adds consultant to Hendrick to his resume

Notebook: Evernham adds consultant to Hendrick to his resume

Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Ray Evernham will consult with Rick Hendrick on the development of retail high-performance parts, vehicles, products and related services, Hendrick announced Tuesday.
Evernham, who won three Cup championships as a crew chief for Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon, founded Ray Evernham Enterprises in 2008, and his company will do the consulting work for the Hendrick Companies, a management company formed in 2005 to oversee strategic initiatives for Hendrick.
"Hendrick Performance parts and cars will have a racing pedigree, and Ray is someone who will help ensure that on behalf of our customers and dealers," Hendrick said.
Evernham, 53, currently is involved in several projects, including owning a dirt track and developing with Speedway Motorsports Inc. an affordable dirt track Legends car.

Steiner leaves DEI
Jeff Steiner, who had been executive vice president and general manager of Dale Earnhardt Inc. since April 2009, has left the organization to pursue other opportunities, Steiner and the organization confirmed. DEI has not named a replacement.
Steiner oversaw the transition of DEI from a race-team operator to a racing consultation and support company through its Earnhardt Technologies Group, which did work for more than 30 teams during the 2010 season.
Although its Sprint Cup participation is limited to its co-ownership of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing instead of fielding teams out of its original shop, DEI provides transmission, rear gear, suspension, body and chassis parts. It also has a seven-post simulator that teams can rent, along with support in operating and analyzing that data, as well as corresponding wind tunnel and other data.
In addition, DEI is a partner in Earnhardt Childress Racing engines, which supplies engines to Richard Childress Racing and EGR.
Steiner said Monday he is pursuing other opportunities in racing.

Paddock named Chicagoland president
Scott Paddock, a former Notre Dame basketball player who recently served as Gatorade director of sports marketing, will become the new president of Chicagoland Speedway.
Paddock, 42, replaces Craig Rust, who parted ways with parent company International Speedway Corp. last year.
Through his work at Gatorade, Paddock was instrumental in the 2002 creation of the “Gatorade Victory Lane” entitlement.

NASCAR’s Davidson promoted
NASCAR has promoted Blake Davidson to a vice president position overseeing licensing and consumer productsDavidson, who has worked for NASCAR for more than 15 years, currently manages NASCAR’s traditional and non-traditional licensing, which includes NASCAR’s publishing, retail and business development efforts, as well as its international merchandising efforts. He also is one of NASCAR’s representatives on the NASCAR Hall of Fame Advisory Board.
Davidson, who oversees a licensee program that includes more than 200 companies, spearheaded the sport’s first comprehensive video game strategy as well as the launch of the NASCAR iRacing.com Series, an online racing series that is the first sanctioned online competition by a professional sports league.