| | | | | | WHAT IS TO COME? | Kahne: GEM changing | |
| | By Rea White / SceneDaily.com Late last season, after Ray Evernham sold majority interest in the NASCAR Sprint Cup team he founded, not much changed in the actual day-to-day operations at the shop. Evernham kept balancing a multitude of roles while the Gilletts apparently went all out in what has been a lucrative courtship of sponsors.
From the competition side, though, things didn't seem that different.
That all changed at some point in the offseason, though, as the team solidified team director-driver lineups, Evernham stepped into an undefined role, Tom Reddin was hired as CEO and Mark McArdle moved from his role with Gillett Evernham Engines to vice president and managing director of competition.
It is McArdle's move, more than any others, that could make a significant difference to Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Patrick Carpentier as the 2008 season begins.
With the move of McArdle, two things happen. First, the competition side of the organization has someone solely focused on that aspect of the team and able to organize the three teams. Second, Evernham has the freedom to go to tests or spend time motivating drivers and crew members without having to worry that he should be doing something else at the time. He can be a big-picture thinker, not someone so entrenched in the minute details of the organization that there's no breathing room.
McArdle, who has been with the team since 2003, is well respected, both within the organization and in the garage area. Kahne says that prior to McArdle's move, the competition structure was relatively unchanged. Now he sees more organization, which could lead to better information sharing between the teams and improvement on the competition side.
"We'll be much different for a long time and it's going to make Gillett Evernham a much better company at the end of the day," Kahne said of the changes.
McArdle understands the task he faces. After contending for the championship in 2006, Kahne fell on hard times in 2007 and finished 19th in the series standings. That was much better than Sadler, who was 25th in the standings, and Scott Riggs, who was replaced by Carpentier with two races remaining with a team that sat outside the top 35 in owners points. Still, the new competition leader is trying to spark his teams. Not only is he focused on making sure the cars are on track with everyone else's, he's intent on pumping up the confidence in the group.
He refers to Kahne and team director Kenny Frances as leaders of a team that has gotten a "taste of greatness," sees Sadler and new team director Rodney Childers (who was previously with Riggs) as on an "absolute mission" and speaks of reasonable expectations for rookie Carpentier and team director Mike Shiplett, who moved over from the Nationwide Series team.
McArdle is focusing on returning the team to top form. The road to improvement, he says, begins in the shop now.
"What we've got to do is execute a plan to return to the level of competitiveness that you expect of us and more importantly that we expect from ourselves," he says. "And 2007 was a year that can only be described as disappointing. I think that for us to be able to excel going forward in 2008 means a rededication of our efforts and putting our best foot forward in the form of creating an organization and a plan that can do the things that we know we must do to be successful.
"It's a rebuilding year for us."
McArdle compares that rebuilding to mountain climbing, but says the organization has the people in place that are capable of making that journey.
"We've got a plan and battle-scarred veterans to carry us forward," he said. "We've got plenty of people in our organization that have a culture of winning, that understand what it takes to win and aren't afraid to give the dedication, the blood and sweat and tears that it takes to win. And I think they're the strength that we build around."
Supporting that effort is a platform of new sponsors. Since he founded the team in 1999 with plans to lead Dodge back into the sport, Evernham has competed with two cars carrying primary sponsorship from the Dodge dealers. Not anymore. Now Dodge maintains an associate sponsor position, but is primarily just the manufacturer for the team. Instead, a litany of high-profile companies adorn the hoods and panels of the cars.
Kahne has the highest-profile sponsor of them all, especially with his new alignment with Budweiser, a contract signing that Evernham says he started but a deal that was closed by the Gilletts.
Budweiser is a high-profile company accustomed to both success and to lots of attention after years of sponsorship with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Now Kahne wears the red uniform that represents sports tradition and wins. Utilizing their ownership of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens and the ability to share sponsorship, the Gilletts have also added Best Buy and McDonald's to the lineup. Stanley Tools is involved in the building all of the owners' new car dealerships and Valvoline is now the product of choice at those as well.
While team principal Alex Gillett deems the owners "lucky" on the business side, he also recognizes the need to perform. He's willing to give the three drivers a little time to return to top form. He points out McArdle needs time for things he's implementing to bear results and points to the changes as a part of a long-term plan.
He expects the results to begin to show in the second half of this season, but for the 2009 and 2010 seasons to be the true representation of how far this team has come.
This year, everyone will be settling quickly into their new roles. Evernham joins that crowd. He admits that he thought long and hard before deciding to sell majority ownership of his team and that he will be functioning in a somewhat undefined role this season.
He likes that.
"I think I can make a huge difference without having to put in 80 hours a week," Evernham says. "... I've got 35 years of racing experience. I want to be the [encyclopedia] for guys like Mark McArdle and Alex Gillett, and I want to be a coach and mentor to the Kasey Kahnes and Patrick and to Elliott and people like that and I have not spent the proper amount of time with Kasey that I should have."
Now he's free to do just that, as everyone else is clear in their new roles.
Will that help Gillett Evernham return to the top of the sport? The men involved certainly think so.
"People are going to step up, they're going to do a good job," Kahne says. "That's why Mark is stepping up his role. Ray has done a lot in this sport. He's done a lot in the last five years, last 10 years, last 15 years, and he needs somewhat of a break.
"He's still going to be there; he's still going to help me when he can, help the drivers, help the teams, but he's stepping back a little bit, and he's going to enjoy owning the teams and enjoy himself away from the track probably."
| | Posted February 15, 2008 , 10:53 pm EST
| | | | | | | | | | |
