Hendrick Motorsports representatives failed to return calls yesterday to answer questions about whether Ray Evernham will appear with driver Jeff Gordon at Martinsville Speedway this weekend. Meanwhile, sources confirmed that Evernham will spend the 2000 season building cars for the 2001 Chrysler Dodge Intrepid team that the crew chief will own. The cars should be ready for NASCAR approval in time to debut for that season. Reportedly, Evernham will be present, but Brian Whitesell will make race-day calls. Of course, that was supposed to be the arrangement last weekend as well and although Evernham did little with the team throughout most of the weekend, Sunday belonged to the crew chief. As Winston Cup teams work to understand how the magic pairing of the driver and crew chief could possibly be ending, another partnership involving the pair seems to be coming to a close. Sources say that Gordon is taking possession of Gordon-Evernham Motorsports, the Busch program the pair started for this season( Times-Dispatch )
