Evernham Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing organization that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Evernham was named a team manager and owner for Daimler Chrysler's return to NASCAR's top level through their Dodge brand, leading the development of the Intrepid R/T race car that debuted in 2001.

[7] GEM proceeded to hire several financial executives to assist with corporate marketing, including former chairman of LendingTree Tom Reddin to replace Evernham as CEO.

Ray Evernham was not involved in the merger negotiations, and both he and Richard Petty only maintained minority shares in the new team.

[18][19] The partnership was dissolved after Smith decided to remove Atwood from the car with two races left in the season.

After a ninth-place finish in the points that season, Elliott announced that due to the pressures of a full Nextel Cup schedule, he would step down from his full-time ride and would race the team's research and development car.

[23] Elliott was replaced by rookie driver Kasey Kahne, a successful open-wheel racer just starting to gain respect in the Busch Series, who left a development contract with Ford to sign with Evernham's Dodge team for the 2004 season.

[23][24] Kahne was arguably the least accomplished driver in a strong rookie class that included Busch Series winners Brian Vickers (the 2003 Champion), Scott Riggs, Scott Wimmer, and Johnny Sauter as well as Craftsman Truck Series winner Brendan Gaughan.

Near the end of the 2005 season, Evernham initiated a crew swap between his teams, citing performance issues with both cars.

[28] The team nearly won on several occasions including Charlotte, Talladega, and Texas — where he crashed out in second place with two laps to go.

Going into 2007 with high hopes, Evernham's performance suffered; Riggs failed to qualify for six races and had five DNF's with only one Top 10 finish all season.

He was released with two races remaining in favor of former Champ car driver Patrick Carpentier,[29] who had also replaced him at Watkins Glen.

19 car, GEM signed LifeLock for eight races, an identity security company making a large entrance investment into NASCAR.

Second-year driver A. J. Allmendinger replaced Carpentier, after being released from Red Bull Racing in favor of Scott Speed.

For Evernham's full-time debut in 2001, Atwood was named as the driver of the 19 car, teammate to Bill Elliott in the No.

Evernham decided to make a driver change prior to the start of the 2002 season, possibly because Atwood's overall career results were mediocre to underwhelming up to that point during his tenure with the team.

He signed Jeremy Mayfield, who had recorded three wins for Penske Racing but who had been fired in September 2001 and had not run since, to join Elliott and drive the No.

[16] As part of the move, Evernham agreed to the aforementioned deal with Ultra Motorsports which gave Atwood a car to drive.

[36][37][38] On August 16, Elliott Sadler, after leaving Robert Yates Racing, was officially named the driver of the No.

In November 2007, Best Buy was announced as the new sponsor for fifteen races in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

In October 2004, Evernham Motorsports acquired Tommy Baldwin Racing, and with it, the Hungry Drivers program.

Other drivers would also share in the driving duties of the car, including Mike Wallace, Tracy Hines, Bill Elliott, Casey Atwood, and also Paul Wolfe for three races.

Now called the Ultimate Chargers team, it would feature Kasey Kahne, Jeremy Mayfield, and Scott Riggs as the main drivers of the car throughout the year.

Kahne, who drove the majority of races for the team, won twice at Las Vegas in the spring and Fontana in the fall.

Kahne, Elliott Sadler, Scott Riggs, Boris Said, and Chase Miller shared the brunt of the driving duties in the car.

Deac McCaskill drove for the team in a single race at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

In 2008, Unilever, along with additional backing from AutoValue/Bumper-to-Bumper and Ingersoll Rand, continued sponsorship of the team with Kahne, Sadler, Patrick Carpentier, and Chase Miller sharing driving duties in the car through the year.

[50] As a result of the loss of the sponsor, the organization announced that the car would move to a part-time schedule for the 2009 season.

In the last race of the 2007 season at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Patrick Carpentier made his second Busch Series start.

[37] General Mills would leave at the end of the season, leading the Truck Series team to close.