(By Greg Engle CupScene.com Editor,NASCAR Examiner)
Posted: Monday,November 30th, 2009
As Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus and the rest of the No. 48 team head to Las Vegas to continue the celebration of their record fourth consecutive championship, some of the attention turns to 2010 and the big question; who will be able to challenge them next season?
That challenger may very well be the driver who is listed as his car owner and the only other active driver to share four titles, Jeff Gordon. And that challenge may be boosted with a reuniting of one of the most successful driver-crew chief combinations in NASCAR history, Jeff Gordon and Ray Evernham.
Ray Evernham and Jeff Gordon (Getty Images for NASCAR)
Evernham and Gordon were one of the most powerful pairings, the Johnson-Knaus if you will, of the 1990’s. More than half of Gordon’s 82 career wins, 47, came under Evernham’s guidance, including three seasons of double-digit victories, 1996-98.
The duo also won three championships in four seasons: 1995, 97 and 1998. In fact Gordon came close to upstaging Johnson, becoming the first driver with four consecutive titles, nearly taking the championship in 1996. The turning point came in the fall race at Charlotte when Terry Labonte, who was second in points, dominated and won while Gordon suffered engine woes that left him in 31st. Gordon watched a 111-point lead evaporate and when the season ended, Gordon lost the title to Labonte by 37 points.
Gordon and Evernham went on to win the title the following two years. At the end of 1999 though, Evernham decided to strike out on his own as a team owner. MORE–>>
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