Ray E and Bill E...My take on this

[bluefeather]

Now that the announcement has been made to officially name Bill as the veteran driver for Ray Evernhams Dodge team, I'd like to voice my opinion on the matter.
1) Good. Glad to see the Dodge camp get a class guy in one of the cars. Marketing is going to be important as well as race results. Bill E. has been one of the most popular guys for years. In addition to his racing skills, he brings a past champions provision if needed. So Dodge is already in the 2001 Daytona 500.
2) Bills' team will be history after the 2000 season. The sudden fast and very competitive cars are Fords on the outside. Are they wearing Evernham designs underneath?
3) If Bill is using chassis' built by Ray(or with his input), will they be as fast once they're fitted with the Dodge body? I'd think the Twin 125 car would be the first car to be transformed.
Now lets see how the Atwood "secret" works out.

[Redneck]

The Atwood secret has him staying in Busch for another year. Casey says he does not feel ready for Winston Cup and wishes to stay put. Evenham and Hendrick both have been courting him heavily.

[Joe Fan]

I am really glad for Bill Elliott to get hooked up with a talent such as Ray Evernham. Much deserved after being a very popular driver and a good down to earth person who lost his sponsorship to the outsider from CART. It should be obvious by now how much Evernham meant in Jeff Gordon's success as Gordon would finish 8th in the point standings this year if you averaged his point totals for all the races since Ray has left toward the end of last season.

I think both are genuinely happy to be teaming up together. Bill can mentor Casey Atwood who is going to be a huge star in the future. And Bill will bring experience and a past champion's provisional that will be nice for a new team to be able fall back on. Bill can still win races and Evernham is a believer too. I can't wait to see Bill in winners circle. It could be this year as Ray is giving technical advice now to Elliott's team.

[Redneck]

Did I miss something???

Is Atwood officially going to Winston?

[Joe Fan]

Redneck, no you haven't but Atwood is who Evernham is after and I bet he ends up there.

[Jared]

I'm glad to see that Elliot's future is secure for right now.

However, Joe Fan, I am really getting sick and tired of hearing NASCAR fans cry and moan about him and Rudd having lost their sponsors to "outsiders." Have you all not been listening? Tide and McDonald's were going to leave anyway, as the #10 and #94 teams just haven't been producing results. They just decided to go with Cal Wells instead of an established team (and probably, in the case of the #91 team, a more deserving team. If they can get in the top 10 at Atlanta with little sponsorship, just imagine what they could do with big bucks.) ESPN has especially been fostering a feeling of resentment against Cal Wells. It was just a business decision. Yes, they failed to qualify for Rockingham and have not run well, but remember they are a rookie team with a rookie driver. And Rudd has, and Elliot may, come out of this deal on the better end.

Remember, Joe Gibbs was an outsider once. And he "recieved" Interstate Batteries sponsorship after they had sponsored a smaller team the year before.

[Joe Fan]

Jared, it is one thing to leave completely as a sponsor in the series and another to leave for an outsider with an unproven record that is just there to jump on the bandwagon when the grass is greener on the other side of the fense.

Ricky Rudd and Bill Elliott are both great guys who have landed on the feet. Nobody would be screaming if Tide or McDonalds decided to sponsor Scott Pruett and Anthony Lazzaro in a Hendrick, Yates or Roush car or if McDonalds or Tide decided to just sponsor a team in the IRL or CART. But to someone who has an unproven record that is coming from the CART series??

You bring up a good point on the Joe Falk #91 team. That have put in some impressive performances with a very small budget. If I were Tide or McDonalds I would have been looking to them or Tim Beverly's #10 car. With decent sponsorship (ie money), these teams could really be a factor. This is the source of resentment for NASCAR fans. If they would have brought their own sponsorships, then nobody would say a thing.