Evernham Motorsports: New Duties For Key Personnel

STATESVILLE, N.C. January 13, 2003; Evernham Motorsports announces that several key personnel have assumed new duties within the organization. Effective immediately, Kenny Francis assumes the role of team director. Prior to accepting this position, Francis was race engineer for the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge driven by Bill Elliott. Derek Jones assumes Francis' former duties in addition to his duties as senior engineer for Evernham Motorsports. Dr. Eric Warren, technical director, continues to oversee all engineering aspects related to the Evernham Motorsports Dodge Intrepids.

Mike Shiplett assumes the role of lead mechanic for the No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge. Shiplett comes to Evernham Motorsports from the No. 7 Dodge Winston Cup team. Josh Browne assumes the role of race engineer. His responsibilities include supervision of all engineering aspects specific to the No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge.

"We have a lot of knowledgeable people working at Evernham Motorsports, and we decided to distribute that knowledge a little differently," said Ray Evernham, President and CEO of Evernham Motorsports. "These changes reflect our commitment to bringing the best possible product to the race track for the Dodge Dealers and all of our valued partners. Kenny has been an integral part of the success of our organization, and I know he will continue to do so in his new role. The addition of Mike Shiplett and the transition of Josh to the No. 19 team solidifies Evernham Motorsports' commitment to using technological based decisions to enhance our on-track performance.

"We have restructured a little differently than the traditional Winston Cup operation, but this sport is growing in such monumental ways that sometimes traditional ways need to be updated."

Earlier this year, Evernham Motorsports announced that the No. 19 Dodge team would run under a new management system consisting of a team director, a lead mechanic and a race engineer. The No. 9 Dodge team assumes this structure as well and remains intact with Mike Ford as the director of operations, Bobby Foley as the lead mechanic with Jones as race engineer for the team.