Book Review: Ray Evernham’s ‘Trophies and Scars’

From the man who turned Jeff Gordon into a serial winner in NASCAR’s Winston Cup. From the man who brought Dodge back to the winner’s circle in NASCAR. Ray Evernham’s autobiography ‘Trophies and Scars’ is an entertaining, insightful read.

New Jersey’s Ray Evernham is one of NASCAR’s miracle men. A ‘modified’ racer himself, Evernham first got noticed when he built a new generation of IROC cars in 1983. Ten years on, Evernham was part of an incredible partnership that would grab hold of the Winston Cup for years on end. In Dupont rainbow colours, with the #24 Chevrolet, a young Jeff Gordon and his untried crew chief were to bring Hendrick Motorsport to a new level of fame.

Rainbow Warriors

Evernham’s strategy to introduce a dedicated pit crew – the ‘Rainbow Warriors’ over the wall made his car gain seconds over the competition. It took them some time to catch on. Later on, Evernham became a team owner on his own, bringing Dodge back to NASCAR and into the winner’s circle. Having sold his team, Ray Evernham found himself part of another famous team: ESPN’s NASCAR commentary team.

Hazlet, New Jersey

In his book ‘Trophies and Scars’, Evernham told his life story to author Joe Garner, who did an outstanding job at bringing Evernham’s words to life. I’m not sure if Evernham is a funny guy. In fact, I doubt it, really. But at the beginning of his book, I found myself grinning every now and then. There is this whole young, innocent, country vibe that flows through the pages as Everham describes his early years in Hazlet, New Jersey. The picture painted seems to come straight from Back to the Future. The parallels to Springsteen songs are easily drawn.

Life lessons

Usually, racing biographies tend to skip the formative years all too easily, whereas here, they help you get a feel for the character. As the pages progress, you start to understand how Ray Evernham saw racing take over his life. In the beginning, he wouldn’t have been all that different from you and me, maybe he was aware of life’s lessons earlier than most of us.

When he picks up on the street racing theme, it’s all too easy to hear your mental jukebox sticking Springsteen’s ‘Racing in the Streets’ on repeat. Only for Evernham to draw the only conclusion most of us take a lot longer to reach: lucky we managed to come out of that alive. If anything, youth needs in the presence of powerful cars, it’s plenty of luck. Or a guardian angel riding shotgun, as Evernham puts it. It’s sobering, for a racer’s book.

NASCAR politics

Personally, I found the (few) sections about regrets the most interesting in his book. Not mistakes, but decisions/actions he looks back on with regret. It’s not often successful people in racing open up on human failure, about not seeing the big picture at that time, but seeing it later on. It shows wisdom.

‘Trophies and Scars’ offers a very interesting insight into how NASCAR worked in the nineties. A professional sport as any other, but still with room for individual improvements that could prove to be a game changer and decide upon winning or losing. Evernham’s book is a highly interesting manifesto on winning in a team sport, even though he is clever enough to never fully explain how some of his changes made the difference.

Especially on the technical side, you often get a feeling at first you are learning something, but give it a second read and you notice there is no real answer to the ‘ok, but how did you actually do this’ question. Not an oversight, and not a shortcoming, but probably a case of the chef deciding he is only going to give so much of the kitchen’s secrets away.

Save the show

Whereas Evernham keeps a tight lid on his own secrets, he is more generous at disclosing the inner workings of NASCAR. It’s especially interesting for Europeans who might have followed Jeff Gordon’s dominance in the mid-nineties from a distance, to now read about much of the politics involved. Especially the parts on NASCAR’s attempts to save the show at all costs – even if that means disqualifying a competitor who would become too dominant – resonate strongly in these days where balance of performance (over)regulates many of the racing series. NASCAR was there, years before the others.

At $34.95 (€42), the hardcover paper book is within everyone’s reach. And the e-book is just $9.99. If there is a let-down, it’s the variable quality in the photo reproduction. But other than that, this Octane Press book (344 pages) proved fast-paced, entertaining and honest… without being too honest. A description that fits Ray Evernham to a tee.

Available online and through most book retailers.

Octanepress.com

Author: Ray Evernham & Joe Garner

ISBN: 9781642341461

Publisher: Octane Press

Pages: 344

Price: $34.95