Trophies and Scars: Ray Evernham

by Ray Evernham, Joe Garner (Narrator)

Trophies and Scars is the profoundly personal, sincere, and remarkably revealing story of the life and times of NASCAR Hall of Famer Ray Evernham. A son of the Jersey Shore, Evernham dedicated his life to fulfilling his boyhood dream of becoming a professional race car driver. By age eighteen, he was banging fenders with good success on the Northeast short track circuit. When his dreams of becoming an Indy car sensation literally crashed and burned, he turned to Roger Penske's International Race of Champions (IROC), before another brutal crash forced him to give up his Indy dream for good. It was time to change careers. As a leader of a race team on the technical rather than the driving side, he discovered new skills critical to building successful racing organizations. A brief, ill-fated, and downright volatile stint on Alan Kulwicki's crew, turned into a "right place at the right time" scenario, sparking a seminal partnership with racing phenom Jeff Gordon. They would prove to be one of the most potent racing duos in history. Evernham shares previously untold tales of how the duo led the No. 24 team to three championships in four seasons (1995, 1997, 1998) and a series-leading forty-nine wins, revealing in candid detail how and why their storied relationship came to an end. The book also details Evernham's time spearheading the return of Dodge to NASCAR, building Evernham Motorsports into one of the most successful NASCAR teams, as well as his transformation into a TV personality with roles as a NASCAR analyst for SPEED, ESPN, ABC, FOX, and NBC and as host to his own TV series, AmeriCarna , on the Velocity channel. Woven throughout all these stories recounting the many twists and turns of his life, he reveals how he buried himself in work to cope with his personal his son Ray J.'s battle with leukemia and later autism diagnosis, his controversial legal clash with Jeremy Mayfield, his divorce, and the scandal surrounding his relationship with second wife Erin Crocker. Many of these painful challenges ultimately brought rich rewards, such as the formation of the Evernham Family Racing for a Reason Foundation, funding for IGNITE, education and training programs for young adults with high-functioning autism or Asperger's syndrome, his loving marriage to Erin, and the birth of their daughter Caite. You needn't be a racing fan to appreciate Evernham's inspiring journey of tireless persistence, radical determination, steadfast leadership, and fearless reinvention. For as he believes, a life lived to the fullest is packed with trophies--and scars.

Genres: Racing, Sports

400 pages, Hardcover

Published March 5, 2024

Reviews

[Jason Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ray Evernham and Jeff Gordon made Sundays fun when I was a kid. Watching them set records almost every week amidst so much pushback from detractors was always entertaining. The fact that I was always a technically minded fan allowed me to admire Evernham almost as much as Gordon. From gear selections to aerodynamics to springs and shocks, he really knew his stuff when it came to engineering racecars.

This book goes through his career with an emphasis on the theme of being willing to take risks in the pursuit of opportunities and rewards. More than once, Evernham refers to himself as the "Forrest Gump of motorsports," but I don't think his success is accidental. Based on good timing and opportunity, but every bit earned.

[Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book on Mr. Evernham which tells so much about him and his full life that he has lived. He definitely loved the racing life and spent most of his time doing what he did best. A good book for all racing fans.

[Tommi Finch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decent book!

Read it. Cleared up his side (well, duh!) of the Erin and Ray saga. A very good book, in depth of his life, and family and friends.

[Jorge Salmones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fun Book! A deep reading about Ray’s life if you are a true petrol head you can not miss this book!

[Gpkarr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading his path to success. It appeared to be a long hard journey but his motivation to succeed was strong and he had a lot of people help him along the way.

[Garrett H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ray is one of my favorite racing figures and it was neat to hear about his time in motorsports. Always more than meets the eye.