Evernham roller coaster ride ends on high note

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BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Nextel Cup owner Ray Evernham was upset before Sunday's race at Michigan International Speedway because a television commentator said his organization was a failure.
He felt much better afterwards.
Elliott Sadler had the season's best finish for the 19 car.
And why not?
His organization that has endured several weeks of drama over the dismissal of driver Jeremy Mayfield had its best day of the season with Kasey Kahne finishing fourth, Elliott Sadler 10th and Scott Riggs 14th.
"I'm excited for this whole team," said Evernham, whose commitment to the team was brought in question by Mayfield during a recent legal battle. "This shows that our cars, our people and our processes are good. We had good cars [Sunday]."
Kahne made up five points on Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the 10th and final spot for the Chase for the Nextel Cup that will be set after the next three races. It was by far his best finish in a month, including the last two races where last-lap crashes took him out of potential top-10 finishes.
Sadler, who was signed to replace Mayfield last week, qualified second and drove the No. 19 Dodge to its best finish of the season. He also moved the car back into the top 35 (34th) in owners' points for a guaranteed spot in the field each week.
Mayfield's best finish this season was 13th at Talladega. He had only two top-15 finishes, the other at Charlotte.
"I don't want to go through [having to qualify on speed] again," Sadler said. "I have a whole new respect for those guys."
Riggs also had his best finish in a month after three consecutive finishes of 21st or worse.
"All three ran close setups and they were competitive all day," Evernham said.
That wasn't always the case. Evernham said earlier in the week that Mayfield never was comfortable in the same setups as Kahne and Riggs. Sadler adjusted almost from the get-go.
"I knew that Sadler would help with the communication and attitude for this team," Evernham said. "He's the best guy to get this team on the right path."
Kahne said it was the first time all season that all three drivers had the same basic setup and were able to share information equally.
"That'll be good to keep on improving and working together," he said. "I looked at the setups before the race and it definitely was the closest we've been all season long."
Kahne appeared poised to pick up more ground on the top 10 when Earnhardt fell from second to 19th because of a lugnut problem on Lap 132.
But Earnhardt rallied to sixth over the final 20 laps, leaving Kahne 49 points out.
"I'm not really worried about Junior," Kahne said. "These are some good tracks coming up for him. I really think Junior's going to get in [the Chase]. I'm just as confident we're going to run well, and if we do that, we're going to pass somebody else."
More than anything, Kahne was happy to avoid another last-lap disaster.
"It was nice to finish the race," he said. "It'll be nice not to have to watch myself on TV screw up the last lap."
And for Evernham, it was nice to watch his organization prove it's not a failure.

Credit: Autostock GFS Marketplace 400Unofficial ResultsPos.DriverMake1.Matt KensethFord2.Jeff GordonChevy3.Tony StewartChevy4.Kasey KahneDodge5.Mark MartinFord6.Dale Earnhardt Jr.Chevy7.Greg BiffleFord8.Reed SorensonDodge9.Denny HamlinChevy10.Elliott SadlerDodge

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