Ray Evernham and George N. Gillett, Jr. announced the creation of Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM), a partnership combining Evernham Motorsports [#9, #10, #19 teams] and the Gillett family where Evernham will remain a substantial owner and retain the title of Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The strength of Evernham’s championship on-track performance and Gillett’s off-track sports business experience creates a high-performance, high-energy platform to establish GEM’s value and appeal to fans and sponsors, on and off the track. Recognizing that the rate of change off-track has exceeded the change on-track in the past few years, Evernham forged a relationship with Gillett, whose diverse holdings offer unique business-to-business opportunities, sponsorship activation and fulfillment that will revolutionize what sponsors can expect from a NASCAR team.

Gillett is the owner of the Montreal Canadiens National Hockey League (NHL) team and a co-owner of the Liverpool Football Club in the English Premier League. Gillett’s other business interests include the Bell Centre, home of the Montreal Canadiens and Gillett Entertainment Group (GEG), producers of some 700 sporting and entertainment events in numerous venues throughout Canada and the United States. GEM will benefit from Gillett’s existing network of sports and entertainment properties, resorts, auto dealerships and auto franchises offering unique access to sponsors and partners and a powerful global connection that no other team can offer.

“It’s very exciting for me to deliver to sponsors and fans the opportunity to align with a worldwide sports leader,” said Evernham, CEO of GEM. “With the business acumen of the Gillett family and its sports brands, we’ve greatly expanded our reach. This will allow me to focus on our racing operations and team performance, while the Gillett family will focus on our business operations. It certainly allows us to capitalize on our strengths and position GEM for long-term success both on and off the track.”

“Racing is in my blood,” said Gillett, chairman of Booth Creek Management Corporation (BCMC). “It’s not often you get to partner with a leader with Ray’s reputation, talent and championship legacy.” The transaction was initiated and negotiated by Matthew Doherty at McLaren Capital Partners in Los Angeles. Wachovia Securities advised BCMC.

[Gillett/Evernham Motorsports PR]

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