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[I didn't know RCR sold a partial interest in the business] "Ain't your Daddy's Nascar any more"

Team Owners Seeking Well-heeled Partners

Other teams are exploring the strategy. Roush Racing is in discussions with Boston Red Sox owner John Henry's Fenway Sports Group that might involve as much as a 50% interest. The Boston Globe reported a deal could be worth more than $50 million to the five-car team.

An 80% stake in MB2 Motorsports was purchased in August by Bobby Ginn, and the Florida real estate developer plans to expand the team from two cars to four.

"The problem with being an owner is your risk is so high and the reward is so small, it gets a little lopsided sometimes," said Chip Ganassi, owner of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. "That's why guys look for partners to defray the risk. You have huge budgets, and your upside is not that much."

Evernham said the benefits were evident for Richard Childress, who sold partial equity in his team to Chartwell Investments three years ago. After a reorganization that increased its budget by millions, Richard Childress Racing has five wins and two cars in the Chase.

"Richard did it and made a huge investment and turned his place around," Evernham said. "A guy who's a sharp businessman like Jack (Roush) is doing it. I've got to be aligned with somebody of a lot higher financial stature than I am."

Evernham said Toyota's 2007 entry into Cup is driving up costs by creating bidding wars for engineers and crewmembers.

"It's caused salaries to double and triple," he said. "You were paying pit crewmembers $300 a week, now they get $1,500 a week.

"When you start to see the billionaires come into the sport, I don't think it's going to stop with Jack selling half his deal. These race teams are going to be owned by huge firms or people that are more professional sports-oriented team owners, the George Steinbrennners and Jerry Joneses."

Those types of tycoons interest Evernham, who has talked with investment firms about a minority stake in his team but didn't think they were the right fit.

"The ideal partner would be a guy who's a gazillionaire that wants to win, is competitive and loves racing like I do," he said. "There's got to be guys like that out there."