Michael Knight

Special for the Arizona Republic

"Jeff Gordon is not washed up."

So says Ray Evernham, his former crew chief, now back at Hendrick Motorsports to help him win.

Gordon finished fourth in Sunday's Daytona 500, but his most recent championship was 2001, with only seven of his 88 career victories since 2009. Evernham guided Gordon to three titles, then became a team owner, then an ESPN analyst. Evernham resigned from the network recently to become a Hendrick consultant, working with Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Daytona winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne.

Evernham spoke with azcentral sports before leaving ESPN. The Profit on CNBC 500 is Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway.

Evernham calls Alan Gustafson, crew chief on Gordon's No. 24 Pepsi Max Chevrolet, "brilliant" but thinks the duo needs better communications.

"I would make them sit in a room and review every race and say, 'Here's what we should have done,' " Evernham said. "When Jeff and I were together we had trouble communicating on the radio at first. We started taping our conversations and then every (week) he'd come to the shop and listen. ... There's times you've got to tell a guy like Jeff what's best for him even if he doesn't know it. I think that's tough for Alan."

Gordon, 42, has questioned his own performance. Evernham believes that's positive.

"That's how you get better," he said. "I remember him doing that in his 20s. That's just the sign of a good athlete. We've seen great batters get in slumps and question, 'Can I still do this?' I think it's cool he accepts that responsibility and that he might have to change something to make things better.

"He's sincere when he says he still wants to win so his kids (six-year-old Ella and three-year-old Leo) know what it's like to go to victory lane. So, as they grow up, they know, in our generation, their dad was the guy in NASCAR. His children are the motivation for his driving right now."

Evernham said he won't be Earnhardt's crew chief when Steve Letarte leaves after this season to become an NBC TV analyst.

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