Ray Evernham had to turn away from the camera and walk off, lest millions of national television viewers see him cry.

Known for his quick wit and gracious smile, Evernham's response to his second straight Winston Cup victory as a team owner was surprising to some. But not to those who knew what he'd risked to start his own team.

	Ray Evernham, left, and Bill Elliott have made two straight trips to Victory Lane.

Evernham had risked ruining his image as a revolutionary crew chief, one who had engineered three of Jeff Gordon's championships. He had even risked his image as a sane man by tabbing veteran Bill Elliott to build his new team around. After all, Elliott, a dominant force in the 1980s, had been winless for six seasons.

But Evernham had a gut feeling he was compelled to follow. Last year, that hunch seemed to have merit after Elliott won at Homestead, Fla., but it was this year that the hunch was proven correct. After a series of speedy qualifying runs and top-five finishes, Evernham and the driver of his No. 9 Dodge enjoyed back-to-back wins, including last Sunday's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Evernham -- his risk of being forgotten as an innovative crew chief flipped around to an investment on one day being known as a great owner -- simply could not hold back his emotions.

"It's a special day," he struggled to mutter. He then abruptly turned away and sought his crew, where he could cry with his team.

Evernham has now managed to build two successful ventures. But this one, he says, is more a credit to his first couple of hires than himself.

"I really still can't believe what these guys have done for me," Evernham said. "Bill and Mike are two of the first people I hired. You dream about days like this. I know how hard these guys work."

Evernham was especially grateful and happy for Mike Ford, Elliott's young crew chief who Evernham doesn't mind telling you reminds him a little of himself.

"I built a team when I built the 24," Evernham said. "I feel like I'm building an organization now. At a turning point for them at the end of last year when they started to run good, Mike got his guys together. They had had some setbacks, but he went into this winter with a plan about how he was going to approach the season.

"I like that because that's the way I used to be. He's very methodical. A team's got to be built around leadership. Mike has some great guys on his team, and he's matured very much as a great leader."

Watching Ford mature has been one of the most fulfilling parts of the job for Evernham.

"Mike is very methodical and very intense, and I'm just very proud," Evernham said. "I feel like a parent today. When I won here as a crew chief, it was all mechanical. You were proud of your mechanical accomplishments. Today I think it was overwhelming to know how happy it would make him and what it meant to Mike. I know what it meant to me and all the (No.) 9 guys.

"But Mike had the plan coming here and it was something everybody knew would work for Bill. They put it together and for the past two weeks they have put a heck of a car on the race track."

And Elliott has driven that car as hard as possible. In winning at the Brickyard, Elliott led 93 of 160 laps, taking the lead for good with 12 to go and showing off the might of his engine when he scooted off to a wide margin on the race's final restart with four laps to go.

But this was just the latest in his display of speed. In eight of his last 10 races Elliott has qualified fifth or better. In eight of his last 10 races, Elliott has finished fifth or better.

He's risen to sixth in the points and stands just two spots behind Evernham's former cohort, Gordon.

But Evernham insists his eyes aren't on Gordon. He's proud that Gordon won the 2001 championship, a title Gordon took great pride in doing himself and proving that his success was not completely tied to Evernham.

Meanwhile, as Gordon forged ahead successfully, the world waited for Evernham to rise back to the top on his own. Last year was a long year. Evernham's team was no competition for Gordon's. It wasn't even the best of the new Dodge fleet, which was led by this year's points leader Sterling Marlin.

But this year, Evernham has found his stride, and his best team ranks right up there with his former team. But Evernham chooses not to make that an issue.

In fact, he is so gracious as to give Gordon a little credit for his success.

"I talked with Jeff a lot before I did this," Evernham said. "... And he said, "You've got to get (Elliott).'"

You may have noticed that Evernham has credited his crew chief, his driver and his former driver for where he is now. You will notice he'll never credit himself.

It's not his style. But, then again, it isn't necessary. His record speaks for itself.

"He's a natural leader," Ford said. "It's really just amazing to work with him."

Rupen Fofaria is a beat writer for the Raleigh News & Observer.