The magic that Ray Evernham (Left) had worked for drivers such as Jeff Gordon didn’t seem to work for Casey Atwood (Right). (Photo: LAT Photographic)

5. Ray Evernham hires Casey Atwood. Evernham had worked magic in working with a young Jeff Gordon years before. He decided to bring 20-year-old Atwood, who had shown promise in what is now the Nationwide Series, to the Cup ranks with his new Dodge program and have veteran Bill Elliott work with him. Atwood ran just two full seasons and two races of a third for Evernham, though, earning just four top-10 and one top-five finish.

6. Roush Fenway Racing hires Jamie McMurray. McMurray spent three full seasons at Chip Ganassi Racing, winning in his second race with the team, which actually came a season before his full run, but not again. Still, he was a promising young driver and signed with the multicar Roush Fenway organization for the 2006 season. He has since won only twice and announced plans to compete for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in 2010.

7. Ray Evernham hires Elliott Sadler. Sadler was in the midst of his fourth season with Yates Racing, and his eighth in the Cup series, when he was hired by Evernham late in the 2006 season. He replaced Jeremy Mayfield with the team at the second Michigan race, finishing 10th, one of top top-10 finishes that season for Evernham. Since then, he has a top points finish of 24th and has yet to win a race with the organization.

8. Hendrick hires Casey Mears. Mears spent four full seasons with Chip Ganassi Racing before signing with Hendrick for the 2007 year. Coming off a season when he was 14th in the standings, he finished 15th and 20th at Hendrick, earning one win in two years before being released.

9. Bobby Labonte joins Petty Enterprises. Labonte, the 2000 series champion, joined Petty in 2006 as part of an effort to rebuild the organization. He spent three seasons with the team, but it never really got off the ground. Labonte earned just 11 top-10 finishes in those years.

10. Dario Franchitti tries NASCAR. The Indy Racing League champ joined a string of open-wheel drivers attempting to make the transition to Cup racing. But he floundered in his lone partial season, suffering both an injury and a lack of sponsorship that shut his team down before he had a fair shot at making the move successful.

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