Valvoline/Riggs to Evernham.

Valvoline Evernham Racing, a new partnership between Valvoline and Evernham Motorsports, have announced that Scott Riggs will be the driver of the #10 Valvoline Dodge Charger in the Nextel Cup Series next year.

Evernham Motorsports and Valvoline entered into a partnership earlier this year for the team, which will retain the driver/sponsor/car number that it runs this year for MBV Motorsports. The team will operate from the recently completed third facility at the Evernham Motorsports complex.

Valvoline will be the primary sponsor for the #10 Valvoline Dodge Charger for at least 22 races and an associate sponsor for the remaining events on the 2006 Nextel Cup schedule.

In addition to maintaining the inventory of racecars, Evernham will also provide engines and the team will have full access to Evernham R&D.

"It's an unbelievable opportunity to continue my relationship with Valvoline and join the Evernham Motorsports family," said Scott Riggs. "Ray Evernham is a great leader and has proven that he can put drivers in the winner's circle. And Valvoline has been a great supporter of mine, so I'm excited to continue driving for them. It's a great partnership for all of us, since we all have motor oil in our veins."

Riggs is currently in his second season of competition in the Nextel Cup Series as the driver of the MBV #10 Valvoline entry. In 58 events, Riggs has three top-five and six top-10 finishes, including a second-place finish at Michigan one week ago. He claimed his first career pole earlier this year at Martinsville.

The North Carolina-native started his stock car career on the short tracks in the mid Atlantic area before moving to the Craftsman Truck Series in 2000 to run the full schedule. In his second season of truck competition, Riggs had five wins, five poles, 14 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes en route to a fifth-place finish in the season point standings.

Riggs moved to the Busch Series in 2002, winning twice and posting eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes. He finished 10th in the point standings and claimed Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year honours. He followed with two wins, 11 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes in 2003, finishing sixth in the point chase.

A crew chief for the team will be announced later. Much of the team personnel will transfer to the #10 team from Evernham Motorsports' #91 team that currently runs a part-time schedule for Bill Elliott.

The third full-time team allows Evernham Motorsports to continue to grow and expand its operations. An expanded stable allows Evernham Motorsports to accelerate its R&D efforts, increase its test dates, and enhance its ability to collect and analyse data and make improvements more quickly and efficiently.

"We're excited about the opportunity to work with Scott Riggs," said Ray Evernham, President and CEO of Evernham Motorsports. "He and I have been talking about working together for some time now. Scott has shown he can be a winner in NASCAR's Busch and Craftsman Truck Series and we look forward to getting him to the winner's circle next season in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series in the #10 Valvoline Dodge Charger."

The Valvoline and Evernham relationship goes back to 1994 when Valvoline became an associate sponsor with Hendrick Motorsports and Evernham was crew chief for Jeff Gordon. Valvoline came aboard as both associate sponsor and technical partner with Evernham Motorsports for its first season in 2001 and has been involved ever since. Valvoline technical personnel have worked with Evernham Motorsports' engine programme for the past five years on a variety of issues relating to lubrication and cooling.

"This is a new era in Valvoline's long racing tradition," said Valvoline Designated Team Owner Jim Rocco. "As is the case with our current team, Valvoline will leave the running of the team, the competition, personnel and equipment, to Ray and his team. Valvoline's expertise is marketing and we will continue to make our NASCAR Nextel Cup Series racing effort serve the needs of our family of brands, which include Valvoline, Eagle One and Zerex."

The paint scheme for the #10 Valvoline Dodge Charger will be unveiled later this year.