Evernham was a modified racer. When he was 26 years old, he was hired by the International Race of Champions as a chassis specialist; drivers were impressed that he could translate what they were saying about the car's handling into technological adjustments.
Evernham crashed at Flemington Speedway in the middle of the 1991 season, damaging his brain stem, which left him with depth perception impairment. He said of the crash: "When you wreck that bad, you don't remember anything about it." His accident prompted officials to put foam blocks in the corners to lessen impacts.
Evernham started working for NASCAR driver Alan Kulwicki at the end of 1991, having previously served as crew chief for Australian Touring car figure Dick Johnson in 1989 and 1990. His personality clashed with Kulwicki's and Evernham stayed for only six weeks before quitting at Daytona. As he was walking out of the garage, Ford engineers Lee Morse and Preston Miller — who had worked directly with Ford teams including Kulwicki's — stopped him and suggested Ford might find Evernham another assignment outside the Winston Cup. Jeff Gordon had just become a Ford driver and had mentioned he would like to work with Evernham again; the two had worked briefly together in 1990, when Evernham had worked on some chassis setups for Gordon's Pontiac team.
Gordon's owner, Bill Davis Racing, did not want to hire Evernham for their NASCAR Busch Series team: "Bill Davis didn't want me," Evernham later recalled. "But Ford paid my salary to go and work for Bill Davis, because Jeff wanted me there so bad."
Evernham remained crew chief for Gordon after Gordon moved up into the Winston Cup Series for Hendrick Motorsports, from the final race of the 1992 season through 1999. Gordon and Evernham won 47 Cup races and 3 Cup championships (1995, 1997, and 1998), forming the dominant team in NASCAR Cup competition at the time.
As head of the "Rainbow Warriors" pit crew — named for the rainbow paint schemes on the car — Evernham is considered one of the innovators in improving the duration and efficiency of pit stops. Rather than using the team's mechanics as the pit crew, Evernham created a group of specialists, often former athletes, who trained to perfect their assigned task (tire changing, tire carrying, jacking up the car, and so on). He incorporated choreography, put crew members through strength and agility training, and analyzed pit stops on film between races. These methods led to the car spending less time in the pits. Evernham is credited with reducing the expected duration of a four-tire pit stop from over 20 seconds to less than 15.
Evernham left Hendrick Motorsports in 1999 to form his own team, Evernham Motorsports. The team debuted in the Winston Cup Series in 2000 out of Bill Elliott's race shop in a limited schedule with Casey Atwood. Evernham was also tasked by Daimler Chrysler to bring Dodge back into prominence in NASCAR's elite series, leading the development of the Intrepid R/T race car that debuted in 2001. The team operated with direct factory backing and sponsorship from nearly 3,000 Dodge Dealers, the Mopar performance brand, and the UAW. Evernham fielded cars in the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and Craftsman Truck Series, as well as in the ARCA, USAC, and Dodge Weekly Racing Series. Drivers included Elliott, Atwood, Jeremy Mayfield, Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, Erin Crocker, Patrick Carpentier, and Chase Miller. Bill Elliott gave the team its first win in 2001 at Homestead Miami Speedway.
On August 6, 2007, it was announced that George N. Gillett Jr. had purchased a majority share in the team, renaming it Gillett Evernham Motorsports. On January 9, 2009, the team completed a merger with Petty Enterprises, bringing the famous No. 43 car into the fold and changing the name to Richard Petty Motorsports. Late in the 2009 season, RPM announced a merger with Yates Racing, leaving Dodge to run Ford Fusions. In late 2010 the team was bought out by Richard Petty and several investment groups, and Evernham sold his remaining share.
In May 2011, Evernham sued Gillett Jr., alleging that Gillett did not fulfil his responsibilities as co-owner, that Gillett's management problems led to the demise of the team, and that Evernham lost $19 million in the process. In 2012 the suit was settled under undisclosed terms.
Evernham has worked three separate stints for ESPN/ABC: in 2000, 2008–2010, and 2012–2013, covering both race and studio broadcasts. He has hosted the show AmeriCARna on Velocity since 2013. Since 2015 he has served as a color analyst on NBCSN, paired with Ralph Sheheen on broadcasts of the Whelen Modified Tour and Whelen Southern Modified Tour.
In July 2020, Evernham and former NASCAR driver Tony Stewart formed the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), a stock car series that began racing in summer 2021.
In December 2025, Evernham was named one of three members of IndyCar's new Independent Officiating Board, in a vote by IndyCar charter team owners, alongside Raj Nair and Ronan Morgan (appointed by the FIA). As part of his duties, Evernham and the other board members serve as heads of a new nonprofit organization, IndyCar Officiating Inc., which also selects an individual to serve as managing director of officiating — tasked with full officiating oversight of the IndyCar Series and Indy NXT, including hiring of personnel for race control and technical inspection and enforcement of IndyCar and Indy NXT rules.
During the 2006 season, former Evernham driver Jeremy Mayfield was fired from the No. 19 car for "lack of performance" as stated by the Evernham team. Court documents revealed Mayfield blamed Evernham's personal life — including a claim that a "close personal relationship" had developed between the then-married Evernham and development driver Erin Crocker — and "sub-par" equipment as reasons he had not won a race in 2006. Evernham admitted to an ongoing relationship with Crocker; Evernham and Crocker were later married at a private ceremony on August 26, 2009.
Evernham is also known for a 1995 penalty that was then the largest fine in NASCAR history: a $60,000 fine imposed for using unapproved suspension parts on Jeff Gordon's car in a May 1995 race.
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