DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Ray Evernham is returning to the
broadcast booth in NASCAR, rejoining ESPN as an analyst after taking a year off.

Evernham, who won three championships as Jeff Gordon's crew chief and later started his own team, was an ESPN analyst from 2008-10. He didn't work for the network last season, instead working as a consultant to NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick.

Evernham says he will continue working with Hendrick while working for ESPN. He says he took a year off from broadcasting so he wouldn't create "any perceived conflict of interest" related to his new role with Hendrick. Evernham says his work with Hendrick's companies isn't related to racing.

Evernham will join ESPN at Daytona Speedweeks.