Gillett Evernham Motor Sports

George Gillett Jr
Co-Owner Gillett Evernham Motorsports

George N. Gillett, Jr., is founder and chairman of Booth Creek Management Corp., which oversees the Gillett family interests in diverse businesses including resorts, meat packing, car dealerships and professional sports. He is the owner of the Montreal Canadians National Hockey League team, the Liverpool Football Club and Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

In addition to serving as chairman and director of most of these companies, George is a member of the Board of Governors of the National Hockey League and a board member of CHC Helicopter Corporation.

George started his career in marketing and management consulting, initially with McKinsey & Company. A sports enthusiast since childhood, by the mid-1960s George was business manager and minority partner of the Miami Dolphins. A year later, he became owner and CEO of the Harlem Globetrotters. He established Globetrotter Communications, a national broadcasting group that launched Saturday morning cartoon shows featuring the Harlem Globetrotters.

When George Gillett bought Vail and Beaver Creek in 1985, it was George's wife, Rose, and their four boys who cast the deciding votes for him to do so. That strong sense of family would permeate everything the Gilletts did at the resorts over the next seven years.

Avid skiers and longtime visitors to Vail, the Gilletts knew what worked for a family on the slopes. Applying his business acumen and a focus on customer service, Gillett set out to create the ultimate family winter escape. Among his innovations: massive installation of high-speed detachable chairlifts and additional groomed slopes. He also introduced a “one-stop-shopping” approach for the skiing experience: a centralized reservations service offering lodging, lift tickets and airfare from a central source.

A true entrepreneur, Gillett formed Booth Creek Ski Holdings, Inc. in 1995. Booth Creek is the fourth largest ski resort operator in the country, consisting of six resorts across North America. In 1999, Ski magazine voted Gillett as one of the "100 Most Influential Skiers of All Time." Now owner and operator of Grand Targhee Resort in Wyoming, the Gillett family is again redefining the ski experience.

Back home in Colorado, Gillett is a director and member of the executive committee of the Vail Valley Foundation and the Steadman Hawkins Research Foundation. He fostered the idea that a ski town can excel in the arenas of education, culture and healthcare. His innovative thinking and commitment to the ski community at large have left a lasting mark on Colorado.

Gillett attended Amherst (Mass.) College and graduated from Dominican College in Racine, Wis., in 1961. He was born in Racine, is 68 years old and is married with children.
 

Ray Evernham
Co-Owner Gillett Evernham Motorsports

With more than 35 years of experience, Ray Evernham's passion for automobiles has left an indelible mark on the motorsports industry. It is this passion that has taken him on his life's journey from mechanic, to driver, to team manager, to crew chief, to his role today as team owner.

Early in his career, at the request of Roger Penske, Evernham helped resurrect the International Race of Champions (IROC) Series. As team manager, Evernham worked with the world's best racers including Rutherford, Foyt, Fittipaldi, Waltrip and Elliott. It was this experience that taught Evernham the value of team success and the business of racing.

Evernham's unique leadership qualities and success caught the attention of NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick. Evernham teamed up with up-and-coming driver Jeff Gordon as his crew chief. Together the two would make motorsports history earning three championships and 47 wins in 216 starts, including victories in two Daytona 500s and the inaugural Brickyard 400.

Evernham's vision of team can be defined by the success of the 24 team and the Rainbow Warriors. Evernham has received honors from the industry with awards recognizing his contributions to the sport. He earned Crew Chief of the Decade honors, as well as being named the Greatest Crew Chief of All Time by the media, an award Evernham believes to be the highest honor he could receive.

Team Owner Ray Evernham has created a racing organization based on leading edge technology and currently fields four cars in two series. Under Evernham's leadership, Gillett Evernham Motorsports successfully returned DaimlerChrysler's performance brand Dodge to NASCAR racing, achieved the highest number of individual wins in the 2006 season (Kasey Kahne, Driver No. 9 Dodge-6 wins), and has earned a visit to victory lane in Sprint or Nationwide series racing each year since its inception.

Evernham's journey may have started with his impassioned desire to succeed as a driver, but it has been his ability to take calculated risks and quest for unparalleled performance that continues to fuel his success in the world of high speed business.

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