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June 02, 2007
Yates one of NASCAR's truly good guys
By DAVID GREEN
It did my heart good to get the press release from Ford, announcing the renewal of the car company's support of Robert Yates Racing. There are plenty of really good folks in racing, and Robert Yates is surely among the best of them.
The new agreement scotches rumors that the Yates team might be switching to another manufacturer or even fading from the scene. Times have been hard the last couple of years for RYR, in terms of competitiveness and stability. But Yates and his team have enjoyed much better -- and endured worse.
The team was founded by Harry Ranier many years ago, with a Ranier-owned entry showing up back in the 1960s. About a decade after that, Ranier became a full-time team owner and his was solidly established among NASCAR's elite entries long before Yates became owner of it. That was after the 1988 season, the second for rising star Davey Allison as driver of the Texaco Havoline-sponsored No. 28.
In its third season, 1991, the Yates team moved into championship contender status. Allison won five races and finished third in the Winston Cup points standings. They opened 1992 with a Daytona 500 victory. But after that, a rollercoaster ride of bizarre proportions was about to begin for the driver and his team.
Allison battled through a series of serious injuries that, amazingly, did not keep him out of competition. Before the physical wounds were healed, Allison had the emotional trauma of the death of his brother, Clifford, in a crash during Busch Series practice at Michigan. At the end of the season, Allison went into the final race as the points leader, only to be caught up in a crash that relegated him to a third-place finish, again, in driver points.
The next season brought more tragedy, as Allison was fatally injured when his helicopter crashed in the infield of Talladega Superspeedway in July, after the 16th race of the season. The grief-stricken Yates skipped one race before returning to action, with Lake Speed as interim driver, and then Ernie Irvan came on board to take Allison's ride.
About one year later, Irvan was leading in driver points when he suffered near-fatal injuries in a crash at Michigan. For the second season in a row, Yates found himself in the worst possible dilemma for a racecar owner. Once again, he decided to stay the course and remain active in the sport he loves.
Irvan would recover and return to driving after more than a year out of action, winning two races in 1996 and another in 1997. Yates, who had hired Dale Jarrett at the beginning of the 1995 season, added a second team and installed Jarrett in the new car, the No. 88, as Irvan resumed his duties in the black No. 28.
After 2002, the long-running Texaco Havoline sponsorship ended and the famous No. 28 was retired. Yates changed the number to 38 as Elliott Sadler came on board with a new sponsor, M&Ms. More changes were in store in 2004, as the highly regarded Yates engine shop was united with the facilities of Roush Racing.
Jarrett thrived in the No. 88, winning two Daytona 500s and two Brickyard 400s and, in 1999, giving Yates a long-awaited Cup championship title. He remained with Yates until the end of last season, before moving to the Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota team. Sadler, who won twice in 2004, left the team at mid-season last year to join Evernham Racing and Yates tabbed rookie David Gilliland to replace him.
Yates opened the 2007 season with Gilliland joined by veteran Ricky Rudd, who returned from a year's absence from racing to the Yates team, where he was a driver for three seasons (2000-2002). The team swept the front-row spots in qualifying for the Daytona 500, with Gilliland winning the pole, but so far they have not snapped the winless streak that stretches from October 2005, when Jarrett won at Talladega.
Here's hoping the winless streak ends soon, just as speculation about the fate of the Yates team has been stifled by yesterday's announcement from Ford. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
June 2, 2007 | Permalink
Comments
David,
Yates certainly has earned the respect of his peers, and the fans. The Ford announcement reaffirms the commitment that RYR and Ford have to each other.
Davey Allison's loss makes me wonder what might have been. How different might the Championships have played out. The same is true of Earnie Irvan. He also would have influenced events. But, he was never really the same after the crash.
I think Gilliland is a positive move for Yates. Rudd, his best driving days long gone, I see more as a mentor than a long term solution. His track knowledge and composure will help DG's developement.
Here's hoping good guys can finish first.
Posted by: Keith | Jun 2, 2007 7:47:46 AM
LOL David, and Keith
Yesterday afternoon my oldest daughter Angel called me and asked me to name my favorite "old" drivers in Nascar. It seems she had stumbled upon a yard sale with some cups/ mugs, in her telling me what she fund she said a #25 Kenny Schrader cup, a Dale srRichard Petty 7 time champ mug and a #28 Ernie Irvan mg.
Lucky me.
Anyway Robert was deserving of the recognition by FORD.
Posted by: Trucker | Jun 2, 2007 8:18:30 AM
Well said David. Yates is a good guy.
Is it me or is there some kind of problem that Ford has in the Cup series? Hendrick, Childress, and Gibbs are great teams, but is driving Chevys a benefit that they have? You never know with the France family sometimes.
Posted by: Kurt Smith | Jun 2, 2007 9:21:30 AM
Yates may be a good guy, but he always seems to be a day late, dollar short. He seems to be playing catch up all the time - never a leader in innovation like Hendrick or Roush. He's always trying to steal Hendrick crew men and they never produce the way they did in their previous jobs. Sorry Yates - racing has passed you by. You were good for a while but now its time to exit stage right.
Posted by: Sad but true | Jun 2, 2007 9:49:51 AM
I hate to sound like I'm splitting hairs,but in 1994,Dale was leading in points over Ernie by about 30 pts when Ernie was injured. I can't say what would have been,but Earnhardt was leading and people don't realize that.
Posted by: Tony29 | Jun 2, 2007 11:34:25 AM
Trucker, it is truly hard to believe how long ago some of the stuff I wrote about in this piece happened.
Kurt, Chevy does, indeed, seem to have it over the competition in general these days. I'm not sure if that's because of NASCAR favoritism or not, but that accusation is certainly a long-standing one.
Tony 29, I'm not sure what you mean by "splitting hairs." You are correct, and I was in error in what I wrote -- Irvan was not leading, but trailed Earnhardt by 27 points going into that race. As for "people (not realizing) that," my own memory was flawed simply because the two drivers had each won three times as the 21st race of a 31-race season approached, and were contesting a quite entertaining points battle in which, as I recall, Irvan was in front more often than he trailed. After Irvan was sidelined, that dramatic battle was finished. Earnhardt won only once more, at Rockingham.
Your reference to "what might have been" and Keith's speculation brings up, I think, a delicious point to ponder: Would either Davey, had he not been killed, or Irvan, had he not been injured, have stood in the way of those sixth and seventh championship titles Earnhardt won?
Of course, it doesn't matter. What might have been, as a great philosopher once said, was. The point I wanted to make was that the Yates team, like Roush, was of championship caliber long before it ever actually won a championship.
As for Sad But True's dismissal of RYR as an anachronism, the proof is in the pudding. The team still shows signs of its old form, but it is, overall, a step behind. I hate sweeping indictments (Yates is hardly the only team owner to hire anybody from some other race team, and for that matter Hendrick's crew is not 100 percent home-grown) and judgmental pronouncements ("its [sic] time to exit stage right") and as for Yates' record and talents as an innovator versus Roush, you may draw your own inferences about the merger of the two teams' engine-building efforts. "Playing catch-up all the time" is the phrase one applies to everybody who's not putting a whipping on the field over an extended period of time, the way Hendrick is doing this year. But such cliche-hip observations are de rigueur in today's culture, where only the top 1 percent of substance makes the news, and where context, depth and historical perspective are forgotten. What -- you won 57 races? Big deal. What did you do this weekend?
Posted by: David Green | Jun 2, 2007 12:42:14 PM
By splitting hairs,I meant I didn't want to seem to be nit picking because your post was about the Yates organization,not who was leading who.I was just making sure not to come off as a rude,nit-picky a%^*#@e.
Posted by: Tony29 | Jun 2, 2007 2:13:15 PM
Someone show where RYR is showing its old form. They sat on the front row at Daytona and scrounged top 10 finishes. After that, tell me the bright spots. RYR is scrambling for 30th place finishes each week - look at the owner points. It's a far cry from the Michigan dominations by the 28/88 teams.
Robert Yates' refusal to grow his company in the early 2000s has what led to his downfall. After Jarrett won the title in 1999, he felt like he could do it the old way. He did go out and cherry-pick the Rainbow Warriors, but it failed miserably. The early part of the decade was a critical time for growing and RYR did not do it. Yates has tried to throw money at his problems, but to little avail. It takes more than throwing money at tire changers and stealing top talent to build a race team. It takes vision, engineering, R&D. Yes, RYR did merge its engine program with Roush, but its clear that the benefits to Roush outweight the benefits to Yates. RYR is an organization that is headed towards Wood Bros. status. Its inability to lure sponsors - partly because of poor performance - has led to its two teams being sponsored by one company Mars Candies. That leaves both teams in a tenuous position at best. Hendrick's personnel might not all be home grown, but they didn't cherry pick championship winning teams or contenders. McCray, Pepe, D'Hondt, Barban, Burdett, Smith are just a few of the names poached from Hendrick, namely the 24/48 shop, who left for more bucks but have found the results to be waning.
Yates is trying to be a copy-cat these days. As the old saying goes, if you follow the Joneses, you will be following the Joneses.
Posted by: To David Green | Jun 3, 2007 12:34:52 AM
Wait a minute - you mean Robert Yaytes has a team in NASCAR? I thought he quit fielding cars. I don't see them on Sunday.
Posted by: Hardee's Car | Jun 3, 2007 12:43:45 AM
Quit all of the bashing of Robert Yates Racing. Somebody has to lose every week. Yates does a good job of it, picks himself off the canvas and goes on to the next week. Heck, my favorite team Ganassi doesn't win either, but I still like them. Heck - it's been forever since my favorite teams at Yates or Ganassi have won. Come to think of it - why do I like Ganassi or Yates teams? Have I lost my mind? I lose ever week! Crap, I'll switch to a Chevy team. Fords stink. And Dodges too.
Posted by: 42 Fan | Jun 3, 2007 12:47:25 AM
The note from "To David Green" reminds me what a poor job I do of expressing myself sometimes. I wrote, "The team still shows signs of its old form, but it is, overall, a step behind." In the part that comes after the conjunction "but," I meant to acknowledge that, in my own assessment, RYR is no longer among the elite teams. Sorry that wasn't more clearly stated.
I presume it was clear that, even though some of you seem to think he is a modern-day pirate, I have a high regard for Mr. Yates and I would be happy to see his team come closer to the performances they demonstrated in the 1990s.
Perhaps that is Pollyanna-like optimistic, but I just can't help myself. I guess the operative old saying here would be, "When you're not writing clearly, you're not writing clearly."
To Tony 29, I would never consider you a "rude,nit-picky a%^*#@e."
Hardee's Car, it is true -- Robert Yates Racing is still in business. Its cars have won 75 percent of the front-row starting spots in restrictor-plate races this year. I need to pay closer attention, I guess, because I didn't realize there was a Hardee's car.
42 Fan, when the car that now carries the Texaco-Havoline logo and the team that used to bear that standard start winning again, you and I can feel good about having supported them when they were down.
There I go again, being optimistic! You cynics overlook that, please. It's just senility. After all, I remember when the cents-per-gallon price of gasoline was lower than Davey Allison's car number.
Posted by: David Green | Jun 3, 2007 7:45:35 AM
Let's get to brass tax here. RYR stinks. Simply put, stinks. RYR went 5 months without having a WORKING WEBSITE!
Now David, you can sugarcoat it with your Shakespearean fluff all you want, but RYR has gone down the tubes. As the weeks go by the 38/88 slink closer to the top 35 cutoff. Walrus mustache put all of his eggs in a one-hit wonder basket (Gilliland) and hired a washed up driver (Rudd).
Don't insult me by trying to tell me RYR is showing signs of old form. It's embarassing to watch RYR trot out cars these days. And oh yeah - I haven't even addressed Dale Jarrett's favorite dance, "The Crew Chief Shuffle."
Give me a break. RYR needs to go to ASA and go for wins.
Posted by: Bowtie | Jun 3, 2007 9:19:34 AM
Ford Racing sucks. Yates should have gotten out of that mess. They lack leadership and commitment starting at the top. They let Kasey and kyle get away and Roush is more concerned about winning all the Busch races with his Cup drivers then developing new talent. Look at NHRA Pro Stock, Ford was a force with Bob Glidden now you are lucky to find a Ford in that class.
Posted by: jeff | Jun 3, 2007 9:47:05 AM
on the rouse thing he is more worred about toyota might kick his but than his winning races. yates hasant been nothing for years a pole now and then. everyone talks about chevy got advantage they have but they are in france pocket. look at trucks toyota won 3 straight races then took away intake said gave more horse power look at ro7 chevy has more hp but dont see anything france doing there. quote someone from nascar we will change rules if we see a advantage looks like they need see who has won all but 1 race this year guess they cant see name plate on front of chevy huh. any other manf they would be changing rules
Posted by: joe | Jun 3, 2007 10:26:18 AM
Thanks David,
A few of us still have faith that they are going to turn it around someday.
Posted by: Kasey | Jun 3, 2007 10:40:50 AM
Kasey, thanks for a civil comment. I'm not so sure that I am as optimistic as I wrote earlier; I have seen lots of great teams fade from their competitive peaks and many of them have gone away altogether. It would please me if RYR is able to mount a resurgence.
Now, as for the smack-talkers: I'm really curious about the source of all this venom toward Robert Yates. A couple of years ago when Gary Nelson blew up the engine in the 28 car on the chassis dyno at Talladega, the buzz was that was the only time anyone had ever heard Yates curse. It was a funny line, but I didn't believe it, because I don't think even that kind of stupid stunt would have pushed Robert into using profanity.
Nor will the erudite critics of Mr. Yates elicit any more responses from me after this one. Rant on, boys; as long as you can afford access to the Internet, the rest of us will just have to live with it, I suppose.
Posted by: David Green | Jun 3, 2007 12:07:04 PM
Hey David,
Forgot to give Yates the bird. Did not get that championship til' Todd Parrott flew in.
lol, don't even try to link the 28 with the current 42. The star looks good on the hood as always. As for what's in that car, Compost should be the sponsor.
Posted by: Larry | Jun 3, 2007 12:36:09 PM
I went into an Autozone last week and I saw Robert Yates shopping for parts. C'mon guys - why waste ink on this organization. Petty, Wood Bros. and RYR are has beens.
Look, like the other guy typed - Yates couldn't even afford to have a website probably because he couldn't pay his dial-up bill.
Posted by: Ford sux | Jun 3, 2007 1:00:55 PM
David,
Thanks for writing about one of my favorite teams.Robert is one of the original "good ole boys".At the end of 2005 it looked like scourched earth at Yates racing.That had a lot to do with who Robert had in charge.In mid 2006,he decided to take his team back and I am seeing signs of life again.Let's give him some time,he may not be through yet!
Posted by: Short Lady | Jun 3, 2007 3:33:23 PM
Yates has dial-up? That's funny.
Posted by: Bowtie | Jun 3, 2007 5:27:29 PM
Well, lots of truths posted here, pro and con, about RYR--but I'm still an admirer of both Robert and Doug and hope they can work towards returning to real competitiveness. Agree about Rooster--best days are long over, and really, all RYR did with the 88 car was replace one oldster with another. Sadler was no big loss, IMO--more telegenic than David Gilliland is, but that's about it. Comparing any racing organization to Felony Motors (Hendrick) is apples and oranges--most money, most engineering, most of everything, unfortunately. It will be pretty interesting to see what happens with Jr. if he does end up there, which doesn't really seem to be a possiblity, but then, who knows?
Posted by: SneakyPete | Jun 3, 2007 6:01:56 PM
Yates is a dinosaur. Go to ASA.
Posted by: To SneakyPete | Jun 3, 2007 8:48:20 PM
What happened to RYR that made it so good, Dale Jarret. What happened to RYR to make it so bad, Dale Jarret.
I give all the credit due to the man when he was racing. You may luck into one Daytona 500, but Dale proved it wasn't luck by winning more. His championship also speaks highly of his ability.
How ever, the day he sat sideways to the cars racing back to the finish line, was his end. By trying to continue to race with DJ as their primary driver, they failed to remain competative and also lost very good personel.
Posted by: Pete8 | Jun 4, 2007 6:43:28 AM
Without Todd we would not even be talking about DJ right now. DJ was proud to hoist the big trophy. But later trashed todd for the fleet of cars being non-competitive. Well, maybe a smart crew chief would not share all the specs for job secuity. DJ's performance post TP could backup that theory.
Could Yates' be hanging on for a slice of the franchise pie?
Posted by: Larry | Jun 4, 2007 10:03:25 AM
Short Lady, you're welcome. It was a pleasure to write about RYR, even if for some strange reason the piece has drawn the perverted attention of all sorts of vermin from the sewers. Robert has more class in the clippings from one of his fingernails than some of the bottom-feeders who have posted responses here.
Sneaky Pete and Pete 8, thanks for interesting observations.
Larry, I hope Robert does get that slice of pie. He deserves it. Wish Bud Moore, Junior Johnson and some of the others who helped build the sport could have scored a bigger payoff. Instead, as in MacArthur's "old soldiers" reference, they just faded away. But some came out of it better than others. I like David Poole's idea about using revenue from franchises to take care of some of the pioneers who are in need these days.
I'm still not responding to the miscreants, but I wonder if "To Sneaky Pete" is trying to make some kind of point, of if he's just too dumb to realize that ASA went out of business in 2004?
Posted by: David Green | Jun 4, 2007 1:08:35 PM
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