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A NASCAR BLOG BY Steve Waid
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Yates rises above expectations
Jun
27
In sports, there are always individuals or teams that accomplish more than expected of them.
That’s been true of NASCAR throughout its history.
And it’s happening again.
Consider Yates Racing, if you will.
Formerly known as Robert Yates Racing, it has a storied background. It began as a winning organization in 1989, its first year of existence, with the late Davey Allison behind the wheel of its Fords.
For the next 16 years, the team continued to win with such drivers as Dale Jarrett, Ernie Irvan, Elliott Sadler and Ricky Rudd.
With Jarrett, it won the Winston Cup championship in 1999.
But the team fell on hard times in 2005, when Jarrett won just once. Over the course of three seasons, mediocrity ensued.
What had once been a championship organization was considered by many to be second-tier at best and in danger of extinction at worst.
A shift came at the end of the 2007 campaign. Team owner Robert Yates retired, and his son Doug took over with co-owner Max Jones.
David Gilliland, who came on board as Sadler’s replacement in 2006, was retained. Travis Kvapil, who had spent a couple of non-descript seasons in Sprint Cup competition, was plucked from the Craftsman Truck Series ranks to be his teammate.
Sponsorship, essentially, has been minimal.
Few, if any, figured Yates Racing would be anything more than a bottom feeder.
Hold on a moment.
Yates has clearly surpassed expectations – as underscored by Gilliland’s runnerup finish at Sonoma.
All season, Kvapil has steadily moved forward in the point standings and now rests 18th. Gilliland jumped to 21st after Sonoma.
Which means both drivers are comfortably nestled among the top 35 in owner points and don’t have to endure the strain of having to qualify for races.
Can’t say that for some other established and better-financed teams, can we? Some of them are sweating it out every week.
Certainly Yates Racing can’t be compared to today’s powerhouse teams – not yet, anyway.
But it is abundantly clear that, so far, it has accomplished a lot more than anticipated.
That’s been true of NASCAR throughout its history.
And it’s happening again.
Consider Yates Racing, if you will.
Formerly known as Robert Yates Racing, it has a storied background. It began as a winning organization in 1989, its first year of existence, with the late Davey Allison behind the wheel of its Fords.
For the next 16 years, the team continued to win with such drivers as Dale Jarrett, Ernie Irvan, Elliott Sadler and Ricky Rudd.
With Jarrett, it won the Winston Cup championship in 1999.
But the team fell on hard times in 2005, when Jarrett won just once. Over the course of three seasons, mediocrity ensued.
What had once been a championship organization was considered by many to be second-tier at best and in danger of extinction at worst.
A shift came at the end of the 2007 campaign. Team owner Robert Yates retired, and his son Doug took over with co-owner Max Jones.
David Gilliland, who came on board as Sadler’s replacement in 2006, was retained. Travis Kvapil, who had spent a couple of non-descript seasons in Sprint Cup competition, was plucked from the Craftsman Truck Series ranks to be his teammate.
Sponsorship, essentially, has been minimal.
Few, if any, figured Yates Racing would be anything more than a bottom feeder.
Hold on a moment.
Yates has clearly surpassed expectations – as underscored by Gilliland’s runnerup finish at Sonoma.
All season, Kvapil has steadily moved forward in the point standings and now rests 18th. Gilliland jumped to 21st after Sonoma.
Which means both drivers are comfortably nestled among the top 35 in owner points and don’t have to endure the strain of having to qualify for races.
Can’t say that for some other established and better-financed teams, can we? Some of them are sweating it out every week.
Certainly Yates Racing can’t be compared to today’s powerhouse teams – not yet, anyway.
But it is abundantly clear that, so far, it has accomplished a lot more than anticipated.
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Comments
2 responses to "Yates rises above expectations"
gene fosheim said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 12:57 PMyahoo for the little guys. Now if only the Wood brothers could get it going!
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» Confirm Abuse Reportemily bagwell said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 7:44 PMYou bet, Gene. I can't think of anything that would add to NASCAR any more than diversity in the teams. We need all the old guys, and as far as I'm concerned, Robert Yates was a class act and the Wood brothers can't be touched when it comes to stand up guys. I wish Yates all the best and hope to see them smoking for years to come.I'm a Junior fan, but I'm from the old school.
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This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse Report