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Season Preview: Yates Racing

by Tim Zaegel on February 8th, 2008

It’s hard to imagine that a team like Yates Racing would no longer be considered to be in NASCAR’s elite organizations, but the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of the course that this company has undergone over the past few seasons is the phrase, “My, how the mighty have fallen.” It wasn’t long ago that Robert Yates had the likes of the rising Elliot Saddler and racing legend Dale Jarrett driving the no. 38 M&M’s and no. 88 UPS Chevy Monte Carlo’s and both drivers were contending for championships. Fast forward to 2008, and Doug Yates – Robert’s son – now controls ownership of the race teams and runs the company with the help of Max Jones.

2007 was a complete catastrophe for the Yates teams – perhaps the worst year in the company’s history. The two teams were fielded by David Gilliland (driving in his first full-time season in the Cup series) and Ricky Rudd (driving in his final full-time season). The teams finished the season 28th and 33rd respectively, bringing home a total of (1) top five and (3) top ten finishes … oh, and a Budweiser Pole Award via Gilliland’s efforts at last year’s running of the Daytona 500. The only bright spot from last season is the fact that both cars did manage to maintain their positions inside the top 35 in owner’s points, meaning that Gilliland and Travis Kvapil (replacing Rudd in the now no. 28 Chevy) will have guaranteed starts in the first five points races of the season. That’s of little consolation for the team, though, when they consider the fact that in 2005 their teams finished 13th and 15th in points with 19 top ten finishes and a win, and 9th and 15th in points with 2 wins and 28 top ten’s. In fact, Dale Jarrett’s win at Talladega in October of 2005 was the last time the Yates family has visited Victory Lane, and if last year was any indication of things to come, it may be quite sometime before they receive another ticket to go back there.

NASCAR brand-name sponsors have apparently taken notice to the fallout inside the Yates camp, because it was only early Thursday afternoon that they finally landed their first primary sponsor for either of their cars when they signed Experien Consumer Direct for the first seven races on the hood of the no. 38 car. Yes, they’ve gone from decorating their cars with M&M’s, Snickers, and UPS to opening up the Daytona 500 with Experien and a sponsor TBD. Oh, and what are they going to do 2 months from now when that contract expires? All hope is not lost, though. At the end of 2006, Yates partnered their engine department with that of Roush Racing, who started coming on very, very strong towards the end of last season, primarily with Matt Kenseth. I’m sure both organizations have had their people working around the clock in the offseason to get things right for both camps. If that’s the case, then the potential of David Gilliland should shine brightly right away – provided he can keep the nose of the car clean, and Travis Kvapil could possibly bring home some consistent finishes as well by the end the year. It should be interesting.

Cup Series Roster:
28: Travis Kvapil – He hasn’t raced in the Cup Series since 2006 when he raced 31 races for Penske Racing and finished 36th in driver points, failing to record a top ten finish. He did, however, race the full schedule in 2005 – his rookie season in Cup – and brought home two top ten finishes en route to a 33rd place points finish. Don’t let the numbers fool you, though. Despite his poor performance in the Cup Series thus far, Travis did win the Craftsman Truck Series Championship back in 2003 in what was only his third season of racing the trucks in a brilliant season which saw him finish 22 of the 25 races that year in the top ten, finishing all but one lap. If Doug Yates can somehow find a way to put some solid equipment behind him, Travis should not only have no problem keeping this car inside the top 35 in owner’s points, but could perhaps find enough consistency to bring home a 20th to 25th place points finish.

38: David Gilliland – David seemed as though he was a perfect match for the NASCAR circuit when he first debuted in the Busch Series in 2006. In only his seventh start he was able to bring home the checkered flag at Kentucky Speedway and then quickly found himself in the Cup Series after Yates had parted ways with Elliot Saddler mid-way through the year. In only his 8th start in the Cup Series, David won the pole award at Talladega and went on to finish a very respectable 15th in that race, though his average finish in the fifteen races he participated in that year was only 28.3. 2007 got off to a great start, though, as he won the pole award for the Daytona 500 and finished 8th in the “Great American Race”, officially scoring his first career top ten finish in the big leagues of racing. The season was downhill from there, though, as David would capture only one more top 10 finish on the season, coming in with an average finish of 27.4. He’s looked good at times in many races, but the big problem he’s had is being able to avoid trouble on the track … purely a sign of his inexperience. If he’s able to maintain a high level of awareness to his surroundings on the track, then I’m confident that he’ll eventually get this car to victory lane and possibly even cruise to a top 20 finish in the points standings. That’s a big “if”, though … much easier said than done.Driver Roster: C+
Off-Season: C+
2008 Outlook: B-

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