September 10th, 2009 
T.C. It was announced on Thursday that Yates Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports will merge for 2010 and that the new team will race Fords. This new team owned by the Gilletts, Richard Petty, Ray Evernham, Boston Ventures, Doug Yates, and Max Jones (whoa) will campaign four teams with drivers Kasey Kahne, A.J. Allmendinger, Elliott Sadler, and Paul Menard.
Effectively, what we are seeing is RPM switching to Fords and Paul Menard taking his money to RPM; while Yates Racing will cease to exist. This means that Roush Fenway and Yates have given up on finding sponsorship for the #96 for next season and that any move of the #26 team to Yates has been scrapped. Scratch three teams for next season.
What this really means for all the players involved remains to be seen, but I believe Max Jones will probably take a leadership role within the new organization, while Doug Yates will move over and focus solely on running Roush Yates Engines.
For the drivers, this leaves Jamie McMurray and Reed Sorenson without rides for next season, while Erik Darnell and Bobby Labonte’s futures also remain in flux. What will happen with Hall of Fame Racing and their previous alliance with Yates is also a question mark.
For myself, I think it’s a real shame to lose Yates Racing with the history they have in the sport. Things haven’t quite been the same since Robert Yates stepped away a few years back, but now a team that was a stalwart in NASCAR for many years will simply fade away. The Cup landscape will certainly look very different for 2010.
Are you shocked by this announcement? What do you expect out of this team, performance wise, for 2010? Do you think the drivers they are keeping are the best choices? Feel free to sound off.
R.I.P Yates Racing 1988-2009
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I think the only reason they’re keeping Sadler and Menard is the sponsor money they bring in. I guess they figure any decent performance they may get out of them next season will be gravy. Kahne and Allmendinger are definitely keepers.
TC – just a thought…is this going to become a satellite of Roush? Making Roush an 8 car team? Or do you think Ford is really supporting a separate organization?
But, yes, sad that Yates will cease to exist. But I am sure Doug & Robert are not worried about where their next meal will come from. I feel bad for the crew guys, office staff, etc…
Am I shocked! Yes! But upon reflection, I shouldn’t be.
Yates has been struggling. They did fairly well last year, and sold out both of their drivers in the name of money. And now one of those drivers was sold out, in the name of money.
RPM has supposedly had similar issues, with money being tight from the situation with Dodge.
Is this a win/win for the two teams? On paper, it seems that way. In reality, teams will be shut down, drivers will lose their jobs, and team members will be laid off and lining up at the employment office at the end of the year.
So much for the economy showing an upturn!
Yates has not been the same organization post Davey Allison. They were marginally good with Dale J.
Sadler is hanging by a thread with RPM as it is. I believe this time next year we’ll be talking about His departure as well. Same with Almendinger!
I believe Kahne will end up with a Dodge team after this Year. Remember what happen when Gibbs went to Toyota…By,By Tony!
Just seeing the names of the seven owners puts a knot in ones stomach.
In addition…..
For a team owner that wouldn’t even put the “Bud pole” decal on His cars now Has it for a sponsor.
I guess $$$ over principles!
Unfortunately, the story portrays another indication that NASCAR’S foundation is crumbling, as its business model continues to decay. Things will get worse……
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, and the parts are falling off, one by one. The entitiy is shrinking.
NASCAR deludes itself as it makes futile efforts to survive. The old ways and the “good times” are victims of the economy, politics and social change.
All the mergers in the world will not make people spend money as readily as they have in the past, and basically, NASCAR needs a cash influx that will not be available again, in the forseeable future.
Reality bites big time!
I’d counter Michael’s statement. Robert Yates Racing was pretty awesome after Davey’s death. Ernie Irvan was a championship threat in 1994 until he had his crash. DJ was one of the dominant drivers in the late 1990s, coupled with his championship in 1999. Ricky Rudd was a weekly threat in the 28 in his tenure from 200-02. It seems like the magic left when they gave up the #28 and Texaco went to Ganassi. They kept it going, and going well, for a long time. Of course, Davey’s death was a huge blow, but it wasn’t the end of the team.
Are we seeing a NASCAR bubble popping?
Did things become to big? Was the 20 year expansion overdone? Is this a natural process?
Where will it all end? Of course the big winners will survive and the sport will survive, but NASCAR may look very different in 5 years. The marginal drivers/teams may not be able to compete. There is only so much sponsor money available. Is the 20 million a year to run a team too much?
I dont know any of those answers, but Yates going feels bad. It kind of like when the old tracks lost/lose thier race dates to the shiny new super speedways. I will admit it feels sad everytime your picture of the peeling paint on the Wilksboro speedway sign comes up on this site,,,it reminds me, it makes me wonder if maybe NASCAR has lost its way……who knows?
I’m not ready to go into full Chicken Little mode about what this means. The disappearance of Yates is regrettable but hardly a surprise. Their success has been as engine builders in the decade since Jarrett’s championship. The switch of Petty to Fords? Not big news, because, because RPM is a new team; this is not Petty Enterprises anymore and Richard is not calling the shots. Dodge dropped the ball financially for RPM this year, so any discussion of loyalty to the manufacturer is no longer a consideration.
The big news is that further consolidations in the sport mean fewer jobs, and the hit to those who make their living in NASCAR will be a hard one. This comes after two years of previous shutdowns, layoffs and mergers, and I feel very badly for those affected. Some of those jobs may never return.
If there is a bright side, it will be that as the economy continues to recover, money will flow back into NASCAR. Existing teams will expand and new teams will form. So let’s not panic. NASCAR has been through this before – in the recession of the early ’90s there were similar concerns, and weeks that there were not enough cars to fill the field. Events like the RPM-Yates merger will ensure the survival of NASCAR.
Teams come, teams go. One day in the future you may see the end of one or any of the big four. New teams come in, build, win and push out today winners. It just the cycle of things anywhere. Not just auto racing.
Does any one remember the Kahne/Ford lawsuite ???
Can’t believe Ford would welcome him back with open arms
For those who don’t remember Kahne was a Yates driver let go due to no sponsor but Ford thought he should not have went to Everham
Hate to see Yates bite the dust
How long will Penske stay with Dodge now becomes the question
This “merger” and similar moves will make the top 35 rule meaningless. We will always have start and parkers for the money but there will be less than a full field of cars that actually intend to race. The top 35 rule has made qualifying meaningless except for pit road positions.
I agree with Fred 100% about the performance of Yates. I hate to see Yates Racing gone from Nascar but as a Ford racing fan I am excited that they will at least have two four car teams next year. I truly hope Kahne will stay with Ford this time. Remember it was them that brought him to Nascar to start with. As a matter of fact his first Busch races were with Yates, so it is sort of like going full circle for him and Saddler. My hopes are that Doug Yates will get back to doing what he and his father Robert do best, building great engines. I look forward to 2010 now. If Petty had gone with Toyota that just might have been enough for me to quit Nascar alltogether. This move at least gives me some hope.
ROUSH IS FORD. IS THIS JUST A WAY FOR ROUSH TO UNLOAD OUT DATED INVENTORY? WHAT LEVEL OF HELP CAN RPM HOPE TO GET ?
RPM is just a distant shadow of PE. If one thinks The King is more than a name/brand only to RPM just look at how KK looks in victory lane x’s 2… KK is still tryin’ to figure out why the fallen king is next to him in Victory Lane. Color KK in B2 blue (ahem, Ford Blue) and RP is gonna wonder why KK “Dodge’d” him after 2010.
Bleed Petty Blue? Even Kyle don’t.
Mergers will continue to happen with the lack of sponsorship. I really feel for Robert Yates, for what he started and now has nothing. The first mistake Doug made, he should have stuck with his own two car operation and made due with the help from Roush. I know money was a big issue, but I believe he could have made it. Second the merger with RPM, I also believe this will be a mistake but maybe it won’t. Ford is looking for more cars on the track. Chevy and Toyota have taken over all the spotlight and I hope with this addition, Ford can start running up front again. Something that everybody has overlooked, Yates downward slide began when Larry Mac left also.
Let me give you folks another possible scenario to chew on.
It appears that EGR will have only one team (the #42) fully sponsored for 2010. Rumor has it that Jack Daniel’s may be leaving RCR’s #07. EGR and RCR both get their Chevy engines from ECR. Meanwhile, Chevy is still looking to trim down the teams they support.
What if Chevy decides to force EGR and RCR into a shotgun marriage? EGR’s #42 (with Montoya) replaces RCR’s #07 in the newly-merged line up with RCR’s #29, #31, #33. EGR’s #1 and #8, plus RCR’s #07 get shut down.
I don’t think this season’s meger mania is over yet!
As a big Kasey Kahne fan I gotta say (IMHO) he is to good for RPM and I would love to see him move on to a reputable team such as Roush or Hendrix….. I don’t think this “new” RPM is going to get much from Roush…
And I personally think Kasey Kahne hates Ford lol I would if I was him!
Thanks for the memories Robert.Never forget the 28 and the 88.Those were the days!
In a couple of years the only teams around will be hybrids of Hendrick, RCR, Roush, Gibbs, Penske and affiliated satellite operations. The downfall was when NASCAR made a 4 car limit. Then everyone decided they needed 4 cars. Now you can have 4 cars but still have a satellite team operating out of the same facilities hence the possibility having up to an 8 car team. Mergers and consolidations worthy of the big banks and media conglomerates.
NASCAR today and the future = YAWN
Yates was screwed when Robert let ford motor co talk him into merging engine shops with roush , they have done zip since , even ricky rudd would get a pole or contend at the end of his career with yates but as the years passed yates kept the slow decline , I was a yates fan when ernie came back in the 88 and started cheeering for the 28 when it was white black and gold with davey , what a shame another piece of na$car history is gone .
It’s sort of a mega-Silly Season, but the drivers are peripheral!
Yates is gone; Petty Enterprises is gone (this new animal is NOT Petty Enterprises), but so are Junior Johnson, JD Stacy, Carl Keikhafer, the Stavola Brothers, etc., etc. In fact, so are the Minneapolis Lakers, the St. Louis Browns, the Los Angeles Rams, and many others. Sports evolve. Let’s just hope we get good racing.
I’m sorry, no more 28 no more 88 no more RYR no more Yates racing. I just feel sad and I just feel old.
As a loyal fan of the Wood Brothers I hope ford is still behnd them 100%. It would be a shame if ford did not continue to help them since they have been loyal to ford for over 50 years. Good luck to the 21!
To Michael. It’s was not Richard’s principals that kept the Bud pole off his cars. It was his mothers. Out of respect for her no alcohol related sponsors were put on the cars.
I was so excited when Doug brought back the 28 but that was short lived. I hate that Yates racing got involved with Roush. Yates Racing hasn’t been the same since. Yates was the top ford team back in the 90’s and with the loss of Davey and almost losing Ernie the team wasn’t the same. I think the Robert Yates was in a giving up mode then. Robert Yates left his son with a mess that couldn’t be cleaned up. I hate what has happened to that organization.
Nascar needs to back up and take a look at it’s self. They are turning their backs on the people that made the sport. Nascar needs to get rid of this idea of controlling the type of car and soon the type of engine the field will run. I personally think no team should have no more than 2 cars on the track and that means not having partnerships with other teams.
Bring back run what you brong! What Nascar did to Toyota last year was wrong. Don’t take away from the one that is doing good make the rest catch up!!!
I guess YATES SCREWED Bobby Labonte AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!