Yes, the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season is still very young, but it seems that the collaboration with Roush Fenway Racing is helping the Yates group as shown in their marked improvement.
The Daytona 500 was a struggle for Travis Kvapil and David Gilliland; however, both drivers spent some time in the top ten to fifteen range at California the very next week. At one point in the race, Kvapil was able to hold on to a spot in the top ten despite only his crew only changing two tires as opposed to four on a previous pit stop. If it were not for a vibration, Kvapil may have scored the first of two consecutive top ten finishes.
A week later, Kvapil rallied from a lap down to finish eighth at Las Vegas. Oh yeah, he did it in a plain white car with a 28 decal on both sides. The sound performance may have been the primary reason for Zaxby’s restaurants agreeing to sponsor the 28 Ford for the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta this weekend. Zaxby’s serves as a sponsor for one of Roush’s trucks in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Any way you look at it, it has been an upbeat week for Kvapil and Yates. In fact, Kvapil seems to be beaming with confidence.
“I feel that we have a really strong team in place and everyone has spent so much time and effort making sure that we do the best we can every week,” said Kvapil. “I definitely think that we’ll have a car that is strong enough to run in the top 10 again this week, so I’m really looking forward to this weekend.”
A year ago, you would have been hard-pressed to find a Yates-prepared car running anywhere near the top ten and that was with NASCAR veteran Ricky Rudd behind the wheel.
Ever since Dale Jarrett and Elliott Sadler left the organization in 2006, things have only worsened for an organization that people once considered one of NASCAR’s elite. The lack of performance actually began in 2003, following the acrimonious departure of driver Ricky Rudd and long-time crew chief Michael ‘Fatback’ McSwain. Since 2003, Yates Racing, formerly Robert Yates Racing, has won only four races. In the five years prior, they won 18 races.
Last September, Robert Yates announced that he was retiring and his son Doug would take over the company. The younger Yates immediately formed an alliance with Ford’s flagship team, Roush Fenway Racing. Former Roush Fenway Racing General Manager Max Jones became a co-owner of Yates Racing last fall.
Jones has focused on administering the organization while Yates has his attention focused predominantly on the engine department, which the Roush group depends on as well.
Kvapil was Roush’s driver in the Craftsman Truck Series before Yates named him as the replacement for Ricky Rudd. Gilliland replaced Elliott Sadler in 2006, but he has struggled to find any consistency.
The foremost focus for both Yates Racing cars has been to find a long-term sponsor. At the moment, the 38 team driven by David Gilliland has a seven-race deal with FreeCreditReport.com, and the 28 team had a one-race deal with K&N Filters at Daytona and another one-race deal with Zaxby’s for the race at Atlanta. However, if Kvapil can continue to post top tens on a consistent basis, and Gilliland begins to live up to his potential, sponsorship should be less of a setback.
