Yates Racing: Struggling team turning a corner

2008 Season Review

When the 2008 season began many wondered if Yates Racing would make it through the year with its two-car team intact. With only partial sponsorship in place for both the No. 28 of Travis Kvapil and the No. 38 of David Gilliland, Yates entered the year on a shoestring budget but determined to prove the skeptics wrong.

The team not only survived but showed signs of competitiveness at times with both Kvapil and Gilliland finishing in the lucrative Top 35 in the final Sprint Cup Series point standings.

Kvapil, the former truck series champion, wound up 23rd in the final standings in a year that included four top-10 finishes and a pole at Talladega. The Wisconsin short track racing graduate was impressive in his ability to run consistently in the front half of the field with an underfunded, and many times, underpowered car.

"We really started to come together as a team the longer the season wore on," said Kvapil, who ended the year with a seventh-place finish in the season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. "Yates power under the hood and our relationship with Roush Fenway Racing gave us strong engines and lots of horsepower. We need to get a little better next year and avoid some of the trouble we had to move up to the next level in 2009."

Gilliland ended the year 27th in the standings and like his teammate showed flashes of competiveness from time-to-time. He had a top five and a pair of top 10 finishes to his credit in a year he'll remember as a challenge but in the end rewarding.

"A lot of people wanted to write me and this team off early on when we had so many unknowns sponsorship-wise," Gilliland said. "But Robert Yates and this entire organization deserves credit for keeping us on track and giving Travis and I an opportunity to show what we can do."

2009 Season Preview

Sponsorship issues are again a question for the team next season, but both Kvapil and Gilliland are expected to be back in what will grow to a three-car stable with the addition of Paul Menard.

The former DEI pilot brings his family's lucrative home improvement store sponsorship money with him to Yates, which will provide the financial resources the team so desperately needs.

Veteran crew chief Larry Carter, who helped Jamie McMurray turn around his 2008 season, moves over from Roush to call the shots for Menard next year.

Menard will pilot a No. 98 Ford, a number that has been a successful part of Yates Racing's NASCAR history.

"I'm really looking forward to starting this new chapter of my life with Yates Racing and behind the wheel of the No. 98 Ford Fusion," said Menard. "The No. 98 has been to Victory Lane 25 times, many times with Marvin Panch and Lee Roy Yarbrough. It's exciting to be starting with (team co-owner) Max (Jones) and Doug (Yates), and having Larry Carter on the box making the calls. I've seen how solid the Roush/Yates engine program has been over the years and I know we can have a really good season in the No. 98 Menard Ford Fusion."

Kvapil will also have a new crew chief with the team's decision to release veteran Todd Parrott, although no official announcement of his replacement has yet been made.

The addition of Menard gives Yates a boost financially and should be a shot in the arm for yet another mid-level team struggling to stay competitive against the sport's super powers. Having all three drivers locked into the Top 35 giving them a starting spot in the season's first five races including the Daytona 500, is a major advantage. If additional funding can be found for Kvapil and Gilliland, Yates Racing should be able to remain in the middle of the pack again in 2009 and with a little luck, add a few more top five and ten finishes to the ledger.