Yates to bring back famous #28 plate.
Despite high hopes heading into the 2007 season and their front row clean sweep at the Daytona 500 few could have predicted the season that befell Robert Yates Racing over the subsequent 35 races and in a bid to claw their way back up the pecking order the team, now known simply as Yates Racing, will bring back the #28 plate, their most successful number.
Team owner Doug Yates, who has stepped in for his retiring father and team founder Robert Yates, will bring back the #28 after a five year break following one of the team's worst seasons in their 19 year Cup Series history.
Despite high hopes heading into the 2007 season and their front row clean sweep at the Daytona 500 few could have predicted the season that befell Robert Yates Racing over the subsequent 35 races and in a bid to claw their way back up the pecking order the team, now known simply as Yates Racing, will bring back the #28 plate, their most successful number.
Team owner Doug Yates, who has stepped in for his retiring father and team founder Robert Yates, will bring back the #28 after a five year break following one of the team's worst seasons in their 19 year Cup Series history.
New driver Travis Kvapil will drive the #28 Ford in 2008 alongside the #38 of David Gilliland even though neither team has a confirmed sponsor in place for the 2008 Sprint Cup campaign.
A tumultuous year on and off the track that included the season opening 1-2 qualifying result at Daytona but then descended into a trough that netted just three top ten finishes all year. Robert Yates announced his intention to stand down shortly after an agreement was reached between the team and ultra successful Champ Car squad Newan/Haas/Lanigan Racing and after some more backstage shuffling it now seems as though Doug Yates and his new right hand man, and former Roush-Fenway GM, Max Jones, will be heading into 2008 trying to steer the ship alone.
Since joining the Cup Series ranks in 1989 the Yates team has won nearly 60 races and the 1999 Championship with Dale Jarrett. In total the #28 Yates entry has been to victory lane on 27 occasions, 15 times with the late Davey Allison, eight times with Ernie Irvan, three times with Ricky Rudd and once with Jarrett. However the team have won only four races since the #28 plate was retired at the end of 2002 and is currently enduring a winless streak that dates back to October 2005 at Talladega.
In 2007 Gilliland finished 28th in driver points while Rudd, who missed five races through injury, finished 33rd. In the team standings the #88 team, whose owner points will be transferred to the #28 next year, finished 30th with Gilliland's #38 team 32nd
