Yates May Have Missed The Boat
Saturday, September 9th, 2006 8:53am CDT
By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.
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[thumb:381:l:s=1:l=x]With more information appearing over the past 10 days, including some during qualifying yesterday for tonight’s Cup race, the big picture is starting to become a little less fuzzy. However, several things come to mind with this whole debacle. It might be a quote from a song, “What was I thinkin’”, for example. Then again, it might be a quote from a Dave Chappelle sketch. Remember the one where he picked on Bloomberg, Carter, Lincoln, and the likes? Yeah, if he’d done that sketch about right now vice 2004, he could probably have added Yates in there somewhere.
I’m not going to sit here and say I know better than Yates. It’s simply not true. However, looking at the information currently available, right now it looks like Yates is in a pickle he needn’t be in.
Amid a flurry of reports a couple weeks ago was that Robby Gordon was going to buy out Yates. It went crazy for a few hours. The line to either team nothing more than a solid busy signal. Then, came the report that it was false, and unfounded. At which time, the source was blamed. We even raised the question of why a legitimate media outlet would do something to that extent, etc. Then, the roar faded.
Then prior to California, we find out indeed that it was actually true, but fell through. Back to this in a minute.
What does Robert Yates Racing have right now, for 2007.
1 car (#38), 1 driver (David Gilliland), and funding for that team. That’s it. They need funding for the #88, and also need a driver. According to both Scene Daily, and NASCAR.com, they have 3 driver’s in mind. Ward Burton, Ricky Rudd, and an outside shot for Mark Martin. Although Martin is highly unlikely at this point, as he really doesn’t want to even come close to a full Cup season again and has only expressed slight interest in running a handful of Cup events when the Trucks would be at the same track. Maybe 10 or 12 events.
Yates also knows that he needs at least a 3 team stable, and has expressed such desire many times over.
Yates says he hopes to have funding in place for the #88 within about a month. At which time he could then court a driver. Talk about cutting it close, that’s for sure. He also said that he is determined to have a veteran driver next to Gilliland. Well, at least he finally pulled his head out in terms of rushing Leicht into Cup. Not that someday it isn’t a good idea, but not yet, as we have mentioned many times in the past weeks.
So essentially, Yates still needs funding for the #88, before he can begin to talk to a driver with any seriousness. It sounds like he has some possible sponsors interested in it, but nothing even close to concrete.
So why on earth would you turn down the opportunity to scratch off one of your present day needs, as well as being able to capitalize on scratching off a future expansion in one shot?
Robby Gordon brought to the table sponsors ready to fully fund the #88, as well as his own team. This would have met Yates’ desire to expand to 3 teams, given him solid funding for the #88, and all he would have needed at that point was to hire a driver for the #88 and he would have been set.
Robby would have wanted a 50% stake in the new operation, basically a 50% ownership share in each of the 3 teams. Which meant he wanted to acquire 50% of the 38 and 88, while giving up 50% of his own #7 team. He also would have brought his employee’s with him. Of which he’s up to about 75 full time people now.
What Robby’s done as a single team is nothing short of amazing in today’s garage. Granted he’s not exactly had the finishes he’d like so far in 2006, but look at the improvement in his team from 2005. It’s an RCR type story, on a smaller scale.
Personally, with all the available information that is out there now, I can’t help but wonder what the problem is. It would have been a chance for Yates to further progress their rebuilding of their operation, given them 3 teams (all of which would have been fully funded), and it could have began turning RYR back into the other powerhouse stable for Ford.
It’s nuts I tell ya. Simply nuts.
There has to be a reason, but the question is what?
Is the deal permanently shut? Robby doesn’t think so, quite yet. He says that negotiations have been on and off all summer long. Culminating into heading in to sign the deal the following day, when he received a call from a Yates attorney saying it wasn’t going to happen the following day. This was a couple weeks ago.
Robby seems to think there is still a chance at it going through. Perhaps there were still some details to be worked out. However, something had to be pretty close. Yates even had a full inventory conducted.
Maybe the math wasn’t quite right, for what Robby was bringing, to what they felt was needed. What’s going on is anyone’s guess right now, and I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens as this roller coaster that’s been dubbed as the 2006 silly season continues its ride back to the station waiting at Homestead.
Filed Under: Damn Good Points, Nascar, Nextel Cup
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