Feels like it is time for Yates to pack it in

It's getting hard to watch. It's not that we aren't getting great finishes, you can run well and have bad luck hit you, but heck, we aren't even running well at all. We have two fully funded cars, Bobby Labonte is better than any driver we have had in the last 5 years and Menard is on par with anyone we have had, and still we are a mid pack type of organization on a good day - less than that on a not so good day.

I have followed Yates since Allison's first year. As long as Yates fields a team, I have to stick with them and pull for them. If they sell out or just go away, I would be free to chose another organization. Maybe then I could enjoy these races once again.

I hope it's not the case, but I don't think they have a clear plan to be successful again. At least not in the near future.

Yep, Doug made some real bad choices. Menard was a lousy choice but I did think that Labonti would have a better year. They should have kept TK in the #28 and on the track. At least one car would be doing OK. Doug can't ask Roush for any help HIS DRIVER AREN'T DOING MUCH BETTER. I guess UPS will be gone at the end of the year. SAD---- ROBERT should not have retire and he should have stuck with N/H/L best ENGINEERS in the busines and thats what YATES needed. DOUD was not ready to take over the team. I really don't think that is where his interest lies. ENGINES ARE HIS THING.

I don't believe giving up is the best strategy.

Ford as a whole is off this year, especially at the short tracks. They're just missing something; I'm sure they'll figure it out and be running better soon.

As for Doug, I agree that engines are his thing. That's why Max Jones is there, to help with the daily management of the team.

Everything is going to be fine at Yates Racing.

However, I must disagree that Bobby Labonte is the best driver to be at Yates in 5 years. The driver of the 88 in 2007 is at least as good as Bobby, if not better.

Quote :

However, I must disagree that Bobby Labonte is the best driver to be at Yates in 5 years. The driver of the 88 in 2007 is at least as good as Bobby, if not better.

HAD TO DELETE === I guess I was still thinking about "WHAT IS HAPPENING AT YATES" Andrew I do hope your right about YATES but as long as he takes order from Max--(XRoush employee or still is) its history repeating itself----REMEMBER D'Hondt and the three musketeers was the beginning of the downfall of YATES. (same scenario)

RICKY RUDD drove the 88 in 2007. He never became a traitor, he just retired.

TeamBlueOval wrote:

RICKY RUDD drove the 88 in 2007. He never became a traitor, he just retired.

SORY SORRY SORRY WASN'T THINKING OF RICKY i WAS THINKING OF ----------------ONE GUESS

I think I know who you were thinking of...

I think Bobby is potentially better than Rudd was in his last year. You would have to go back to Elliot Sadler in the chase to find a Yates driver with as much potential for a good finish as Labonte.

We just aren't giving him the goods. Our cars aren't that great and we need to stop recycling these same crew chiefs who have proved time and again that they are past their prime.

eehwkram wrote:

I think Bobby is potentially better than Rudd was in his last year. You would have to go back to Elliot Sadler in the chase to find a Yates driver with as much potential for a good finish as Labonte.

We just aren't giving him the goods. Our cars aren't that great and we need to stop recycling these same crew chiefs who have proved time and again that they are past their prime.

Elliot Sadlerrrrrrrrrrrr You have got to be kidding.. If there ever was a MEDIOCA driver Salder was it. Oh Rudd would put all the drivers you have mention to shame.

TeamBlueOval wrote:

However, I must disagree that Bobby Labonte is the best driver to be at Yates in 5 years. The driver of the 88 in 2007 is at least as good as Bobby, if not better.

You took the words right out of my mouth

TeamBlueOval wrote:

RICKY RUDD drove the 88 in 2007. He never became a traitor, he just retired.

And you can't blame him for retiring. At that stage of his career he wanted a decent ride .....the car's were worse then he thought.



I agree ...Sadler is mediocre at best.

well the reason we have Menard is because he has a 100% sponsor guarentee

but think of it this way..... this IS better than 2007

davidiam wrote:

I agree 100% that year Dog was the wrost year to be a race fan. Every race was awful there were no bright spots. We were in the 40 to 43 spots every race it seems like.

-- Robby Gordon 3014 -3709 35 0 0 1 2 3,090,000
27 +3 Mark Martin 2960 -3763 24 0 0 5 11 4,097,200
28 -1 David Gilliland 2924 -3799 36 1 0 1 2 4,330,840 29 -1 Tony Raines 2920 -3803 34 0 0 0 1 3,286,350
30 -1 Johnny Sauter 2875 -3848 35 0 0 1 2 3,139,810
31 +1 Dave Blaney 2781 -3942 33 1 0 1 4 3,604,620
32 -1 Jeff Green 2704 -4019 32 0 0 0 3 3,394,930
33 -- Ricky Rudd 2622 -4101 31 0 0 0 1 3,704,400
34 -- Paul Menard* 2496 -4227 30 0 0 0 0 2,432,070 35 -- Kyle Petty 2312 -4411 29 0 0 1 1 2,865,440
36 -- Scott Riggs 2135 -4588 27 0 0 0 1 2,671,040
37 -- Joe Nemechek 2117 -4606 28 0 0 0 1 2,394,540
38 -- Brian Vickers 2065 -4658 23 0 0 1 5 2,105,820
39 -- David Reutimann* 1878 -4845 26 0 0 0 0 2,376,250
40 -- Sterling Marlin 1752 -4971 21 0 0 0 0 2,057,690
41 +1 Dale Jarrett 1584 -5139 24 0 0 0 0 2,107,430

SO FAR THIS YEAR ----Labonti 31st----Menard 33rd

After Sadler left Yates, I was a bit irritated with him. They seemed to want him to stay for the rebuilding process and he shafted them. I'm glad to see he fell flat on his face at GEM; now RPM.

When he moaned and whined to get his seat back in the #19 when they were going to give AJ Allmendinger the ride, I was furious with him. If the sponsors on that car were smart, they wouldn't have signed back on for Elliott. We've already seen the best Elliott Sadler is going to be, which isn't exactly a threat. We need to give the young guys with potential a chance too, and AJ definitely has a lot of it.

As for Yates, I think they still have a chance to return to their decent years of 2003-2005, but certainly not to their contending days from 1989-2002. It will take a long time before the team will be that good again, at least in my opinion. Paul has had most of the good runs for them lately, while Bobby Labonte has been floundering lately. He started the season good, but I don't know what happened.

Has Yates hit the bottom yet? This season is about as bad as 2007 was, at least from the outside. I'll be honest, I haven't kept up very closely with Yates this year, but they don't seem to be having any more strong runs than they did in 07. Even last year they were running better than they are now.

As far as Elliott, he seems to be above average in being a nice guy, but average at best driver. He's farthest back in points of the RPM drivers, and I would agree he is the worst of all of them. How far is his sponsors willing to stay, especially if he is being outrun by his teammates.

Well, we will have to wait and see. Now won't we?

There is a REASON that Roush(who is running the show) has put a HOLD ON THE#28 AND THAT YOU CAN BET ON. Maybe even as soon as they find a ride for TK, you will see some BIG CHANCES. JMO

For the benifit of "WHAT WAS HIS NAME AGAIN" you know the guy with all those comment about BILL ELLIOT. Give Elliot a REAL RACING CAR AND HE WILL SHOW YOU HOW ITS DONE and not this Nascrap COT that drives like a truck.


Hajek Motorsports, Ford to attempt speed record
Racing series NASCAR
Date 2009-05-07

HAJEK MOTORSPORTS WILL ATTEMPT TO BREAK NASCAR SPEED RECORD IN AN E-85 POWERED MUSTANG FR500C

AMES, Okla., May 6, 2009 -- Brent Hajek already has a passion for living, but that passion burns brightest when he's talking about racing, racing history and his love of all things Ford. Fortunately for fans of Ford, Hajek's passion has prompted the Ames, Oklahoma native and owner of Hajek Motorsports to pursue his own place in racing history.

Hajek Motorsports has been around since the 1970s, and over the years Brent Hajek has amassed an impressive collection of historical race cars, predominantly Ford, that once carried some of the biggest names in racing.

Those vehicles include a NHRA Gas Ronda '66 Ford Mustang, Bob Glidden's '88 Ford Thunderbird, Parnelli Jones' '63 NASCAR Mercury Marauder, David Pearson's '69 Ford Torino Talladega, and Bill Elliott's '87 Ford Thunderbird, which is the all-time NASCAR speed record holder.

For Hajek, a successful oilman and a farmer, owning motorsports history wasn't enough. He wanted to make his own racing history.

"It all changed when I first saw the Mustang FR500C," said Hajek. "That car was amazing and it really got me thinking about how we could really accomplish some cool things if we put our minds to it. The FR500C has won championships and it has won high profile races, but I felt like it hasn't received the credit or attention it deserves. So I decided it was time to chase some of these records and to make a little history. I started talking with the guys at Ford Racing and they have been incredibly supportive of our efforts."

Last August, he took an E-85 converted Mustang FR500C to the Bonneville Salt Flats in search of the land speed record for an Ethanol powered car. Forced to run in the unlimited fuel class, his E-85 Ethanol powered Mustang posted an initial run of over 252 mph. A mechanical failure didn't allow the team to make the validation run, but the 252 mph run earned their car the unofficial designation by some as the 'fastest production Mustang on earth.'

On Wednesday, May 13, Hajek Motorsports will embark on its next challenge, with technical support from Ford Racing, when they attempt to break the 22-year-old NASCAR speed record held by Bill Elliott. Elliott himself will pilot Hajek's E-85 Mustang FR500C, which has been reconfigured to NASCAR specs, at Talladega in an attempt to break his 212.089 mph qualifying lap from 1987 at the same track. FIA officials will be on site to verify the attempt and to validate the record.

Hajek Motorsports and Ford Racing hopes to continue the success from Hajek's last Ford Racing-related program. It was Hajek who eagerly accepted the challenge of taking delivery of the first 40th Anniversary Mustang FR500CJ, better known as the Mustang Cobra Jet. With only a month to prepare, he entered four Cobra Jet's for the NHRA season opener in Pomona, Calif. Not only did his team meet the deadline, but Hajek's Cobra Jet driven by John Calvert duplicated the success of the original CJ's by winning its debut race at the NHRA Winternationals.

"Brent and his team typify the high level of enthusiasm and dedication we see from a lot of our grass roots racers and private teams that campaign Ford cars and trucks in a wide variety of series every week," said Brian Wolfe, director of Ford North American Motorsports. "Hajek Motorsports has set their focus on breaking a variety of racing records and, although they are a private team, we are glad to aid them with engineering and technical support in their quest to make motorsports history while driving a Ford."

"It got to the point where I was running out of cars to collect so I decided I better create some new classics," said Hajek. "Nobody has ever taken the same car to Bonneville and Talladega, so we decided to be the first to do it. I have always thought that the only person who should break Bill Elliott's NASCAR speed record is Bill Elliott, so next week will be pretty exciting for everyone involved."

The Hajek Motorsports E-85 Mustang is currently at Bill Elliott's race shop in Dawsonville, Georgia, going through final preparations. Early next week, the team will scrub tires and do initial testing, in anticipation of breaking the record on Wednesday afternoon

^^^ Huh? Who said anything Bill Elliott? We were talking about Elliott Sadler...

roosterrage wrote:

^^^ Huh? Who said anything Bill Elliott? We were talking about Elliott Sadler...

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry

I left this converstation a while ago, but reading some of the replies this AM, I don't see why all the negativity toward Sadler. He isn't the greatest thing out there, but he's just about the best we have had recently (which isn't saying much). He is ahead of both of our guys right now. He finished ahead of both of our guys in 2008 and 2007 in the points.

I don't like him because of the way he left Yates. He kept talking about how great his team was and how, even though DJ was leaving, they were going to keep going strong and he couldn't wait for next season, etc. Then he left mid-season for Evernham.

TeamBlueOval wrote:

I don't like him because of the way he left Yates. He kept talking about how great his team was and how, even though DJ was leaving, they were going to keep going strong and he couldn't wait for next season, etc. Then he left mid-season for Evernham.

DITTO Andrew that explains it all