George Gillett on Yates merger, Saudi Prince

Quote :

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) - George Gillett says the proposed merger between Richard Petty Motorsports and Yates Racing is still on track, and the new organization will field at least three teams in 2010.

Gillett is the majority owner of RPM, a team that has appeared to be in a state of chaos this year as it has adjusted to the slumping economy and the affects from Chrysler's reorganization.

But Gillett says the team is on pace for an improved 2010 and he's confident in the organizations' stability.

Gillett also says any discussions he's been having with a Saudi prince about NASCAR would be for a minor share in the team. Gillett has been talking to a group of Gulf investors, but he gave no comment on how those talks affect his ownership stake in the Liverpool soccer club.

I guess the "at least 3 teams" line means that Menard is indeed looking elsewhere.

TeamBlueOval wrote:

Quote :

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) - George Gillett says the proposed merger between Richard Petty Motorsports and Yates Racing is still on track, and the new organization will field at least three teams in 2010.

Gillett is the majority owner of RPM, a team that has appeared to be in a state of chaos this year as it has adjusted to the slumping economy and the affects from Chrysler's reorganization.

But Gillett says the team is on pace for an improved 2010 and he's confident in the organizations' stability.

[size=9]Gillett also says any discussions he's been having with a Saudi prince about NASCAR would be for a minor share in the team. [/size]Gillett has been talking to a group of Gulf investors, but he gave no comment on how those talks affect his ownership stake in the Liverpool soccer club.

I guess the "at least 3 teams" line means that Menard is indeed looking elsewhere.

Gillett also says any discussions he's been having with a Saudi prince about NASCAR would be for a minor share in the team
This I don't like

More info on the same stuff...

Quote :

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Richard Petty Motorsports majority owner George Gillett insisted his organization is not in a chaotic state but there are still plenty of things to be decided as part of the intended merger with Yates Racing, which Gillett termed as still on track in a rare news conference Saturday morning. He also confirmed that it would be possible for Prince Faisal bin Fahad bin Abdullah Al Saud to own a very small stake in RPM so that they have aligned interests in future projects together but no discussions have been held.

RPM and Yates Racing officials announced plans for a merger Sept. 10 but have not yet completed the agreement.

“Every day documents are being shared back and forth and so forth, documents are being prepared – most of it is in the hands of lawyers at this point, which always scares me,” Gillett said at Kansas Speedway. “I’m not aware of any significant open issues at this point. So I have no reason to think that in normal course we’re not going to be able to get things done.”

Gillett said it seems that the new RPM is leaning toward working out of the current Yates shop but no decision has been made. He said executive vice president Robbie Loomis would play more of a role in the day-to-day operations from a competition standpoint after the departure of former vice president Mark McArdle.

Beyond that, he would not speculate on what the organization will look like. It had been announced Sept. 10 that the expected drivers would be Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, AJ Allmendinger and Paul Menard. The organization has sponsorship from Budweiser for Kahne and sponsorship from Stanley and Best Buy for another car. Menard, who is completing the first year of a two-year deal with Yates Racing, brings sponsorship from his family’s chain of Menards home-improvement stores.

“We’ll have for sure three teams and hopefully four,” Gillett said. “No names.”

Despite some of the uncertainty, Gillett said his organization is not in chaos and that his team, which fields Dodges, had to do something after Chrysler went through bankruptcy.

“I’d resist the concept of chaos because if we’re in chaos, then a lot of other teams are in whatever the next step beyond chaos is,” Gillett said. “I don’t think that’s accurate. I think the changes that have occurred in our team are changes that anyone of you would have concluded were the right things to do at that time. The loss of Chrysler and Dodge was a serious loss for us. … The prospect of having to find a new home was a daunting challenge for us, particularly in the middle of the season. I think our people have responded well to it.

“With the horsepower they’re making [at Ford] and the new cooling system, they have more cooling capacity and more gallons going through the engine than virtually anyone we’ve seen or anyone we’ve dealt with, which enables us to work on the front end and downforce a lot more. So we’re very optimistic about it. I think that change was coming. I don’t think we knew it was coming. Certainly the economy wasn’t something we could predict. So I think if you say surprise, that would be accurate. Chaos, no, not at all.”

If for some reason the Yates deal does not get done, Gillett said the plan would be to move forward as a Ford operation.

As far as the Saudi deal, he wouldn’t speculate on any sale of the Liverpool soccer team to the prince, and he said the agreement they signed earlier this week would allow them to talk about potential business ventures. He said they have talked about building oval tracks in the Middle East but all of those discussions are at the very preliminary stages.

“I come here today a man with a clean conscience and potentially a very attractive partner,” Gillett said. “If he or they became small investors with us, I can’t imagine it would be anything but positive for the sport. … [Their getting a small piece of RPM] is completely up in the air. We haven’t discussed anything.”

[b]
~Scene Daily


This one makes it sound like Elliott Sadler could be on his way out... I'm sure Allmendinger and Kahne will stay. The other driver(s) are the ones who could be up in the air.

I'd like to see Menard and McMurray on the team, instead of Sadler.

Quote :

UPDATE: "The Yates transaction is on track," said Gillett, whose RPM organization fields cars for A.J. Allmendinger, Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorenson in the Sprint Cup Series. "We're going now from letter of intent to a full contract."(Racin' Today)(10-4-2009)

from Jayski