A Look At The Yates #28, Amid A Granite State Of Affairs
New Hampshire now beckons. Some pre-Loudon miscellanea –
Maybe Jimmy Spencer should be an out-of-bounds lane. Spencer screamed about
Kevin Harvick passing on the apron of the tri-oval at Chicagoland and claimed
there should be out-of-bounds lanes there as well as at Daytona.
Spencer is wrong. Harvick’s move was dumb not because he went to the apron of
the tri-oval, but because he tried to stay on the apron of the turns to pass.
The apron of the tri-oval is a legitimate passing area – as Spencer himself
knows, having passed several cars at Daytona in 2001 on the tri-oval apron, an
apron less forgiving than the shallower apron at Chicagoland.
Wither the larger greenhouse? That’s the hint from this
Mike Mulhern story.
"Some top stock car racing aerodynamicists say that NASCAR is apparently
abandoning plans for a larger "greenhouse" roll cage."
The debut date for cars with slightly larger roofline greenhouses was
constantly being pushed back, first to the October Alabama 500, then to next
April 2003’s Die Hard 500, then pushed back again to the October 2003 Alabama
500. And with such push-backs, we may see the whole project abandoned.
Actually, it isn’t too surprising if it is dropped. The first test of a
larger greenhouse car was at Talladega in April 2001, and the test car – a
Ganassi/SABCO Dodge – ran a MPH faster than the car running the roof spoiler.
The increase was attributed to the fact that the larger greenhouse was taking
air off the spoiler, but such was never a satisfactory explanation – the roof
spoiler took far more air off. The fact that no real increase in frontal air
resistance was registering should have indicated that the larger greenhouse idea
would have some serious real-world problems.
Another area in the larger greenhouse was the desire to cut down force on the
cars, but such is dependent on Goodyear going back to softer tires, and there is
neither indication nor reason for Goodyear to do so. And the basic goal of
cutting down force is a bad idea anyway – the cars need more, not less, grip,
and need to be able to run faster in dirty air with no impediment to passing.
So the larger greenhouse may be dead, having apparently failed at all it was
hoped for.
Now I am confused.
Bobby
Labonte states that the Chevrolet is better than the Pontiac on speedways
because "the Pontiac has a lot of drag."
Okay, so why is the Pontiac the car of choice for Grand National teams at
Daytona and Talladega, tracks where they seek LESS drag?
Could it be the Gibbs guys raked their Pontiacs for downforce and raked
themselves out of contention?
And speaking of Pontiacs, I said I’d be stunned if Cal Wells switched to
Pontiac – Mulhern says, "Cal Wells and Ricky Craven are expected to
announce their switch from Ford to Pontiac in the next few weeks."
Did I mention that I would be stunned if that happened?
This may be officially
it for Ricky Rudd at Robert Yates.
The tone of comments from the varied parties involved – most notably that
crew chief Michael McSwain had already been reassigned with RYR and that sponsor
Texaco’s investment in the team was little more than half of UPS’ investment (to
the tune of a reported $6 million lower) – suggest that there are some serious
problems brewing within Yates Racing.
It also suggests that the ex-Ranier Racing #28 will have its ninth driver in
the car’s tenure as campaigned by Robert Yates. And when you consider that fact,
it’s rather astonishing.
After Cale Yarborough left Harry Ranier, the then-unsponsored team hired
Davey Allison and engine builder Robert Yates – even turning down drivers who
applied and had sponsorship packages available to them – and Allison exploded to
four wins in his first two seasons, getting Texaco backing in March 1987, before
Ranier sold his team to Yates. Thus was Robert Yates Racing born, and thus was
it off on one of racing’s most poignant, successful, and storied experiences.
Davey was an exceptionally charming driver despite occasional fits of pique,
and after a rough 1990 and early 1991 Yates Racing exploded to coming within
some 100 laps of the 1992 Winston Cup title. 1993 turned it all upside down,
first with a striking level of struggle for the #28, then Davey’s death in July.
Ford assigned Robby Gordon to the #28 for Talladega, then Lake Speed took over
for three races. The real target for the #28 was Ernie Irvan, and at the
Southern 500 Ernie made his debut.
The first win came at Martinsville that September, and the second came in a
laughable rout of the field at Charlotte. And in 1994 Irvan made his charge for
the championship. The point lead changed hands six times, and Irvan was racing
for the win at the inaugural Brickyard 400 when the right front went down with
five to go. It cost Irvan the point lead.
But then everything turned upside down yet again in a near-fatal crash at
Michigan. Irvan barely escaped death, and his recovery occupied over a full year
before he returned to the drivers seat. Yates had a second team ready for him
when he returned at North Wilkesboro in September 1995, and Irvan roared home in
the top ten. Irvan led the most laps at Phoenix before blowing up, then finished
in the top ten at Atlanta.
The second Yates team became Dale Jarrett’s mount, and Jarrett exploded to
four wins in 1996. The #28 and Irvan, meanwhile, struggled after winning a 125
at Daytona. In late June the swing finally came back around and Irvan began
clicking off top fives before bounding to the win at New Hampshire. His role in
the Earnhardt-Marlin Talladega crash became a source of controversy, but he kept
on running, finishing second to Jarrett at The Brickyard and beating Jeff Gordon
at Richmond, but at Dover he crashed trying to pass Derrike Cope – which led to
a later fight in the garage between Cope and Larry McReynolds – and at Charlotte
barely escaped injury in a savage impact in Turn Two. Irvan ended the year
wadded up at Atlanta.
The 1997 season was even worse. Irvan was swept into a crash with Jarrett and
Earnhardt at Daytona in which Irvan’s hood flew over 100 feet in the air and
landed in the backstretch grandstands. Irvan then crashed at Richmond after
being sideswiped by Gordon under yellow and blowing a tire after the ensuing
restart. He finished second at Atlanta, then he and his wife got into a
controversy at a bar at Texas, and at the Texas 500 Irvan, racing Terry Labonte
to make up a lap, plowed blindly into the stopped Ford of Greg Sacks. Irvan
finally won again, at the Michigan 400, which brought a sense of closure after
his 1994 injuries. But the end came for Irvan’s career with Yates.
At Richmond that September Yates got together with David Blair to field a car
for USAC short track veteran Kenny Irwin, who’d exploded to two victories in
Craftsman Trucks that year. Irwin timed the satellite Yates #27 on the front
row, led impressively, and finished a good eighth. Thus was the future seen as
bright for the #28’s new driver.
It didn’t turn out that way. Irwin never really meshed with the team, despite
several changes in crew chiefs, and got into several controversies – notably
failing to qualify at the World 600, needing a relief driver at Martinsville
(which led Yates to question the amount of partying Irwin was undergoing), and
then hooking Dale Jarrett into a melee at Daytona. Irwin did have several strong
runs – at Atlanta and the Brickyard in 1998, at Daytona in 1999 – but was let go
after 1999 and Ricky Rudd was tabbed for the #28 for 2000.
The pairing was salvation for both. Rudd rocketed to the front, won a Daytona
125, and looked like a sure winner several times that year. The first win since
1998 for Rudd and first for the #28 since 1997 didn’t come, though, until the
2001 Pocono 500, and then at Richmond the next win came, and Rudd was in a
position to challenge for the title, but it would not be.
The 2002 season has been more of a struggle, highlighted by three races where
sure wins were wiped out by fate, then salved by the breakage of the Petty #44
at Sears Point and another win for the #28. The Rudd soap opera hasn’t fully
played out yet, but regardless, the #28 looks ready to get its ninth driver
since Yates purchased the team in 1988.