Robert Yates Racing back on top
Robert Yates Racing has filled the front row of the 2007 Daytona 500. This is a great turnaround for a team that had a terrible 2006 season. David Gilliland and Ricky Rudd won the top two starting spots Sunday in qualifying for the Daytona 500, putting Yates back on the racing map.
“There was a time last year when I felt like I maybe was the problem, and wasn’t in love with it and really wanted to leave [racing],” Yates said. “I could have walked out of here last year. I want this next year to get this thing up, get the sky that was falling on us, get it up.”
That dark time saw Yates lose his drivers, a sponsor and both of his crew chiefs in a tumultuous year that saw the once-proud team collapse to the point that Yates was convinced he was dying. But just like a true racer, the car owner refused to close shop and fought to keep the family business on the track.
“It’s like a dream that I’m afraid to wake up from,” said Gilliland, coming off Saturday night’s second-place finish in the exhibition Budweiser Shootout.
Gilliland and Rudd were the only ones to lock in their spots in NASCAR’s complicated qualifying for the Daytona 500. The duel 150’s on Thursday will fill the rest of the field. The top 35 drivers from 2006 are assured a spot in the 500, so that leaves eight other spots to fill, and 26 drivers are vying for them. Good luck guys!
So get ready for the Gatorade Duels on Thursday as the rest of the 2007 Daytona 500 field is set.
Till the next Pit Stop…..
February 13th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
Looking forward to seeing what the Gilliland kid can do. Though it still seems weird to see him in Elliot’s M & M’s outfit!
February 14th, 2007 at 9:07 am
Yes, if they keep producing drivers like Gilliland and Hamlin, there will be no doubt that NASCAR will be around for a long time.
I know what you mean, I still look for the #16 Family Channel car sometimes! Yikes!
November 23rd, 2007 at 7:02 pm
[...] symptoms yet? Well, I’ve decided to fight back against the idea of no new races until the Daytona 500 in February by keeping this blog running (hopefully) daily. So what is in store for you, the [...]