…. the story of the day was Robert Yates, who denied reports that he is interested in selling his two Winston Cup teams. According to one report, Yates was talking with Chip Ganassi — according to another report, he was talking with Joe Gibbs. Yates laughed off the reports: ‘I’m going to stick to my deal. I haven’t gone there. Robert Yates-Bill Gates sounds pretty good, but other than that, I’m not interested I don’t think. I do have a race-team shop for sale, under the right conditions. Ricky Rudd’s old shop. And you know how rumors get started. Robby Gordon said he wanted to look at that, and I’m sure someone overheard that, and the next thing you know it went around that I was selling out. Robby was trying to buy Jimmy Spencer’s shop, but it got sold, and I heard that and told Robby, ‘How about coming by and looking at mine? So this wasn’t something that somebody dreamed up. But I’m not leaving. You sell after you win the championship, not before. Raymond Beadle taught me that.’ Ford executives didn’t put much credence in reports that Robert Yates might be calling it quits, pointing to a new five-year contract just signed with Yates in January and to UPS’ contract that runs through 2006. Jimmy Makar, Joe Gibbs’ team manager, said he was unaware of the Yates story until late yesterday and put no validity into a report that Yates was interested in a deal with Gibbs. There would be so many contractual entanglements as to make any Yates deal almost a non-starter. Chip Ganassi, for one, is a Dodge man — Gibbs, a GM man.( Winston Salem Journal ), see the past rumor on my #88 Team News and Links page .(7-26-2003) UPDATE: So it may not be surprising that Robert Yates is reportedly ready to quit. Yates said he’s not trying to sell his two Winston Cup teams. But others in the garage have said there’s more to the story than Yates is letting on. Yates, a famous engine man and a car owner since 1988, has become increasingly disenchanted with the car-owner side of the business over the past year. While he and his son, Doug, still have one of the top engine programs, they’ve had numerous headaches as owners, and Robert has indicated for a year that he might like to fade out of the picture, perhaps to his beach house at Myrtle Beach.( Winston Salem Journal )(7-27-2003)
