Labbe, Baldwin out at Robert Yates Racing
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
July 31, 2006
01:17 PM EDT (17:17 GMT)
Robert Yates Racing told its organization on Monday that its two Nextel Cup crew chiefs, Tommy Baldwin and Slugger Labbe, would no longer be with the team.
Baldwin and Labbe were brought to RYR amid great fanfare by team manager Eddie D'Hondt, but D'Hondt was fired on May 23.
Tommy Baldwin served as Elliott Sadler's crew chief.
With Baldwin and Labbe gone, RYR has experienced a complete turnover of its top personnel. Driver Dale Jarrett announced in May that he was leaving the organization after 10 years, and the team's other driver, Elliott Sadler, asked for and was granted his release earlier this month.
Veteran crew chief Butch Hylton, who began working at RYR in June, will be Jarrett's crew chief for this week's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. The team said that Hylton would be Jarrett's crew chief on an interim basis.
The team has not announced a driver lineup for 2007, but the team has had discussions with Busch Series drivers David Gilliland and Stephen Leicht to fill the seats.
Leicht, 19, serves as Yates' Busch Series driver and made his Nextel Cup debut at Pocono two weeks ago, finishing 33rd.
Gilliland, 30, will make his RYR debut this weekend in the Kroger 200 Busch Series race at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis.
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
July 31, 2006
01:17 PM EDT (17:17 GMT)
Robert Yates Racing told its organization on Monday that its two Nextel Cup crew chiefs, Tommy Baldwin and Slugger Labbe, would no longer be with the team.
Baldwin and Labbe were brought to RYR amid great fanfare by team manager Eddie D'Hondt, but D'Hondt was fired on May 23.
Tommy Baldwin served as Elliott Sadler's crew chief.
With Baldwin and Labbe gone, RYR has experienced a complete turnover of its top personnel. Driver Dale Jarrett announced in May that he was leaving the organization after 10 years, and the team's other driver, Elliott Sadler, asked for and was granted his release earlier this month.
Veteran crew chief Butch Hylton, who began working at RYR in June, will be Jarrett's crew chief for this week's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. The team said that Hylton would be Jarrett's crew chief on an interim basis.
The team has not announced a driver lineup for 2007, but the team has had discussions with Busch Series drivers David Gilliland and Stephen Leicht to fill the seats.
Leicht, 19, serves as Yates' Busch Series driver and made his Nextel Cup debut at Pocono two weeks ago, finishing 33rd.
Gilliland, 30, will make his RYR debut this weekend in the Kroger 200 Busch Series race at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis.