Newman~Haas Bids To Buy Yates

tkj24

tkj24

Team Owner
Joined
Oct 5, 2001
Messages
7,877
Points
398
Location
Tennessee
ST. LOUIS - Seven-time Champ Car champion owners Carl Haas and Paul Newman have offered to purchase Robert Yates Racing, sources told FOXSports.com. An announcement could come as early as Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Haas currently runs the No. 14 CAH-PPC Ford in the Busch Series with Michael Lanigan, who became a partner on the Newman-Haas Champ Car operation earlier this season, and Mari Hulman George. Haas was most recently involved in NASCAR at the Cup level as Travis Carter's partner on the Nos. 26 and 66 in 2002.Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing currently leads the Championship Point Standings with three-time champion Sebastian Bourdais who looks to win an unprecedented fourth title this season.
Robert Yates purchased the No. 28 from Harry Ranier in 1988. He expanded to two teams in 1995 with the No. 88 and Dale Jarrett. Yates won the championship with Jarrett in 1999. RYR currently runs two entries in the Nextel Cup Series with David Gilliland and Ricky Rudd, who are currently 27th and 30th in points, respectively. Stephen Leicht pilots Yates Busch's effort in the No. 90 Citifinancial Ford and is currently eighth in the standings.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/7059678
 
RYR to merge with Newman-Haas: Robert Yates Racing and Newman-Haas Racing will reveal on Friday its plans to merge, a source close to the situation confirmed to ESPN.com. A formal news conference has been set for that afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Actor Paul Newman, an avid racer and long-time team owner in open-wheel racing, and partner Carl Haas own the team currently leading the Champ Car series with driver Sebastien Bourdais, a three-time champion in the series. Yates last month at New Hampshire International said he had personally abandoned pursuit of a business partner, saying he had no debts and didn't need to get into a more pressure-packed situation answering to a partner's business demands. He did, however, say he would allow a head-hunting firm continue to look in that area. Like Robert Yates Racing, Newman-Haas has had deep ties with Ford.(ESPN.com)(7-25-2007)
 
http://www.speedtv.com/articles/nascar/nextel/39037/

CUP: N/H/L Confirms Its Stake In RYR
Written by: Tom Jensen
Indianapolis, Ind. – 7/27/2007
Gilliland will remain part of the merged operation, but could his teammate come from the other side of the merged operation? (LAT photo)

Less than a month after he pulled out of a potential deal with an investment banking firm, car owner Robert Yates has finally found an ally to provide the one thing he needed more than money: top-notch engineering help.

Yates has sold an equity position in Robert Yates Racing to longtime Champ Car World Series team Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing and the NASCAR team was renamed Yates/Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing effective immediately, the team announced Friday.

Neither Yates nor his son, Doug, would disclose how large an equity position N/H/L took in the NASCAR operation, but Doug called it a “true partnership” and said the management company of the structure would change.

“For day-to-day operations, Robert will be running the day-to-day at the shop like he is,” said Doug Yates, “but now he has more people to report to. There will be a board (of directors).” As far as who now owns how much of Yates/Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, he said, “I really can’t disclose that at this time, but it is a true partnership.”

The team likely will continue with two Nextel Cup cars next year, Doug Yates said. David Gilliland has re-signed with the team for next year and the team is very interested in Sebastien Bourdais, who has won three of the seven Champ Car titles that N/H/L has claimed as a team.

“That is definitely been a discussion that we’ve had,” said Doug Yates of a possible Bourdais move to Nextel Cup. “And I think Sebastien’s very interested in NASCAR. Obviously, with Juan’s (Pablo Montoya) success here, it makes it more attractive for guys like that when open-wheel guys look at NASCAR. And I think it’d be great for NASCAR to have Sebastien here. We don’t go into this from day one saying that that’s our plan, but it’s a possibility.”

It’s expected that Citifinancial will continue to sponsor Stephen Leicht in a Yates/ Newman/Haas/ Lanigan entry in the NASCAR Busch Series next year, Doug Yates said.

The big benefit for the Yates organization will be the engineering help N/H/L can provide, especially with NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow, which has extremely closely regulated technical specs. “What we look to do is take their talents and skills and help us with things that we don’t do so well,” Doug Yates said.

“We have always been an engineering driven team,” said Paul Newman, a partner in Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. “We think we have something special to add to the benefit of both. This in no way lessens our commitment to open wheel racing - we want to broaden our horizons.”

Both N/H/L and Yates have longstanding ties to Ford Motor Co., which played a key role in brokering the deal. “NASCAR Nextel Cup racing is rapidly moving, technology-wise, to engineering areas that Newman/Haas/Lanigan has years of experience with already,” said Dan Davis, director of Ford Racing Technology. “And Robert Yates Racing brings years of engine development and race craft in the sport that is invaluable to this operation. Put that expertise together, along with joint ownership that is clearly committed to winning, and we have a Ford program that will be a contender for years to come.”
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom