Richard Petty Goes Back to the Future
Richard Petty Motorsports and Yates Racing announced today they have signed a letter of intent to merge operations in time for the 2010 season. The four-car team will race Fords under the Richard Petty Motorsports banner.
Petty, most notably linked to Chrysler, raced Fords for one season, 1969, when he scored 10 of his 200 victories as a driver. He has been part of the Dodge program since the brand’s reintroduction to NASCAR in 2001.
Richard Petty: “This is a pretty big deal for us. We’re thrilled to partner with Ford. We’ve talked with a lot of folks, but in the end it came down to the success the Gilletts and I think we can achieve with Ford Racing. Right now this deal is real new. There are lots of details still left to be ironed out so we don’t have a lot of answers for anyone right now. We’ll be working on all that in the coming days, weeks and months, but we do intend to have everything in place before the start of next season. I’ve won races with Ford and plan to again.”
Team Managing Partner Foster Gillett: “Richard and Kasey (Kahne) showed us Sunday night in Atlanta that they like winning quite a bit and Ford is going to provide the support that we need to go to victory lane more often. If you are going to compete with the other teams in this sport you need a lot of support. We bring a lot to this relationship as well. We’ve won twice this season and the power of Richard Petty is hard to beat, plus we have the support of some of the biggest names in corporate America.”
Yates Racing Co-owner Max Jones: “This is certainly a great opportunity for both Yates Racing as well as Ford Racing. I have had a long-term relationship with Ford and look forward to continuing that relationship at Richard Petty Motorsports. Over the coming weeks we will continue to work with Ford and Richard Petty to lay out the best plan for Paul Menard and all of the employees at Yates Racing. We will continue to field both the No. 98 and No. 96 Ford Fusions for the remainder of the season and look forward to continued success on the track with Paul, Bobby Labonte and Erik Darnell.”
Yates Racing Co-owner Doug Yates: “This plan is clearly in the best interest of the Ford Racing community. On a personal level, I am excited about the opportunity to focus my full energy on building Ford horsepower. We look forward to working with Richard Petty Motorsports to produce power second to none. There are many details to be worked out with Richard Petty Motorsports and as we finalize those details we will keep everyone informed.”
Director of Ford North America Motorsports Brian Wolfe: “I am very pleased that Richard Petty Motorsports has made the decision to switch to Ford for the 2010 season. They had choices to consider other than Ford and it’s gratifying to us that they have enough faith in the Ford Motor Company and what we’re doing to make the switch. We believe we can provide them with superior analytical tools and powertrain, and we will work with them closely on the technical front to help them become even more competitive than they are.
What’s also really cool to me is the chance to have someone with the class and the legacy of Richard Petty involved with Ford. Combine that with the chance to work with the Gillett family, who we have great respect for, and add some great drivers to the Ford camp, well, it’s hard not to be excited about this opportunity.”
Petty folded his Petty Enterprises into a partnership this year with the former Gillett Evernham Motorsports. RPM drivers this season are Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, AJ Allmendinger and Reed Sorenson. Sorenson won’t be tagging along. Yates has Eau Claire native Paul Menard and an affiliation with Hall of Fame Racing on another entry. The Hall of Fame deal with part-time sponsor ask.com is expected to move for next season.
Pictured is Ford's 1969 team consisting of LeeRoy Yarbrough, David Pearson, Richard Petty, Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough who actually wheeled a Mercury that year. Combined the team won 29 of 51 Grand National events and led to the marquees second consecutive Manufacturers Championship. Petty's first Ford win was in February at Riverside.
And powerful they were.
On the big tracks hosting races of 300 miles or more, Ford tied together a 13-race winning streak.
Powered by the the new Blue Crescent Boss 429-cid engine Fords took the top five spots at Atlanta, the top four at Michigan, and finished first and second in eight of the 13 victories. All of that changed in September with the introduction of the Dodge Charger Daytona at the Talladega 500.
Ford introduced sloped nose extensions on their Ford Torinos and Mercury Cyclones in 1969 in an effort to lengthen their advantage over Chrysler products. The extensions provided a definite advantage over the conventional Dodge Chargers, particularly on the high-speed ovals. The new Ford was coined the Torino Talladega while the Mercury special edition was the Cyclone Spoiler. Fords didn’t lose on a superspeedway until September when unheralded Richard Brickhouse drove a winged Dodge Daytona to victory in the inaugural Talladega 500, an event boycotted by virtually all the top NASCAR drivers..
David Pearson's Ford and Cale Yarborough's Mercury line up on the front row before the start of the Sept. 28 Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville Speedway. The annual 500-lapper was run two weeks after the Talladega boycott, and many of the spectators were angered with PDA president Richard Petty for calling the strike. Late in the race, a fan hurled a beer can that struck Petty's windshield. Despite the close call, Petty outran Pearson down the stretch and won the race.
February 23, 1969: Daytona 500: LeeRoy Yarbrough passes Charlie Glotzbach on the final lap to win the Daytona 500. Yarbrough wins in his back-up car.
May 10, 1969: Rebel 400: LeeRoy Yarbrough drives a battered Mercury to victory in the Rebel 400 at Darlington Raceway. Yarbrough and Bobby Allison tangle while battling for the lead with four laps to go. Allison crashes, while Yarbrough limps to victory.
July 6, 1969: Mason-Dixon 300: Richard Petty finishes six laps ahead of the field to win the Mason-Dixon 300 at the new Dover Downs International Speedway. Part-time driver Sonny Hutchins finishes second.
July 20, 1969: Volunteer 500: David Pearson prevails in a wreck-strewn Volunteer 500 at Bristol International Speedway. It is the first event on the 1/2-mile oval since the turns were redesigned and banked to a staggering 36 degrees.
August 22, 1969: Richard Petty drives his Ford to a narrow victory in the 250-lap race at Winston-Salem’s Bowman Gray Stadium. It is Petty’s 100th NASCAR Grand National victory.
October 26, 1969: American 500: LeeRoy Yarbrough scores his seventh superspeedway win of the season in the American 500 at Rockingham. Yarbrough loses a lap when a tire blows, sending him into the wall. He scrambles back into contention and takes the lead for keeps with 57 laps remaining.
Marc… this is certainly a huge news story within NASCAR. This merger has got to be the power play of the year. I’d like to know what Rick Hendrick is thinking right now. This merger between Richard Petty Motorsports and Yates Racing along with Ford will be a combination that will certainly ante up the competition in 2010.
The interesting part of this is that Roger Penske will be the only Dodge stable in the sport…. this can’t be good for the Dodge racing program.