Robert Yates to retire from NASCAR

RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Yates Racing team President Robert Yates will retire at the end of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season, handing over ownership to his son, Doug.

The elder Yates made the announcement Friday before the Emerson Radio 250 Busch auto race at the Richmond, Va., International Raceway.

Doug Yates runs the Yates Newman Haas Lanigan Racing team, but the Winston-Salem Journal reported the partnership was dissolved Friday night without any immediate explanation.

"The goal of this partnership was to build a team to contend for the championship," Robert Yates said on NASCAR.com. "The more I thought about it the more I realized instead this was the perfect opportunity for me to pass the torch to the next generation."

Effective Dec. 1, Yates Racing will field two Sprint Cup Series Ford teams next season, with drivers David Gilliland and Travis Kvapil.

Robert Yates purchased the team from Harry Ranier in 1989, and among its drivers have been Dale Jarrett, and Davey Allison.