Yates' year fraught by off-the-track distractions

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- If you want to know how far off the scale the results of Robert Yates Racing's two NASCAR Winston Cup teams were in 2002, consider this: Neither of his drivers had previously finished out of the top five in the standings in the last seven years while driving for the veteran owner.

So even though both Dale Jarrett's No. 88 UPS Ford and Ricky Rudd's No. 28 Havoline Ford both ended up in the top 10 in points, that outcome was so much less than anyone in the Yates organization had hoped for.

Disruptions of different sorts marred both drivers' seasons.

After finishing no worse than fifth in his seven previous seasons with Yates and crew chief Todd Parrott, Jarrett started the year with Jimmy Elledge heading his team after Parrott moved to a managerial role.

But Parrott found he still craved the hands-on role that he previously had held; and Elledge, unsure of his role and responsibilities, was in a fruitless position. Jarrett's first seven races were disastrous and he was 24th in the standings after he finished 24th at Texas Motor Speedway despite leading a race high 134 laps.

Year in Review  •  Roush Racing  •  Dale Earnhardt Inc.  •  PPI Motorsports  •  Joe Gibbs Racing  •  Chip Ganassi Racing  •  Jasper Motorsports  •  Petty Enterprises  •  The Wood Brothers  •  Hendrick Motorsports  •  Bill Davis Racing

Parrott resumed the crew chief's position and the final two-thirds of the season were more what Jarrett, Parrott and Yates were used to. He scored 14 of his 18 top-10 finishes in the final 24 races of the season, including both his victories and his lone Bud Pole.

He ended the season on a roll of nine top-15 finishes in the last 10 races, as he scratched from 12th into ninth after Homestead. Still, Jarrett's result -- troubled by five DNFs -- was his worst in the points since he finished 13th in the final standings in 1995, his first year with Yates.

Rudd's season also got off to an uncharacteristically rocky start.

After five races Rudd had not been able to qualify well, led only one race and was back in 16th in the standings. Within another month and a half the rumors began circulating that Elliott Sadler would replace him at Yates Racing.

The soap opera that was Rudd's 2002 campaign had as many twists and turns as a Winston Cup race at Sears Point Raceway, the site of Rudd's lone victory of the season, in June.

To many observers, the season reached a low point at Dover, when Sadler announced that he had received his release from his Wood Brothers Racing contract. Rudd stormed away from the garage area saying Yates had the answers and Yates said the ride was Rudd's if he wanted it.

	Credit: Autostock

To the credit of Rudd and crew chief Michael McSwain, once they got into the top 10 in the standings after the seventh race of the season, they never fell out. But McSwain left the team before the end of the season to go to Joe Gibbs Racing.

Rudd was a championship contender until the late stages of the season.

In the end, four DNFs and only two top-10 finishes in the last 10 races did him in, resulting in a 10th-place finish in the standings. Despite remaining relatively consistent, Rudd led only 19 laps in the season's last 22 races.

Rudd scored 20 top-15 finishes in 2002, including the victory at Sears Point. Like his teammate, he earned a single Bud Pole; but his eight top-five and 12 top-10 finishes were well under his 2001 totals, 14 top-fives and 22 top-10s.