CUP: Menard Will Return To Yates

Sprint Cup

CUP: Menard Will Return To Yates

Paul Menard will drive the No. 98 Yates Racing Ford again in 2010...

Tom Jensen | Posted July 26, 2009 Speedway, IN

Paul Menard is moving to Richard Childress Racing next season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Yates Racing co-owner Max Jones said Sunday morning that the team plans to be back up to at least two cars next season, with Paul Menard and the Menards sponsorship returning to the No. 98 Yates Racing Ford in 2010.

Menard has had a disappointing first season with the team and is ranked 33rd in NASCAR Sprint Cup owner points headed into the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, which had spurred rumors that the driver and sponsor might move to a different team next season.

But Jones said the driver and his sponsor will both continue forward in 2010. “The Menards deal is in place,” Jones said Sunday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Earlier this year, the team shuttered its No. 28 Ford driven by Travis Kvapil for lack of sponsorship. Yates operates the No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing operation out of its Concord, N.C., shop, which is adjacent to Roush Fenway Racing.

Jones said he was unsure if Yates would campaign the HoF car again in 2010, saying talks to extend the partnership are underway, but the outcome uncertain. Another possibility is to take the fifth Roush Fenway Racing Ford next season, when NASCAR will require that team to downsize from five to four cars.

But with DeWalt leaving Matt Kenseth’s Roush Fenway entry, and driver Jamie McMurray unsigned for 2010 — and possibly headed for a reunion with former boss Chip Ganassi — it’s no sure thing that Yates will add one of Roush’s cars.

Jones said that one way or another, Yates expects to run at least two cars next year. “Normally these (sponsorship) deals come together in August, but the Hall of Fame deal didn’t come together until the week between Christmas and New Year’s last year, and we might be looking at the same kind of thing this year,” said Jones.

“Ultimately our goal is to become a four-car team,” Jones said. “But with this economy, it’s going to take longer than we originally planned.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of ?Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,? and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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