Ford renews deal with Yates Racing

Yates had been subject of much speculation this year as it had been suggested that they were working on a deal to power the DEI cars next year.

Other teams working with Dodge power were understood to have approached Yates to have their engines built by them.

However Yates, who have gone through a difficult period recently, will remain loyal to Ford. The team have worked with the blue oval company for the past 19 years, achieving 57 NASCAR Nextel Cup wins and one championship in 1999 with Dale Jarrett.

"Robert Yates Racing is synonymous with Ford," said Dan Davis, Director of Ford Racing Technology. "We've celebrated the joy of winning races and championships with them, in addition to feeling the frustration that this sport can dish out.

"The main thing is that we've gone through all of those times together as loyal partners. We're thrilled to have this deal behind us, and now we can look forward to continuing getting Robert and his team back among the NASCAR elite."

RYR currently field two Ford Fusions in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series for David Gilliland and Ricky Rudd, while Stephen Leicht pilots the squad's lone Busch Series entry.

"For Ford to come up and support us when we're not having our best days is really a great feeling," said team founder Robert Yates.

"They're not turning their back on us. They're offering us plenty of help to get this deal turned around, certainly with engineering support, so we appreciate everybody at Ford, everybody that works on them and everybody that buys them. I'm very appreciative of having this deal.

"We're happy about this being done because there was speculation out there that we didn't have anything or that we were looking elsewhere. It wasn't true, but it's hard to quiet your critics, especially when your competition is trying to shoot you down, so I want to thank Ford for being loyal to us."

The team last won a race at Talladega in 2005 with Dale Jarrett but has continued to show they build powerful engines by sweeping the front row at the Daytona 500 this year and by also putting David Gilliland on the front row at Talladega last April.