Robert Yates

James Robert Yates (April 19, 1943 – October 2, 2017) was an American NASCAR engine builder and founder of the Winston Cup Series team Robert Yates Racing. He purchased the team from Harry Ranier in 1988, with driver Davey Allison. Yates owned the team until retiring at the end of the 2007 season with his son Doug assuming ownership and renaming the team Yates Racing. In 2018, Yates was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Biography The son of Rev. John Clyde Yates, he grew up as one of nine children in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has a twin brother, Richard.

As a youth, Yates raced his own dragster in the late 1950s. During his formative years, he moved to Wake Forest, North Carolina to live with his sister's family. In 1961, he graduated from Wake Forest High School a straight-A student. In 1964, Yates graduated from Wilson Technical College in North Carolina, earning a degree in mechanical engineering. From 1976 to 1986, Yates was at DiGard Motorsports, where he was chief engine builder. During that time, Bobby Allison won the NASCAR Winston Cup Series title in 1983.

Yates left DiGard in 1986 to work on the development of synthetic fuels and, in the same year, returned to NASCAR as general manager of Ranier-Lundy Racing in August of that year. In 1988, he acquired the team to form Robert Yates Racing.

In November 2016, Yates began undergoing treatment for liver cancer. Yates said he was told by a doctor in early August to gather his family and make plans for hospice because “you’re done in four weeks.” Four hours later, Yates’ future looked much better. Another doctor told Yates that the terminal diagnosis was wrong. “I need both doctors, but I need a little cheerleading, too,’’ said the 74-year-old former team owner. On October 2, 2017, Yates died due to liver cancer.

In 2018, Yates was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.