But since then times
have gotten tough. Jarrett has gone to Michael Waltrip Racing and taken his sponsorship money with him.
Ford in general is struggling
and sometime back Yates joined forces with Roush Racing. This would appear to be less than a perfect solution for RYR.
And then there is Ricky
Rudd. Tough, old school, Rudd at one time raced for RYR but left Robert Yates racing under difficult circumstances in 2002.
Neither of these guys
is twenty two any longer. Neither has anything to prove. Both understand that a team needs multiple sponsors, new cars, engineers…and
cubic dollars.
Both understand that
RYR has none of these things, and needs to do well coming from behind in order to score the sponsorship dollars in order to
do all the other things a team requires to do well and contend for championships.
So why do they do it?
To begin with, they are
both old school racers, and although Cale Yarborough and Rusty Wallace (so far) have walked away, others like Darrell Waltrip
and Mark Martin have not found it so easy. Driving is such a thrill, and besting your fellow racers—the best in the
world, is a hard thing to divorce yourself from.
It is not that different
from those of us that are not 22, not in our first marriage, and are just tired of not only trying, but of apologizing. The
deck seems to be stacked; we are exhausted, so why do we keep on trying?
Because that is what we were made to do—to never give up, to keep on trying, to keep on growing ever closer to
the answers that seem so confusing, and yet are in our hearts and cannot be denied.
Ricky Rudd has been called
the “Ironman” for his tenacity behind the wheel against all odds, and clearly Robert Yates has quite a bit of
fight left in him yet as well. May their inspiration be our inspiration as we head into the next banked turn of our lives,
and whether we make it or we hit the wall, to gather it up and keep heading for the finish line with the same dogged determination
of Ricky Rudd, and Robert Yates. Go 88!
Questions, Comments;
Email Jay
The views and opinions
in this article are that of the writer(s) and not necessarily that of SCR
2006 StockCar Review.
