James Robert Yates (April 19, 1943 – October 2, 2017) was a NASCAR engine builder and former owner of the Sprint Cup Series team Yates Racing, owned since 2007 by his son Doug. He purchased the team from Harry Ranier in 1988, with driver Davey Allison. 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, he 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. Yates joined Holman-Moody in 1968 as head of the air gauge department, and two years later, he was hired by Junior Johnson to manage his team's engine department. 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. He 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, Robert Yates acquired the team to form Robert Yates Racing. He died of cancer October 2, 2017. The following year in 2018, Yates was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Team history Races The team finished second in its first race, the 1988 Daytona 500, being edged by Allison's father and NASCAR legend Bobby Allison. 1991 In 1991, Larry McReynolds (now a NASCAR analyst with Fox Sports) joined Yates Racing as crew chief and led Davey Allison to five victories. In 1992, Yates Racing started the season with Allison winning the Daytona 500, joining his father Bobby, a three time Daytona 500 winner. The win also put the Allisons in an exclusive club, joining Lee and Richard Petty and later Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the only father/son winners of the Daytona 500. 1992 In 1992 Allison again had another dominant year winning five races again, despite a broken hand suffered at Pocono in June and a cracked rib. Allison also experienced a personal