The legendary NASCAR engine builder and team owner Robert Yates passed away following a battle with liver cancer last month, and his death is still reverberating through the sport. Not only that, drivers are continuing to honor him, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is the latest.
Today at Phoenix, he'll run a special paint scheme that honors Yates.
We're all loving Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s tribute scheme for Robert Yates in Phoenix.#FreshPaint pic.twitter.com/o74k1VR5Or
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) November 11, 2017
Here's another look:
A closer look at the @StenhouseJr Robert Yates Tribute car that @WinstonKelley and @ThePostman68 are talking about now.
Lots of memories throughout the garage with this car this weekend #AskMRN pic.twitter.com/Qr4kqL4i78
— Motor Racing Network (@MRNRadio) November 11, 2017
It isn't the first time Yates has been honored. At Charlotte, NASCAR honored him as all cars with this logo:
Yates memorial decal on SHR car of Cole Custer: pic.twitter.com/bt4NNfrC9x
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 7, 2017
Yates first built engines for some of the premier drivers in the sport and then won a championship as an owner.
My Dad and Hero, Robert Yates, has passed and is with the Lord. Thanks for all the prayers and support. pic.twitter.com/hxa0wfdZkE
— Doug Yates (@Yates_Doug) October 3, 2017
Yates had a remarkable career as an owner, but he excelled under the hood. He built the engines that powered cars to wins in the 1969 and 1982 Daytona 500, and his engine designs propelled Richard Petty to his 199th and 200th career victories. Whether it be as an engine builder or an owner -- he started his team in 1988 -- he worked with a who's who of NASCAR royalty.
In addition to Petty, he worked with Dale, Jarrett, Davey Allison and Ernie Irvan.
Yates retired in 2007 and turned Yates Racing over to his son. But he came out of retirement in 2010 to form Robert Yates Racing Engines.
During his career, Yates won the Daytona 500 three times and the Coca Cola 600 twice. He won NASCAR championships as an engine builder (1983) and an owner (1999) and has 134 wins in his career. He was voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2017 and inducted this year.