When talking about Ford Racing in NASCAR’s three diverse series – Cup, O’Reilly and CRAFTSMAN Truck – the conversation centers on the activities of the Yates family, as well as Jack Roush’s enterprises. When Roush and Robert Yates elected to merge their engine operations in 2004 – a merger performed to enhance the advantages of working with Ford Racing – it was Robert’s son, Doug Yates, that led the endeavor.
For that reason and many more, the Yates family has been endowed with the Spirit of Ford Award, one given to Doug Yates by Edsel B. Ford, prior to the running of this weekend’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. The highest honor in Ford Racing, the Spirit of Ford Award given to Robert and Doug Yates is only the 30th time Ford has awarded this prize.
Speaking to Doug Yates and an assembled group of media and Ford Racing participants, Edsel B. Ford acknowledged that the Yates family “really does bleed Ford Blue. Doug and his father, Robert, symbolize what’s right with the Ford Racing program, but also what is right about the sport of motor racing itself.”
The Yates family’s Ford Racing history begins with Robert starting his career working with Holman Moody in 1967, and building his first Daytona 500 winning engine two years later. Robert Yates’ work on the engine bench included some key highlights in the early 1980s, including building engines for the 1983 championship team that took Richard Petty to his 200th NASCAR victory.
Robert Yates began Robert Yates Racing in 1988 and formed his upward trajectory with 57 Cup Series victories, three Daytona 500 wins and an overall championship through its first nine years. At the same time, Robert Yates spent time mentoring and teaching his son, Doug who, as Edsel Ford pointed out, “carries his father’s legacy with him every day.
“What can we say about Doug?” Ford asked. “Since 2004, Doug has led Roush Yates Engines to more than 400 NASCAR race wins across three series, and also a victory at [The 24 Hours of] Le Mans for Ford in 2016, with the Ford GT. He has created a state-of-the-art business that works closely with Ford powertrain engineers and Ford race teams that has brought forth seven Daytona 500 wins and three of the past four Cup championships.”
Edsel Ford pointed out that this year marks the 125th season of Ford racing activities and giving this prize to the Yates family seemed preordained for the family’s “significant contribution to the sport of auto racing on and off the race track.”
For his part, Doug Yates was humbled by this award. “What an honor!” he stated. “I could have never imagined being more proud of being part of the Ford family. I wish my dad was here to celebrate this with us today, but it’s really special being part of the Ford Racing family. I wouldn’t be here today without the Ford support and, obviously, what that means to us. It’s pretty emotional, to be honest with you. You just put in your hard work and you just do the best you can.”
Talking about the weekend ahead, with races in every NASCAR category, “You work hard and you want to come down here to win races and make the Ford Motor Company proud and the Ford family proud. We’ve won 449 Cup, O’Reilly and Truck wins to this point, so the next one will be 450. Hopefully we can get that done Sunday afternoon? This really means a lot to me.”
THE YATES FAMILY RECORD IN NASCAR
ROBERT YATES RACING
- Won 57 NASCAR Cup Series races from 1989-2007, including the Daytona 500 three times (1992 – Davey Allison; 1996 and 2000 – Dale Jarrett).
- Won the NASCAR Cup Series championship in 1999.
- Won 5 Daytona 500 poles (1991 – Davey Allison, 1995 – Dale Jarrett, 2000 – Dale Jarrett, 2005 – Dale Jarrett, 2007 – David Gilliland)
ROUSH YATES ENGINES
- Won the Daytona 500 seven times (2009 – Matt Kenseth, 2011 – Trevor Bayne, 2012 – Matt Kenseth, 2015 – Joey Logano, 2017 – Kurt Busch, 2021 – Michael McDowell, 2022 – Austin Cindric)
- Won five Daytona 500 poles and swept the front row four times (2004 – Greg Biffle (pole) and Elliott Sadler, 2005 – Dale Jarrett, 2007 – David Gilliland (pole) and Ricky Rudd, 2012 – Carl Edwards (pole) and Greg Biffle, 2024 – Joey Logano (pole) and Michael McDowell)
- Won five NASCAR Cup Series championships (2004 – Kurt Busch, 2018 – Joey Logano, 2022 – Joey Logano, 2023 – Ryan Blaney, 2024 – Joey Logano)
- Celebrated its 200th NASCAR Cup Series victory in 2025 when Austin Cindric won at Talladega Superspeedway.
The first recipient of the Spirit of Ford Award was off-road ace Bill Stroppe in 1988. This year is the first time the award has been tendered to a family. In some years there has been no Spirit of Ford Award, while in others it has gone to more than one recipient.
SPIRIT OF FORD AWARD WINNERS (30): Bill Stroppe (1988), Bob Glidden (1989), Chris Economaki (1990), Richard Petty (1992), Bob Bondurant (1993), Mario Andretti (1994), Sir Jackie Stewart (1994), Bud Moore (1995), Parnelli Jones (1996), Jim Clark (1997), Phil Hill (1998), Sterling Moss (1998), The France Family – Bill Sr. and Bill Jr. (1998), Junie Donlavey (1999), The Wood Brothers – Glen and Leonard (1999), Dan Gurney (1999), Denise McCluggage (2000), Bill Elliott (2000), Carroll Shelby (2001), Wally Parks (2001), Ned Jarrett (2003), Mose Nowland (2005), Jack Roush (2006), John Force (2010), Kevin Kennedy (2011), A.J. Foyt (2017), Lyn St. James (2021), Alan Mann Racing (2024), Dick Johnson (2025), The Yates Family – Robert and Doug (2026).
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