Gillett says Yates merger still on track

George Gillett

Richard Petty Motorsports majority owner George Gillett insisted his organization is not in a chaotic state but there are still plenty of things to be decided as part of the intended merger with Yates Racing, which Gillett termed as still on track in a rare news conference Saturday morning. He also confirmed that it would be possible for Prince Faisal bin Fahad bin Abdullah Al Saud of Saudi Arabia to own a very small stake in RPM so that they have aligned interests in future projects together but no discussions have been held.

RPM and Yates Racing officials announced plans to merge Sept. 10 but have not yet completed the agreement.

“Every day documents are being shared back and forth and so forth, documents are being prepared – most of it is in the hands of lawyers at this point, which always scares me," Gillett said at Kansas Speedway. “I’m not aware of any significant open issues at this point. So I have no reason to think that in normal course we’re not going to be able to get things done."

Gillett said it seems that the new RPM is leaning toward working out of the current Yates shop but no decision has been made. He said executive vice president Robbie Loomis would play more of a role in the day-to-day operations from a competition standpoint after the departure of former vice president Mark McArdle. SceneDaily