Yates hands down Cup team to his son

Robert Yates will retire at the end of the season and hand control of his NASCAR race team to his son Doug.

Doug Yates will own and operate Yates Racing beginning Dec. 1. The team will use the car numbers and owner points from Robert Yates Racing and will field cars for David Gilliland and Travis Kvapil.

The Friday night announcement the Letter of Intent for the merger announced last month between Yates and the Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing team from the Champ Car World Series.

"The goal of the (merger) was to build a team to contend for the championship," Robert Yates said in a statement. "The more I thought about it, the more I realized instead this was the perfect opportunity for me to pass the torch to the next generation.

"I'm closing this chapter of my life, and I cannot wait to see what is in store for me next."