Finishing 32nd in the owner’s points was the No. 38 M&Ms Ford Fusion driven by David Gilliland and owned by Robert Yates, raced for Robert Yates Racing (RYR).

David Gilliland is putting 2007 behind him. For RYR, 2007 was a year of turmoil, emotions and losses.

Much of the season was spent speculating on whether or not Robert Yates was going to merge with Dale Earnhardt Incorporated. When that was shot down, we saw Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing come into the picture, a successful open-wheel operation.

Sponsorship went down the drain when it was rumored in July that M&Ms would leave RYR and join forces again with Elliott Sadler, who left the team in 2006. This was eventually shot down because a condition of Sadler’s release was that he could not be sponsored by M&Ms/Mars/Masterfoods before 2008. But to those in the know, the defection of a longtime, high-profile sponsor could only spell doom for a team. Later it was formally announced that M&Ms would move to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008 to the No. 18 driven by Kyle Busch.

Despite the business deals floating around, Gilliland was signed to another full season with Yates in 2008. In September, longtime boss Robert Yates announced that he would retire from NASCAR at the end of the 2007 season. The company formerly known as Robert Yates Racing was transferred to Yates’s son, Doug, on December 1, 2007. Doug Yates is now the owner of Yates Racing. The Roush/Yates engine partnership will continue. The partnership with Newman/Haas/Lanigan has not and will not go forward in 2008.

Currently, the Yates Racing team has no published sponsors. With Masterfoods leaving the company and the rumored deal of Best Buy (which did go to Sadler’s No. 19), Yates Racing and Gilliland are likely trying to hustle some deals. Gilliland finished 28th in driver points this year, and obviously he is looking to jump into the top 20. On the year, Gilliland grabbed the pole at the Daytona 500 and sat on the outside pole for the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega. Gilliland has shown at the very least that he can handle restrictor plate racing, arguably the hardest type of race handicap on the circuit. He also posted a top five and two top tens in 2007.

Gilliland does have some raw talent, but it still needs nurturing. He has about 50 races under his belt now, but I expect to see significant improvement next year as Yates Racing capitalizes on their lucrative agreement with Roush Fenway Racing (RFR) for 2008. RFR will be supplying all of Yates Racing’s chassis and the two companies will be sharing data even more than their present relationship allowed.

With the exception of getting sponsorship in 2008, Gilliland should continue to do well at the superspeedways but I think the intermediate program will catch on at Yates Racing wit Roush Fenway’s help. Gilliland seems to do well at the fast tracks, so look for him to be a threat not only at Daytona and Dega, but at driver-favorite tracks like Atlanta and Texas where the speeds and the stakes are high.

If Gilliland shows more maturity next year and keeps his nose clean, I would not be surprised to see a top 20 finish for the No. 38 team in 2008.

Finishing 31st in owner points this year was the No. 66 Best Buy Chevy, driven by Jeff Green and owned by Joe Custer, and raced for Haas/CNC Racing. Green personally finished 32nd in driver points, notably because he was forced out of his ride for the last few races of the season.

Green posted solid but unimpressive numbers in 2007. As mentioned in a previous article, the Haas/CNC teams experienced much agony over a jailed owner, poor performance and high turnover.

Adding Matt Borland to the team was something that was sorely needed, and I look to him to help improve the level of competition next year for both the No. 66 and No. 70 cars.

Green posted three top tens this year, which was not the kind of season the NASCAR veteran was searching for. Even an alliance with Hendrick Motorsports and crew chief Harold Holly could not help pick up the No. 66’s performance. The team chugged along until late September and early October, when rumblings that the team was going to sign Scott Riggs for 2008 began to surface.

Suddenly, Riggs was now part of Haas/CNC for 2008, and Green and his teammate Johnny Sauter knew their jobs were on the line. As October dragged on, Jeremy Mayfield was announced as the second driver for 2008. In a two car team that had no real plans of expanding to three, it was clear that Green and Sauter would soon be knocking on doors and handing out résumés.

When the tour rolled around to Atlanta, Green was ousted from the No. 66 and Mayfield was brought in, effective immediately. Then, Best Buy, Green’s longtime sponsor, waffled at the thought of sponsoring the team in 2008. As mentioned above, several teams were considered before Elliott Sadler was announced as the company’s new driver for 2008.

A new crew chief for the No. 66 was recently announced. Dave Skog (who served as team director (crew chief) for Mayfield at the then-Evernham Motorsports) will head up the team. Harold Holly and Haas/CNC have since parted ways.

No sponsorship has been announced for the No. 66 as yet, and I believe that some companies will find Mayfield to be a hard sell. He has been competitive and hasn’t “forgotten how to win” but his off-track attitude and actions haven’t won him many fans as of late.

People haven’t forgotten how he aired his dirty laundry with Ray Evernham, exposing Evernham’s relationship with development driver Erin Crocker. While Mayfield’s revelations were eventually verified and acknowledged, many people in the NASCAR community felt Mayfield had other options than to mudsling.

Mayfield may indeed be the answer to the No. 66’s woes. Paired with a crew chief he is already familiar with, perhaps they will be able to start solidly right out of the Daytona gate. Look for Mayfield to be aggressive and ready to prove himself as still worthy of a fulltime ride in NASCAR’s top series. I look for Mayfield to finish in the top 20, maybe even the top 15 if he and his team can communicate well and mesh quickly.

Coming on Friday we’ll look at teams 30 and 29, which encompass the No. 88 and No. 15, respectively.