The team competed primarily in Ford vehicles and built a reputation around a potent engine program and exceptional performance on superspeedways. Its most successful cars carried the numbers 28, 38, and 88 across the Winston Cup and Nextel Cup eras.
Robert Yates' first driver was Davey Allison, who had piloted the Ranier-Lundy No. 28 Havoline Ford since his 1987 rookie season. Allison drove for Yates from the team's inception until mid-1993, accumulating 15 victories and twice finishing third in the points standings. He was killed in a helicopter crash at Talladega Superspeedway in July 1993, a tragedy that deeply affected the organization.
After Allison's death, Robby Gordon and Lake Speed each made single appearances before Ernie Irvan was brought in from Morgan-McClure Motorsports as a permanent replacement later in the 1993 season. Irvan won at Charlotte and Martinsville to close the year.
Irvan began 1994 strongly, winning three races, but suffered career-threatening injuries in a practice crash at Michigan International Speedway. Kenny Wallace was brought in to complete the season. With Irvan's recovery uncertain, Yates signed 1999 World Series star Dale Jarrett from Joe Gibbs Racing for 1995. Jarrett won at Pocono Raceway and finished 13th in points. Irvan returned for three races in a second No. 88 car in 1995 and reclaimed the No. 28 for 1996, winning at New Hampshire and at Michigan in June 1997 — the same track where he had nearly lost his life three years earlier. Irvan departed at the end of 1997 for MB2 Motorsports.
Kenny Irwin Jr. drove the No. 28 in 1998 and 1999, winning Rookie of the Year honors in 1998 but not finding victory lane. Ricky Rudd joined the team in 2000 after disbanding his own Rudd Performance Motorsports and drove three productive seasons, winning at Pocono in June 2001, at Richmond in September 2001, and at Infineon Raceway in June 2002, finishing fourth in points in 2001. Rudd departed to Wood Brothers Racing following 2002, and the No. 28 was renumbered to 38 as Elliott Sadler joined the team with M&M's sponsorship from Mars, Inc.
When Irvan returned to the team in 1996 and reclaimed the No. 28, Dale Jarrett moved into a new No. 88 car sponsored by Ford Quality Care. Jarrett won the 1996 Daytona 500 in his first race in the car and went on to add four more victories that season, finishing third in the championship. He followed with victories at multiple marquee events in 1997 and continued to win consistently through the early 2000s. The most significant achievement came in 1999 when Jarrett won the Winston Cup championship, the team's only title. Over his eleven seasons with the Yates organization, Jarrett collected 29 victories, the most for any driver in team history. UPS replaced Ford Quality Care as the No. 88 sponsor in 2001. Jarrett and UPS departed together at the end of 2006 for Michael Waltrip Racing.
Elliott Sadler drove the renumbered No. 38 from 2003 to mid-2006, collecting two victories and a career-best ninth-place points finish in 2004. David Gilliland replaced Sadler mid-2006 and drove the No. 38 through 2008, posting a career-best second-place finish at Infineon Raceway that year.
For 2008, Robert Yates revived the No. 28 for Travis Kvapil after transferring the No. 88 to Hendrick Motorsports for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kvapil managed a respectable campaign despite lacking full-time sponsorship, finishing 23rd in points and earning a pole at Talladega. In 2009 — Doug Yates' first full season as official team owner — Paul Menard drove the No. 98 with Menards sponsorship while Kvapil ran the No. 28 in five races before the car was shut down due to lack of sponsorship.
One of the team's most significant contributions to NASCAR came in 2004 when Robert Yates Racing and long-time rival Roush Racing merged their engine divisions to form Roush-Yates Engines. The partnership dramatically improved both teams' competitiveness and grew into the primary engine supplier for most Ford-affiliated NASCAR teams, a role that Roush-Yates continues to fulfill long after Yates Racing itself closed.
At the end of the 2009 season, Yates Racing merged into Richard Petty Motorsports as that organization transitioned from Dodge to Ford. Doug Yates transferred the No. 96 and No. 98 owner points to Richard Petty Motorsports and Front Row Motorsports respectively.
Yates Racing's legacy rests on producing championships and superspeedway victories across two decades, developing Roush-Yates Engines into a lasting industry institution, and serving as the final team for several NASCAR legends including Davey Allison, Ernie Irvan, Dale Jarrett, and Ricky Rudd.