Restoration work under way.(NHL)(Eddie D'Hondt, Robert Yates Racing general manager)(Interview)

Eddie D'Hondt is an optimist. He has to be. In late October, he became the general manager at Robert Yates Racing. D'Hondt inherited a mess. Scour the websites for the biggest disappointments of 2003, and topping most lists are RYR and Dale Jarrett.

"I don't think that FOXSports or any of the other writers are going out on a diving board by making that statement," D'Hondt says. "And I don't think Dale or Robert (Yates) would disagree with that. But I choose to look at the glass as being half-full."

D'Hondt is a realist who enjoys a challenge. If he weren't, D'Hondt would not have lobbied for the position in the first place. He knew the resources available at RYR would allow him to help mold the organization into the powerhouse it once was. For six seasons, 19962001, Jarrett finished in the top five in points, including winning the Winston Cup title in 1999.

"Like most sport teams, race teams can move in cycles," says D'Hondt, 44, who previously worked for Bill Elliott and Ray Evernham in Winston Cup and most recently oversaw Damon Lusk's Busch team. "Similar to what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went through this season. Last year they won the Super Bowl, and this year they didn't even make the playoffs. It's unlikely with the really strong, well-versed race teams, yet possible."

Jarrett's No. 88 team finished 26th and Elliott Sadler's No. 38 Yates team finished 22nd last season. It was the first time Jarrett finished outside the top 10 since 1995, the year he began racing for RYR.

At the start of last season, for the first time since the operation expanded to two full-time cars in 1996, RYR moved its teams under one roof. The organization hoped to operate with a one-team concept, but because it had two rookie crew chiefs, the plan never panned out.

"Watching the three races that I was involved with this organization at the end of the season, it was easy to see they were still testing when they were unloading," D'Hondt says. "They were searching for answers to their struggles. I don't blame them for adopting that type of strategy, but at that point it becomes more of a test on the weekends than a team being prepared for a race.