J. J. YELEY

'Christopher Beltram Hernandez "J.J." Yeley' (born October 5, 1976) is a NASCAR racecar driver from Phoenix, Arizona. He currently drives the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs in the NEXTEL Cup Series, and the #1 Miccosukee Indian Gambling Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing in the Busch Series.

Contents

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NASCAR

References

External link

Open wheel

Yeley initially made a mark for himself in the world of auto racing when he took the Hoosier state by storm during the 1997 edition of Indiana Sprintweek. He won that series and captured the Rookie of the Year Award in the USAC National Sprint Car Series despite starting relatively few races.
In 1998, Yeley competed in four Indy Racing League (IRL) races, including the Indianapolis 500. His one top-10 finish in these four races was at Indianapolis, where he finished 9th despite a spin on the first turn of the first lap, which nearly collected eventual race winner Eddie Cheever, Jr.
Yeley also raced in the IRL in 2000 in an underfunded effort with McCormack Motorsports, but ultimately returned to USAC racing, picking up where he had left off by winning the 2001 and 2003 National Sprint, 2002 and 2003 Silver Crown, and 2003 National Midget Series titles.
His championships in all three of USAC's top divisions in 2003 made him only the second driver, after Tony Stewart in 1995, to achieve the "Triple Crown" in a single season. Stewart was, in fact, the owner of the Sprint and Silver Crown cars in Yeley's 2003 season; the Midget which Yeley drove in 2003, Steve Lewis' #9, had been driven by Stewart in 1995.
Yeley scored 24 USAC wins in his 2003 season, breaking the previous record of 19 set by A.J. Foyt in 1961 and later tied by Sleepy Trip (1988) and Jay Drake (2000).

NASCAR

As had Stewart, Yeley also signed with Joe Gibbs Racing, starting 17 of 34 races in the 2004 NASCAR Busch Series and achieving four top-10 finishes. In that year, he also made two starts in the NEXTEL Cup #11 car and competed in the IROC series. NASCAR and IROC driver's statistics at racing-reference.com Yeley drove the full season in 2005 in the NASCAR Busch Series for Gibbs' #18 car, posting twelve top-ten finishes and ending the season 11th in points.After the departure of Jason Leffler, who drove the #11 car in the Nextel Cup series, Yeley, Busch Series teammate Denny Hamlin, and Terry Labonte split the remaining races. Yeley drove four races, Labonte and Hamlin drove the final seven. Hamlin was named to drive the #11 FedEx car for the 2006 season. Bobby Labonte made his announcement in November that he was leaving Joe Gibbs Racing. On November 12, at Phoenix International Raceway, Yeley was announced as the new driver for the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet.
Yeley ran full seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing in both the NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series in 2006. He drove the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet in the NEXTEL Cup series, and the #18 Vigoro/Home Depot Chevrolet in the Busch Series. Yeley's best NEXTEL Cup finishes of 2006 came at California Speedway and Loudon, where he finished 8th; his best Busch Series finish came on June 17 at Kentucky Speedway. Yeley finished his 2006 season fifth in the Busch Series points standings with three poles, nine top-fives, and 22 top-10s. To date, JJ's best finish of his Nextel Cup career came in May 2007 at Lowe's Motor Speedway where he finished second.
Yeley was involved in an incident with driver Mark Martin at the Lowe's Motor Speedway near the end of the 2006 season. Martin, who had pitted previously and was on much better tires, was closing in on Yeley near the entrance to pit lane when Yeley suddenly moved into his path. The two crashed, ending Martin's race and severely hurting his championship chances. Yeley stated that he had been waving, a sign he was pitting, and had dropped to the bottom of the track (a standard procedure) when his car pushed up from the bottom of the track in the corner, making it appear that he wasn't pitting. Martin claimed he saw no sign that Yeley was entering the pits. Robby Gordon, the other driver involved in the crash, later told reporters that he had seen Yeley waving and knew that he was pitting. Martin and Yeley shared the blame for violent wreck.
Yeley will continue to drive the Joe Gibbs Racing #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. Yeley will also run in the Busch Series full-time behind the wheel of the Phoenix Racing #1 Miccosukee Indian Gaming Chevrolet.
His 2007 has been filled with rumors about being released from Joe Gibbs racing. He showed his true potential in the 2007 Coca-Cola 600, where Yeley scored a career high 2nd place finish on a fuel gamble, losing only to Casey Mears. Exactly three weeks later, at Michigan, Yeley took his first career pole at the NEXTEL Cup level, beating Jimmie Johnson by one one thousandths of a second (.001). On August 6, 2007, it was announced that Kyle Busch would be driving for JGR in 2008. Although he has not made this decision public, it is expected that Busch will replace Yeley in the #18 car. ^[1] Yeley will drive the #96 Hall of Fame Racing car in 2008.

References

1. http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/7097570

External link

★ Official website