True Speed Communication For Joe Gibbs Racing, Press Release

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (Oct. 31, 2007) – It was clear the moment the burden had lifted.

It was the week leading up to the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway in September and J.J. Yeley, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), had just signed a three-year deal with Hall of Fame Racing to race the No. 96 car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series beginning in 2008.

During the last green-flag run of the Richmond race, Yeley stormed through the field, gaining 12 positions in 50 laps to notch the first top-10 finish since his career-best second-place run in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) in May.

Over the next six races prior to the fall event at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Yeley notched two top-10s and four top-15 finishes and accumulated more points than five of the 12 drivers competing in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Then, bad luck reared its ugly head.

In his last two races, Yeley has not finished higher than 35th. He lost a motor at Martinsville and finished 42nd, then cut a tire at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend. Damage from the latter incident forced him behind the wall for repairs. As a result, he took the checkered flag in 35th.

There is no better place for Yeley to turn around his bad luck than Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth during Sunday’s Dickies 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race.

Texas Motor Speedway is in the backyard of Yeley’s current sponsor, Dallas-based Interstate Batteries. Texas Instruments and its DLP HDTV division, which will sponsor him in the No. 96 car next season, is also based in Dallas.

Unfortunately, Texas has never been to kind to Yeley. In his last trip to the 1.5-mile oval, he was taken out of the race on the first lap by rookie David Ragan. He finished that race dead last.

But Yeley hopes to reverse his fortune this weekend. His goal is to give his team and his current sponsor, Interstate Batteries, the finish they’ve worked so hard for all year – a trip to victory lane.

J.J. YELEY (Driver, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet):

Before the Richmond race, you announced your move to Hall of Fame Racing in 2008. You then went on a streak of great finishes. But in the last two weeks, you’ve been bit by back luck, again. Is Texas the perfect place to get back on track?

“It’s just part of racing. We had a really good car at Martinsville and I really look forward to the CoT races. Unfortunately, we had an engine go and it ended our day early. Then, at Atlanta, we had a tire go down. It wasn’t exactly how we wanted the last couple of weeks to go. We had some really good runs in the top-10. There are some other drivers who have had some bad luck, and they’ve even been running better than we have been. It’s just part of the sport and part of the business. You have to keep your head up and always give it 100 percent because these races are so long and so much can happen in a short amount of time. You never know what to expect.”

You tested at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Monday and Tuesday with Hall of Fame Racing for the second time this year. How did the test go for you?

“It went really well. We worked on a lot of different packages. I guess that’s the only disadvantage of having a one-car team – not having other teams to try different things. We had to spend a lot of time trying our own different packages and whatever the engineers could come up with. We started out really conservatively, and whenever we would make a change, the car would gain speed. We actually had a chassis rub that hurt our time for awhile. I think we probably had a top-10 race car, but we ended up just outside the top-10. The car is driving comfortably and the guys are getting along well. I can already see that things are going really smoothly for it being only our second test. It just gives me a lot of confidence in this team for 2008.”

The last time you were at Texas Motor Speedway you also ran into some bad luck, getting taken out on the first lap. Texas is a big race for you because Interstate Batteries is based there. How will you reverse your fortune there?

“Texas has always been a race track I dread going to. It’s not that I don’t like the facility or the people, especially since my sponsors are located in the area. It just seems like whether it’s a Busch car or a Nextel Cup car, we just run into bad luck. Sometimes it’s driver-induced, but most of the time it’s just crazy stuff that normally doesn’t happen. Hopefully, we can get to Texas and have all the bad luck out of the way over the last few of weeks. I look forward to getting the car comfortable with Steve Addington (crew chief) and the whole Interstate Batteries crew so we can get the car where it’s driving good and run up front and try to get a win.”

Since you’ve been racing in the Nextel Cup Series, Texas races have always been a big deal for you. Your sponsor Interstate Batteries is based in Dallas, and your next-year’s sponsor, DLP HDTV and Texas Instruments, are based there as well. How big of a weekend is this for you with both sponsors?

“When you go to Texas, you know it’s one of the favorite races for the fans. I think it has the second- or third-highest attendance. It’s just amazing to see how many fans are there, and the track always produces great racing. We want to have an exceptional run for Interstate Batteries, and because of some changes they are making next year, they won’t be involved in as many races. We definitely want to send Interstate out the right way with me behind the wheel and hopefully have a picture of us with that big trophy.”
You are bringing back a car that is one of the best downforce cars at JGR, but you’ve had some issues with it in qualifying at Charlotte and at some other places. Are you looking forward to a full race with this car to see what it’s capable of?

“I sure hope so. It’s a great race car and the wind tunnel numbers are great on that car. It seems that we just can’t catch a break with that car. It’s not a matter of being uncomfortable with the car, or it not performing. It just always seems to run into some situation that costs us. We’ll take it to Texas and hope for some good luck. I know we are capable of a top-10 and hope for an opportunity to win the thing.”

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November 10, 2007
12:54 pm EDT
By Jerry Bonkowski
Yahoo! Sports

AVONDALE, Ariz. This is not a misprint: J.J. Yeley is a future Hall of Famer.

Now if he can just live up to that lofty title by winning a Nextel Cup race or two and a championship – both of which he hopes to achieve at his new home starting next season, Hall of Fame Racing.

Founded by NFL Hall of Famers Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman, the single-car team will part ways with Tony Raines, its sole driver for its first two seasons, following next week's season finale at Homestead, Fla.

But with Staubach and Aikman selling controlling interest in HOFR two months ago to Arizona Diamondbacks executives Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel – the gridiron greats will remain involved with the team in lesser positions – numerous changes are on the way for HOFR's third Nextel Cup season in 2008.

The two most significant changes are the hiring of Yeley, a Phoenix native, to replace Raines, as well as following Joe Gibbs Racing to compete in Toyota Camrys next season, which was announced Friday at Phoenix International Raceway, site of Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500.

Yeley's transition from JGR to HOFR is not as drastic or radical as most drivers undergo when they go from one team to another. Because of the close ties between the two organizations over the last two seasons, Yeley's departure from JGR might be viewed more as being shifted to a satellite partner, rather than being given his outright release.

With HOF, Yeley will have almost the same kind of access and friendships that he developed in two years of driving the No. 18 Chevrolet in the Gibbs stable. And because Hall of Fame will lease motors and other equipment from JGR and maintain a very close overall working relationship, it's almost as if Yeley will not have strayed very far from the flock.

"Hopefully, I bring the experience I gained at Gibbs Racing," Yeley said. "I think this is going to be a terrific partnership with Toyota and Gibbs that's going to make that transition a lot easier for me.

"I think we have a very strong base with Jeff and Tom here," he continued. "They're willing to add more stability to the team. We're going to have a lot more depth as far as personnel. And maybe those are just the little things that this team is lacking."

By moving to HOFR, some of the pressure for high-level success that was inherent at JGR may be lessened in the short-term for Yeley. But in the long-term, he'll have a much better handle on his future as the sole driver on a single-car team, rather than playing third fiddle as he did to Tony Stewart and Denny Hamllin at JGR.

That fact alone should bring Yeley greater success than what he's achieved in 76 career Cup starts: zero wins, just one top-five finish (earlier this year at Charlotte), five other top-10s and one pole. He enters this weekend's race ranked 20th in the Cup standings.

But before he moves to his new home, there's still some unfinished business at his soon-to-be former address.

"I still have a job to do in 2007 at Joe Gibbs Racing," Yeley said. "The guys on the crew have worked very hard for me. They're all real close friends for me. I want to go out and run well for them, and likewise, they want to win a race with me."

But once Yeley is officially a full-time member of the HOF fold, the substantial cash infusion that Moorad and Garfinkel promise – in addition to their business acumen and growth plans that include eventual expansion to a two-car operation – should have a major impact in taking HOF from an also-ran operation to an eventual legitimate contender.

"I think being a smaller team can be an advantage in some ways," Garfinkel said. "We have 40 employees; we have our own race shop; we're our own entity and are our own race team. We definitely want to grow independently and have a second car. We're not Gibbs' fourth car by any means.

"They provide us with manufacturing support and the motors we lease and they've been a great partner to us from that standpoint and continue to be," Garfinkel continued. "But I think being a single-car team, with J.J. behind the wheel and the resources we plan to add, and hopefully to grow to a two-car team when it makes sense over time, we want to stand on our own two feet as an independent team."

How long the transition to contender takes remains to be seen. But with Yeley signed to a three-year contract, the new controlling partners are ready to invest substantial cash and time. But they also expect dividends sooner rather than later.

"As far as expectations, we expect to win," Moorad said. "But we also know we have to pay our dues before we get there. If we didn't think J.J. didn't have the ability to win, we wouldn't have pursued him as aggressively as we did.

"We intend to invest resources into the team itself to help become better and hopefully put it in a position to succeed going forward."

While Yeley still has this weekend and next weekend's season finale at Homestead on his dance card with JGR, he's already having an early twirl with his new partner.

"I'm already going to the Hall of Fame shop, meeting the guys and trying to build that relationship," Yeley said. "Hall of Fame is going to be my future. My time and era is over at Joe Gibbs Racing. It's time for me to move forward, start working with the new team, trying to get things built up to where we can come out next year and prove we're capable of making the Chase and trying to win races.

"I think we can definitely do that. With the changes we're going to make, we're only going to grow stronger."


Veteran motorsports writer Jerry Bonkowski is Yahoo! Sports' NASCAR columnist. Send Jerry a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

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True Speed Communication For Joe Gibbs Racing, Press Release

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (Nov. 6, 2007) – Question: What do J.J. Yeley, Tony Stewart, and Ken Schrader have in common?

Answer: The trio of drivers is considered to be “Old School” – willing to compete in just about any type of race car any given week.

Yeley, Stewart and Schrader would have fit in perfectly during the 1960s, when famed drivers such as A.J. Foyt, Bobby Allison, Johnny Rutherford and Mario Andretti would routinely cross over from open-wheel cars to stock cars, or from dirt tracks to pavement.

Yeley, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet Impala SS for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), will get yet another chance to prove that he also belongs to in the elite group of diverse race car drivers when he returns to his hometown of Phoenix for this Sunday’s Checker Auto Parts 500k NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR).

Whether it’s racing on pavement or dirt, Yeley continues to prove that he has many talents and is just as likely to jump into a USAC Midget car as he is a stock car.

Even though he is only in his second full season on the Nextel Cup circuit, Yeley has proven he can compete and run well in any type of race car. This season alone he has driven Nextel Cup and Busch Series stock cars, jumped behind the wheel of a USAC Midget, Sprint, and Silver Crown car, not to mention stints behind the wheel of a dirt Late Model and a Northeastern-style modified car.

To kick the weekend off, Yeley will compete in Thursday’s resurrected Copper World Classic at PIR, an event he has won the USAC Midget portion of twice before. He’ll pilot the No. 11 USAC Midget, along with the No. 14 USAC Silver Crown car, for A.J. Foyt Racing, with whom he hopes to notch his fourth Silver Crown victory this season.

On Saturday, Yeley will compete in the NASCAR Busch Series Arizona Travel 200 in the No. 1 car for Phoenix Racing before heading back to nearby Manzanita Speedway to compete in a dirt Late Model.

Finally, and most importantly, he’ll get behind the wheel of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet for the final race of the season in the Car of Tomorrow (CoT), with which Yeley has found much success the latter portion of the season.

Adding to his already busy schedule, Yeley will make his first trip back home since signing a three-year contract with Hall of Fame Racing and its new Phoenix-based ownership group led by Arizona Diamondbacks majority owners Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel.

While there will be plenty of family and friends cheering him on this weekend, there won’t be a lot of time spent outside the cockpit of a race car.

But the hometown favorite wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s Old School.

J.J. YELEY (Driver, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet Impala SS):

Typically, going home to Phoenix is busy enough. But this weekend might be your busiest yet with all of the extracurricular racing you’re participating in. Are you looking forward to it?

“I’m going to be a busy person in Phoenix. I planned to run the Midget and Silver Crown portion of what used to be the Copper World Classic probably six or eight months ago when I found out they were running on the same weekend as the NASCAR events. I’m excited because I’ve won the USAC Midget portion of the Copper World twice. The trophy is cool, and being from Phoenix, it’s always great to have a chance to win at PIR. I’m also going to run at Manzanita Speedway in a dirt Late Model, which I’ve never done before. I’ve watched them race there and I think they’re tremendous race cars and it should be a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to cutting loose in some other types of race cars before the season ends. But at the same time, I’m focused on the Interstate Batteries car and hoping for a good weekend. It’s the last Car of Tomorrow (CoT) race of the year. The CoT races have been really good with the 18 car the last half of the season.”

Some of the drivers haven’t been as fond of the CoT car as you are. In fact, you said you prefer racing the CoT car over the conventional car. Why is that?

“I’ve just really gotten a good feel for the way the CoT car handles. I’ve gotten used to the things you really have to do to get the car to rotate through the center of the corner. It just takes a lot more patience with the CoT car because they just don’t have the grip. For me to say that is kind of funny because last year I was overdriving the car. Now, I think I’ve learned patience, which is what you need to make the car turn 40 laps into a run. When I get back into the conventional car, it seems like I’m a little more uncomfortable when the car isn’t exactly where I want it to be. Before, I would just drive it however it was. Maybe that’s how I’ve been able to keep myself out of trouble this year.”

In Phoenix back in April, you were running in the top-10 late in the race and got caught up in someone else’s accident. Does the way you’ve run so strong in the CoT races this year, combined with how well you ran at PIR in the spring, give you confidence leading into this weekend?

“I think we’ve learned some things that Steve Addington (crew chief) and the rest of the team can apply to my driving style that differs from Tony (Stewart) and Denny (Hamlin, teammates). I’ve been really comfortable in the car in the CoT races. Going back to Phoenix and knowing that the package is a lot better than we had earlier in the year is really exciting. It would be really special and exciting to win my first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at PIR. It would be huge for my career and great for Interstate Batteries and future sponsor DLP. The boost would be great leading into next season. The fans at Phoenix are always great when we’re there. I feel like a Dale Earnhardt Jr., or Jeff Gordon when I go back home since the hometown fans give me that kind of support and applause during driver intros there. They have been great supporting their hometown driver, for sure. When you hear that kind of support, it gives you a lot more confidence. Just knowing there are that many people out there rooting for you might make you give that little bit of extra effort.”

The USAC Copper World Classic has changed weekends and will now run in conjunction with NASCAR. How has that event evolved with the influx of USAC talent to NASCAR in recent years?

“The Copper World just hasn’t been the same since they used to run in January, when you had the USAC cars, the Southwest Tour and the Modified cars. It was its own show and a lot of great drivers showed up. They tried to move it in conjunction with the IndyCar Series events and it just never worked out the way they would have liked. Now that it’s going to be on a NASCAR weekend, I think it’s going to be a ton of fun. I hope there will be a lot of people coming out to enjoy the race. The USAC Midgets put on the best show they have at PIR. When you have 40 or so cars out there running three abreast, it’s more like a Talladega Superspeedway than a one-mile short track. To go there and win would be huge. I’ve started a National Sprint Car team that is going to participate in the United States Auto Club in 2008 with a young driver from Missouri named Hunter Schuerenberg. He’s run some races here at the end of the season and run very well in the Midget car. I’m just trying to give him some experience before running him in the 2008 Chili Bowl. He’ll be in Phoenix racing Manzanita Speedway, as well next weekend in one of my cars. I’m just trying to give back to one of the guys who maybe needs the right equipment put underneath him to give him the opportunity at this point his career to move his way up the racing ladder, similar to what I’ve been able to do.”

Take us on a lap around your hometown Phoenix International Raceway. What’s different now with the introduction of the CoT?

“It seems like, especially in the CoT, you can really charge the entry of the corner into turn one as hard as you can, even more so than in the old car. It’s very important to get the car slowed down and get it pointed as soon as possible in the center of (turns) one and two. That way, you can get back to the throttle. That’s why guys like Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart are the best at getting the car slowed down and turned so you can get back into the throttle and make that back straightaway longer than it really is. Going through three and four, especially since it’s so different than turns one and two, you want to carry a lot of momentum but still try to pick that throttle up early. The two ends of the race track are totally different at Phoenix International Raceway and I think that’s something that makes it a lot more fun, because it has such a different look and feel to it.”

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