J.J. Yeley Endures Long Night at Bristol

Race Review

Bristol, TN (August 26, 2005) - J.J. Yeley endured a very long evening on Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway. After starting 29th and waiting for two lengthy rain delays, Yeley finished 30th in his Vigoro Ultra Turf Summer Fertilizer/Home Depot Chevrolet.

"Tonight is a night that we'll put behind us quickly," said Yeley. "We ran as high as seventh with about 60 laps to go, but we got turned around by another car and our night turned sour after that. This was my third Busch race at Bristol, and I haven't finished better than 15th, so I'm definitely ready to go to California next week."

After starting 29th, Yeley was able to crack the top 20 by Lap 42. During the early going, Yeley communicated to his crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, that his car was too tight in the center of the corner. When Reed Sorenson spun on Lap 61 to bring out a caution flag, Yeley came to pit lane to the attention of his Vigoro/Home Depot crew. They changed all four tires with an air pressure adjustment, made a trackbar adjustment and sent Yeley back on the track. When green-flag racing resumed, Yeley was in 24th.

Yeley's Chevrolet liked those adjustments, and he started to move forward immediately. He passed many cars on his way to 12th when a caution flag was displayed on Lap 138. Several cars elected to make pit stops, but Yeley remained on the track and moved up to seventh.
After a lengthy delay due to rain, Yeley restarted in seventh on Lap 171. Seven laps later while racing with Tony Raines, Yeley got turned around. While his car was sitting in the middle of the track, another competitor hit him in his left-front fender. The incident caused another caution flag, and Yeley came to the pits for repairs. After the Vigoro/Home Depot team changed tires and pulled the fenders off the tires, Yeley went back on the track in 28th.

Yeley would eventually race back inside the top 20 with only a handful of laps to go, but while racing with Kasey Kahne, Yeley got turned around again. With a severely damaged car, Yeley limped back to the checkered flag in 30th, the last car on the lead lap.

Next week, Yeley will race his #18 Vigoro/Home Depot Chevrolet in Saturday's NASCAR Busch Series race at California Speedway, and then he will race the #11 FedEx Chevrolet in Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race.

Busch Series action will begin at 8:30 PM EST on Saturday on NBC, while the Nextel Cup Series race will be at 8:00 PM on Sunday on NBC.