Another Top-10 Finish for J.J. Yeley and Vigoro / Home Depot Race Team

Event: New England 200
Date: July 15, 2006
Start: 17th
Finish: 8th

Race Review

Loudon, NH (July 16, 2006) – For the fifth straight race and the eighth time in the last nine races, J.J. Yeley and his Vigoro / Home Depot race team scored a top-10 finish. Yeley methodically worked his way up from his 17th starting position to finish eighth in the New England 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway on Saturday. Yeley remains fifth in the overall driver’s standings. “We are pretty happy to come away with another top-10 finish,” said Yeley. “We really suffered from a very tight car in the center of the corner all day. Jason (Ratcliff) and the Vigoro / Home Depot crew made several changes that helped some, but we still needed more. We slightly missed the setup, so we’ll take this top-10 run and get ready for Martinsville.”

Yeley slowly moved his way up to tenth by Lap 80, and the Vigoro / Home Depot team started to make changes to the chassis at nearly every opportunity. They raised the trackbar a total of two full turns, made numerous air pressure adjustments in the right-front tire, and took two spring-rubbers out of the left-rear spring, all to help remedy Yeley’s tight condition.

Yeley was able to move up to seventh in the closing laps before Clint Bowyer raced by with 10 laps to go, shuffling Yeley back to eighth and his final finishing position. “We had the same car that finished third at Milwaukee, so we had pretty high hopes for New Hampshire,” said Yeley. “Our car was awesome in practice, and I loved the way it cut through the corner. But after Busch Series practice and before our race, there were two Nextel Cup practices and a modified race. So the track had a significant amount of rubber on it, and that really affected the handling on our Vigoro / Home Depot Chevrolet.”

Yeley and his Vigoro / Home Depot teammates will travel to Martinsville Speedway this week for the Goody’s 250 on Saturday. The event will be televised live on NBC at 3:30 PM EST.