J.J. Yeley Suffers Spin and Finishes 37th at Gateway

Event: Busch Silver Celebration 250
Date: July 29, 2006
Start: 23rd
Finish: 37th

Race Review

St. Louis, MO (July 31, 2006) – J.J. Yeley had his streak of six straight top-10 finishes snapped at Gateway International Raceway on Saturday night. Yeley qualified 23rd and raced his way up to 13th by Lap 33. But as he entered Turn 3, he drove in too hard and spun, hitting the left-side of his Vigoro / Home Depot Chevrolet against the safer barrier. The subsequent damage called for extensive repair, thus Yeley drove his machine behind the wall. “That was just a stupid mistake,” said Yeley. “We had fought the handling on our car all weekend, but I just made matters worse for the guys on our Vigoro / Home Depot crew. They definitely deserved a better fate.”

Once the team had made repairs and Yeley reentered the track, he was in 42nd position. Yeley was able to pick up five spots and he was credited with a finish of 37th.

Yeley remains fifth in the overall driver’s standings, but the margin grew to 181 points to fourth-place driver Denny Hamlin. Yeley enjoys a 263-point lead over sixth-place Paul Menard.

Next weekend the NASCAR Busch Series teams will tackle O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis for Saturday’s running of the Kroger 200. The race will be televised live on TNT at 9:00 PM EST.