New Hampshire: Race Preview

J.J. YELEY - A Vast Array of Experience at New Hampshire

CORNELIUS, N.C., (June 24, 2008) – If a racing series has conducted an event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) in Loudon, odds are J.J. Yeley has been a part of it at one time or another.

Yeley, driver of the No. 96 DLP HDTV Toyota Camry for Hall of Fame Racing, has competed at the 1.058-mile oval in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, IRL IndyCar Series and USAC's Silver Crown division.

Most importantly, Yeley has shown that no matter what type of car he's driven, he's tasted success at Loudon.

Yeley won last year's USAC Silver Crown race at NHMS, driving for the legendary A.J. Foyt. In addition, he has two top-10 finishes apiece in Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series competition.

With a good qualifying effort on Friday, the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 Sprint Cup race on Sunday could be just the tonic Yeley and the DLP HDTV team have been searching for to kick-start their season.

J.J. YELEY, driver of the No. 96 DLP HDTV Toyota Camry:

You've had some success in the past at New Hampshire. What are your overall thoughts heading into the race?

"New Hampshire is just a really flat race track. I'd been there in an Indy car prior to running the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races there. It's a high-speed track. The speed you carry down the straightaways and into those flat corners doesn't leave you with a lot of grip, which is pretty amazing. We've had some good runs there at New Hampshire, and it's a pretty fun race track for me."

In what category do you put New Hampshire? Would you call it a short track?

"It's really hard to compare it to anything else. Martinsville (Va.) would be the closest because it's also flat. And, because of the shape of the race track, even though New Hampshire is bigger and faster, it still races the same. There are almost two different types of banking on the race track. The bottom almost seems more banked, sometimes. It seems like there are points in the race you can move to the outside and actually make it work pretty well. I just enjoy race tracks that you can race on and pass."

New Hampshire isn't the type of track where you normally are most comfortable. But with that being said, you've run well there virtually every time you've competed there in Sprint Cup and the Nationwide Series. Why is that?

"I guess I've always run pretty decently at New Hampshire. For being the kind of race track that it is – a one-mile, flat race track – it's still fun and pretty racy. You're still going to have two-wide racing most of the day. I guess it's a race track that ends up fitting my style. It's hard to get forward bite there, so you have to be smooth on the throttle. It's one of those race tracks that doesn't stick out in your mind as a favorite, since it's not really high-speed, but I've always had pretty decent finishes there. It's going to be a really good race track to go back to and, hopefully, get our season turned around."

What's the difference between driving an Indy car and a stock car at New Hampshire?

"In an Indy car, you have so much downforce and so much grip. You can't run wide-open there, but they're still probably four or five seconds faster than a stock car is there. You still get some good racing in the stock car where there are at least two grooves. The bottom is generally pretty good, and you can go out there and do some passing. It's still fun to go there because you can still race and pass there."

Chassis No. 031:
This car was built by Joe Gibbs Racing for Hall of Fame Racing. Yeley drove the car in May at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, where he started 43rd and finished 34th after being involved in a mid-race accident.

Notes of Interest:

• Yeley will attempt to make his 92nd career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start in the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) in Loudon. He has five previous Sprint Cup starts at NHMS with two top-10 finishes.
• Yeley has competed at NHMS in Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series competition. In addition to his two top-10 Sprint Cup finishes, he also has two Nationwide Series top-10s. Yeley also has one IRL IndyCar Series start at the 1.036-mile oval.
• In 2007, Yeley won a USAC Silver Crown Series race at NHMS, driving for the legendary A.J. Foyt.
• After failing to qualify for the Toyota/Save Mart 350k at Sonoma, Yeley is 36th in Sprint Cup Series driver points. The No. 96 car is 38th in owner points, 256 points behind the 35th-place No. 41 car of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.