Texas: Race Report

Mid-Race Accident Causes Yeley to Finish 42nd at Texas

Date: April 6, 2008
Event: Samsung 500 (Round 7 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 33rd / 42nd (Accident, completed 173 of 339 laps in a green/white/checkered finish)
Winner: Carl Edwards of Roush Fenway Racing (Ford)

J.J. Yeley finished a disappointing 42nd in Sunday's Samsung 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway after he crashed while exiting turn two on lap 174.

Yeley, driver of the No. 96 DLP HDTV Toyota for Hall of Fame Racing, was checked and released without injury from the track's infield medical center.

After starting 33rd, Yeley worked his way up to 26th while crew chief Steve Boyer tinkered with the car's handling throughout the first half of the race. 

Unfortunately on lap 174, Yeley's car got loose as he exited turn two and careened toward the retaining wall that lines the inside of the race track.  The left side of the DLP Toyota made hard contact with the wall, and then skidded along the wall until finally stopping midway down the backstretch.  The damage was severe, and after surveying the car upon its return to the garage area, crew members determined that it could not be repaired.

"It was tough," Yeley said.  "We were actually pretty decent to begin with.  We made some changes and kept getting the car a little better.  It was way too tight at the beginning of a run, so we made some adjustments.  We just got too free there at the end, and I got too loose off of turn two.  I tried to save it.  I thought it would be better off to lock it up, but it was a bad move.  It's definitely not what we wanted to happen for our hometown sponsor, DLP HDTV."

Yeley's 42nd-place finish dropped him two spots to 33rd in the championship driver standings, with a post-Texas total of 505 points.  The No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing entry is 33rd in the series' owner standings, with a 12-point buffer over the 36th-place No. 70 team of Haas CNC Racing.

Carl Edwards won the Samsung 500 to score his 10th career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his second at Texas.  Edwards joined Jeff Burton as the only multiple race winner in Sprint Cup competition at Texas.

Finishing .399 of a second behind Edwards was Jimmie Johnson, while Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five.  Burton, Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were six caution periods for 27 laps, with five drivers failing to finish the 339-lap race, which was extended five laps beyond its scheduled 334-lap distance due to a green/white/checkered finish.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the April 12 Subway Fresh Fit 500k at Phoenix International Raceway.  The race begins at 8:30 p.m. EDT with live, high-definition coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 8 p.m.  The race will also be broadcast live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128.