J.J. Yeley - Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 Pre-Race Notes and Quotes

Look who is in the Cup garage...This weekend in Atlanta, J.J. Yeley will attempt to make his fifth NASCAR Nextel Cup Series start of the 2005 season. Yeley will pilot the #80 Vigoro Ultra Turf Winterizer / Home Depot Chevrolet out of the Joe Gibbs Racing stable. Yeley's four other NASCAR Nextel Cup Series starts in 2005 have been in JGR's #11 FedEx Chevrolet (California, New Hampshire, Dover, Talladega).

Busch Series ride...Last weekend at Memphis Motorsports Park, J.J. Yeley scored a career-best NASCAR Busch Series finish when he ran second to Clint Bowyer. The result moved Yeley up to 11th in the NASCAR Busch Series standings, just 47 points shy of 10th.

Testing at Atlanta...Last week in testing at Atlanta Motor Speedway, J.J. Yeley turned in a lap of 29.39 seconds, setting the fastest lap of all 14 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series competitors taking part in the test.

#80...This weekend's race in Atlanta will mark the first time Joe Gibbs Racing has entered a fourth car in any 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race.

Last time out...Last year in the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta, J.J. Yeley started 36th and finished 27th in the #11 MBNA Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing. Earlier in 2005, Yeley qualified his #18 Vigoro / Home Depot Chevrolet second in the NASCAR Busch Series race at Atlanta in March. Yeley suffered a rear axle problem during the race and finished 34th.

J.J.'s rocket...The #80 team will bring Chassis #068 as its primary car and Chassis #061 as its backup. Chassis #068 was raced in 2005 by Tony Stewart's #20 Home Depot team at Bristol (April) and Darlington (May), where they finished third and tenth, respectively. Chassis #061 has not been raced in 2005.

QUOTES

J.J. Yeley - "We've very excited about fielding a fourth Joe Gibbs Racing car this weekend in Atlanta. Our Busch Series sponsors, Vigoro and Home Depot, are supporting the effort, so that makes it extra special. We'll have many of their representatives in attendance at the race, so we're pumped up about putting on a good show for them. I really enjoy racing at Atlanta. The track is wide and fast. You can race two and three wide pretty easily, so you have room to maneuver to find a groove that works. Our test session went extremely well, so we're ready to get after it and put our Vigoro Ultra Turf Winterizer / Home Depot Chevrolet up front."