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Sixth for J.J. Yeley and Vigoro/Home Depot Team in New Hampshire

Loudon, NH (July 17, 2005) - J.J. Yeley scored his fourth top-10 finish in the last six races after finishing sixth in the New England 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway on Saturday. Yeley started the race in 10th and spent most of the afternoon in the top 10. "Everyone is starting to take notice that our Vigoro/Home Depot team has turned the corner," said Yeley. "Jason Ratcliff is just a really great crew chief, and we've got an awesome team at Joe Gibbs Racing. We've still got plenty of room for improvement because we're definitely not satisfied with running sixth, but it shows how much progress we've made in a short time."

Yeley took the green flag and quickly raced his way to seventh at the day's first caution on Lap 2. "We're a little free in the center of the corner right now," explained Yeley. "I'm just going to cruise right here and be patient."

Yeley remained inside the top 10 until Lap 31 when Clint Bowyer passed Yeley, dropping the No. 18 team back to 11th. "We're starting to get very tight now, especially late in the corner and off," said Yeley.

The Vigoro/Home Depot team went to work on Yeley's Chevrolet during a caution on Lap 51. The team changed all four tires and made two chassis adjustments (wedge and trackbar). Yeley left the pits in 13th.

As the race resumed, Yeley reported that the car was still too tight. He hovered around 10th until the next caution flag on Lap 83 for debris. Several leaders elected to pit, but Ratcliff kept Yeley on the track. "If we pit right here, we won't be able to make it to the end on fuel," said Ratcliff. "Let's just stay out."

Yeley restarted on Lap 88 in seventh. Just 11 laps later, Greg Biffle brought out another caution flag. This time, Ratcliff brought Yeley to pit lane for his last stop of the day. The Vigoro/Home Depot team changed all four tires with an air pressure adjustment, and they filled their Chevrolet full of Sunoco racing fuel. Yeley left the pits in 20th.

Ratcliff's strategy worked to perfection. All of those cars that pitted on Lap 84 were unable to make it to the checkered flag on fuel, so when the caution flag was displayed on Lap 119, they hit pit road for routine service. Yeley watched all of them go to pit road, but he stayed on the track behind teammate Denny Hamlin and Nextel Cup Series driver Jamie McMurray.

The green flag was displayed on Lap 124, and Yeley and McMurray put on a terrific battle for second place for nearly 30 laps. Yeley was finally able to pass McMurray on Lap 153 for second. Six laps later the caution flag was displayed after David Stremme hit the wall. On the ensuing restart, McMurray hit Yeley from behind and moved him up the track, allowing McMurray and Carl Edwards to get by. With tires a little older than most of his pursuers, Yeley was unable to hold off Martin Truex or Elliott Sadler in the closing laps. Yeley battled extremely hard and held on to finish sixth.

Truex won the race, followed by Edwards, Hamlin, Sadler, McMurray and Yeley.

Next up for Yeley and his Vigoro/Home Depot teammates will be the ITT Industries 250 NASCAR Busch Series race at Pikes Peak International Raceway. The race will be televised live on TNT at 3:30 PM EST.