J.J. Yeley Passes 31 Cars at Kansas for a Top-10 Finish

Race Review

Kansas City, KS (October 9, 2005) - After a disappointing qualifying session, J.J. Yeley and his Vigoro Ultra Turf Winterizer / Home Depot teammates regrouped and turned in a very respectable 10th-place finish at Kansas Speedway in Saturday's NASCAR Busch Series race. Yeley started the race all the way back in the 41st position, and he maneuvered around 31 cars during the 200-lap event. That performance moved Yeley up one spot in the overall standings to 12th.

"We were extremely loose in qualifying," said Yeley. "Our car was good in practice (12th fastest), but it was a little tight. So before our qualifying lap, we placed some extra tap on the nose of our Vigoro / Home Depot Chevrolet, and it proved to be too much. But we rallied together and had a really solid race. We had a shot for a top-five finish until the 66 car got into us, but considering where we started, we'll take that finish and get ready for Charlotte."

Once the racing action got underway, Yeley took little time to show he had a good-handling car. He broke into the top 25 on Lap 25 after passing NASCAR veteran Rusty Wallace. Yeley picked up one more position before a caution flag on Lap 29 gave the leaders their first opportunity to make a pit stop. The Vigoro / Home Depot team changed all four tires and made no adjustments to the handling of their Chevrolet. Yeley left the pits in 19th.

After the pit stop, Yeley was a man on a mission. Clearly one of the fastest, if not the fastest car on the track, Yeley made pass after pass with ease. His starting position of 41st was a distant memory at Lap 65 when he cracked the top 10. "The car still feels good, but it's just a little bit tight in the center of turn three and four," said Yeley.

Yeley stayed in the top 10 and moved all the way up to sixth when a caution flag on Lap 181 gave the leaders one final opportunity to make a pit stop. The strategies up and down pit lane were numerous, and Jason Ratcliff called for a two-tire stop. As the cars reentered the track, Yeley was still in sixth place.

As the green flag fell on Lap 186, Yeley quickly moved his way up to fourth and had his eyes set on the leader. Greg Biffle clearly had the car to beat, and he got underneath Yeley in turn three on Lap 188. As Biffle attempted to make the pass, he appeared to get loose and collided with Yeley. The contact made significant damage to the left-front of Yeley's machine, and the force from the contact shoved Yeley's ride into the turn four wall. "Just hang on to it and do what you can," said Ratcliff. Yeley raced as hard as he could with his damaged car and held on for a top-10 finish.

Next week Yeley will join the other NASCAR Busch Series drivers for a 300-mile race at Charlotte on Friday, October 14. The racing action will be televised live on TNT at 8:00 PM EST.