Strong third-place finish for Yeley at Charlotte

Event: Carquest Auto Parts 300
Date: May 27, 2006
Start: 12th
Finish: 3rd
Laps completed/Total: 200 /200

Race Review

Charlotte, NC (May 29, 2006) – J.J. Yeley turned in a very strong performance on Saturday night at the track in Charlotte, powering his No. 18 Vigoro / Home Depot Chevrolet to a third-place finish. That result was Yeley’s best finish of the 2006 season in 13 races, and was his eighth top-10 finish of the year and fourth top-five result. “Hopefully tonight will be a turning point for our race team,” said Yeley after the race. “We were strong out of the box this year, but we stumbled a little bit for a few races. Tonight’s performance was a great indication of how good our Vigoro / Home Depot team really is.”

Yeley started the event from the 12th position and instantly moved inside the top 10 to ninth on the second lap. When Tony Stewart crashed on Lap 9 to bring out a caution, Yeley was in seventh. “The car is a little bit tight in the center,” said Yeley. “It feels like we have too much air in the tires.”

The race restarted on Lap 21, and Yeley held on to his position until green-flag pit stops started on Lap 65. The No. 18 team knew that they had consistently enjoyed phenomenal fuel mileage, so Yeley waited it out until Lap 72 to pit. By doing so, Yeley led Laps 71 and 72. Once Yeley hit pit road, the Vigoro / Home Depot team changed all four tires with a wedge adjustment and a trackbar adjustment. Yeley left the pits with a full tank of fuel and blended back on the track.

Once the pit stops had cycled around, Yeley was back in seventh place with 14 cars on the lead lap. On Lap 93 Yeley reported that the car was better, but it needed a little more to be perfect. On Lap 103 Greg Biffle pitted and Yeley moved up to sixth with just nine cars on the lead lap. A caution eight laps later gave those lead-lap machines an opportunity to pit under the yellow. The Vigoro / Home Depot team changed all four tires, added fuel, and made another adjustment to the trackbar. The fantastic stop put Yeley back on the track in fifth place.

During the next 30 laps Yeley bounced around the top seven while still fighting with his tight condition in the center of the corners. On Lap 136 Matt Kenseth’s engine expired, and Yeley went to pit lane for one final stop. The team made a minor air pressure adjustment with their four fresh tires, and Yeley went back on the track in fourth place.

Yeley battled with Carl Edwards, Casey Mears, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson in the closing stages of the race. Once the checkered flag fell, Edwards had the win, while Busch and Yeley rounded out the top three.

The team’s performance moved Yeley up three spots in the overall driver’s standings to fifth, just 51 points shy of third. The team moved up four positions in the overall owner’s standings to fifth as well.

Next week the Vigoro / Home Depot team will join the rest of the NASCAR Busch Series competitors at Dover International Speedway for Saturday’s running of the Stonebridgeracing.com 200. The race will be televised live on FX at 3:00 PM EST.