High hopes in Homestead run dry for Yeley
Interstate Batteries team ends year 30th in Ford 400

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Nov. 19, 2006) – For J.J. Yeley and the Interstate Batteries Racing team, a heartbreaking end to the 2006 season crushed their hopes for a top-five finish in the year’s final race Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Yeley was running fourth in the closing stages of the Ford 400 when the 11th caution flag of the race came out just four laps from the finish. After cleanup of the oil on the track was completed, the field had begun forming for the restart when Yeley radioed to the crew that his car had lost fuel pressure. The No. 18 Chevrolet began to slow and coasted onto the track apron as the field sailed past to take the green flag.

The miscalculation on fuel mileage left the Raybestos® Rookie stranded on an infield access road at one end of the speedway while the race was completed, with Greg Biffle taking the checkered flag and Jimmie Johnson claiming his first NEXTEL Cup Series title. Yeley placed 30th in the final running order, three laps short of the full distance.

After starting eighth in the 43-car field, Yeley lost ground early in the race due to a loose-handling chassis. But an early adjustment helped balance his racecar and Yeley found a rhythm about 60 miles into the event. Soon after, he was ninth on a restart and had fought his way up to seventh place at the 100-mile mark when the chassis began to tighten up.

Although the team never was completely successful in curing that condition, Yeley was able to hold his ground while running 15th to 20th during the middle portion of the race. After darkness settled in over the 1.5-mile oval, Yeley found himself 20th on a restart less than 60 laps from the finish.

As the end of the race approached, Yeley had not been able to gain any substantial track position so crew chief Steve Addington rolled the dice when the caution flag flew for Ryan Newman’s spin on lap 247. While all of the race leaders ducked onto pit road for service, he kept Yeley on the track. The No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet led a total of eight laps. Yeley remained on the point through an eight-minute red-flag period that was called to clean up debris from rookie Juan Montoya’s wreck in turn 1.

When the field restarted coming out of the red-flag period, cars with fresher tires directly behind Yeley overtook him, including Biffle – who led the final 12 laps of the race. Still, Yeley held his ground and seemed to have a top-five finish … or at least a top 10 … safely in his sights when the final caution period arrived on lap 263. It was on the subsequent restart, with Yeley running fourth, that the gas tank in the No. 18 Monte Carlo went dry.

Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart, Yeley’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, finished third and 15th respectively. Hamlin’s effort in the No. 11 FedEx Express Chevrolet enabled him to claim third place in the final series point standings – behind Johnson and Matt Kenseth. Stewart, driving the No. 20 Home Depot Monte Carlo, was one of 19 drivers who finished on the lead lap with race winner Biffle.

The remainder of the top 10 in Sunday’s race consisted of rookie Martin Truex Jr., who finished second; pole-sitter Kasey Kahne, fourth; Kevin Harvick, fifth; Kenseth, sixth; Scott Riggs, seventh; Carl Edwards, eighth; Johnson, ninth; and rookie Clint Bowyer, 10th.

Yeley finished the season 29th in the driver standings with 3,220 points. The eight laps he led here Sunday is the most he’s led in a single race during his 42-race career.

The NEXTEL Cup fraternity will next gather in New York City for the annual awards banquet Dec. 1. Pre-season testing in Daytona Beach, Fla., will begin in early January 2007 with the season-opening Daytona 500 just 91 days away.