J.J. Yeley - Ford 400 at Homestead Notes and Quotes

* Final event of the 36-race 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Schedule – Homestead , Fla.

* HOT HAND IN HOMESTEAD – J.J. YELEY arrives in South Florida with some late-season momentum as he prepares for Sunday’s Ford 400. His average finish over the last three races is 18th, six spots better than his overall season mark. YELEY’s lone career start on the 1.5-mile oval is last fall’s Busch Series race, in which he finished 28th.

* YELEY’s 20th-place finish last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway enabled him to hold onto 28th place in the series standings. The Raybestos® Rookie is well within range of the two drivers directly in front of him heading into Sunday’s finale. YELEY trails Jeff Green by a mere 14 points and Dave Blaney by just 32.

* You couldn’t blame YELEY if you find him wishing for a few extra laps Sunday at Homestead . In five overtime races this year, in which a green-white-checkered finish extended the prescribed distance, YELEY’s average finish has been 13th … a full 11 spots higher than his overall season mark.

* YELEY holds fifth place in the 2006 Raybestos® Rookie standings with 186 points, 11 behind fourth-place Reed Sorenson and 12 behind third-place Martin Truex Jr. Denny Hamlin, YELEY’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, has an insurmountable lead heading into the season finale.

* Joe Gibbs Racing has three Cup Series victories in Homestead , including the No. 18 team’s triumph in 2003 with Bobby Labonte behind the wheel. In fact, that’s the only victory for Chevrolet in seven years of racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Tony Stewart put wins back-to-back in 1999 and 2000 in a Pontiac .

* YELEY has led laps in eight races this season, including a stretch of four straight earlier in the year. That’s the second-highest total among all 2006 Raybestos® Rookie contenders, behind only Hamlin (who has led in 14 races).

* The Interstate Batteries Racing team will run chassis No. 145 on Sunday afternoon. It’ll be the second start of the year for that piece, which finished 20th two weeks ago in Texas .