J.J. Yeley Talks Daytona; Two-Car Tandem And What's Pay It Forward?

J.J. Yeley Talks Daytona; Two-Car Tandem And What's Pay It Forward?

Topics: J.J. Yeley, Coke Zero 400

J.J. Yeley Talks Daytona; Two-Car Tandem And What's Pay It Forward?

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
June 29, 2011

J.J. Yeley, No. 46 Red Line Oil Chevrolet Impala Coke Zero 400 Fast Facts

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race No. 17 Coke Zero 400 Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida

Race Information: Event: Coke Zero 400, Saturday, July 2 at 7:30 p.m. Local. Track: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway Qualifying: Friday, July 1 at 4:10 p.m. Local Time Track Length: 2.5-mile paved oval.

Last Time Out; Michigan International Speedway: J.J. Yeley’s most recent NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race came at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) where the Phoenix, Arizona native qualified 34th but finished 39th after encountering brake issues after 47 laps.

Back To The Beach; Daytona Beach: After racing his way into the 2011 edition of the Daytona 500, J.J. Yeley will return to the cockpit after taking last weekend off at Infineon (Calif.) Raceway behind the wheel of the No. 46 Red Line Oil Chevrolet Impala for Whitney Motorsports. Yeley started 33rd but finished a disappointing 43rd after the engine seized 10 laps into the “Great American Race.”

Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway Facts: Yeley will attempt to make his eighth career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway Saturday night. In his previous seven outings, Yeley, the former IZOD IndyCar Series driver has a career best finish of 12th in 2007. An 11th place qualifying effort in 2006 at the 2.5-mile superspeedway is Yeley’s best time trials effort to date.

Don’t Forget Nationwide And Truck Too!: Yeley also has competed in restrictor plate races at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) and NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS). In NNS competition, Yeley has achieved four starts with one pole (2006) and a best finish of fourth in the same event. Yeley hoists an additional top-10 performance of eighth in the season-opener in 2006. In the NCWTS, Yeley has one start coming in 2010 driving for Daisy Ramirez Motorsports (DRM) qualifying 36th and cleverly drafting his way to an impressive 10th place outing, which also included leading a lap of competition.

Facebook Fun: By visiting the official J.J. Yeley Fan Page on Facebook, fans will have the opportunity to place “Speed Dice.” Fans are encouraged to submit a number between 2-12 and Yeley himself puts two dice inside his No. 46 Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet and upon returning to the garage from the completion of his qualifying run, Yeley retrieves the dice and works with his management team to see which fans guessed the correct number for the dice. Once the guessers are correctly chosen, Yeley then places all the winners into his helmet with their name on it, shakes the helmet and retrieves the final winner of the weekly addition of “Speed Dice.” The winner will receive a memorabilia item from J.J. Yeley himself. For additional rules and instructions on how to play, please visit J.J. Yeley’s Facebook fan page.

Pay It Forward Friday: Are you tweeting with J.J. Yeley? With a new mission to do something kind for a complete stranger every Friday, Yeley asks his followers to join him in his quest to making a difference in someone’s lives. Stay connected with J.J. Yeley @JJYeley1 to see what’s he doing to make an impact.

A Blast From The Past: Did you know that in 2005, J.J. Yeley made his Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) debut. Driving the No. 2 Joe Gibbs Performance Racing Oil in an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing and Wayne Hixson Motorsports, Yeley qualified ninth and drafted his way to an impressive third at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in his inaugural restrictor plate debut. Joe Gibbs Racing utilized the development series to prepare Yeley for his impending full NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule which kicked off at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway Pre-Race Quotes: J.J. Yeley, driver of the No. 46 Red Line Oil Chevrolet Impala:

On Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway: “I will always remember the first time I went to Daytona International Speedway, I couldn’t believe that the race track was right in the middle of town. You could walk from several restaurants or even the mall and be at the race track in just a few minutes. It’s something (a place) that takes your breath away.”

On The Old Daytona Surface Versus The New Daytona Surface: “The new surface at Daytona is great, the track surface is so smooth and has a ton of grip. It has changed the way you race, you are racing the competition instead of the race track.”

On Racing At Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway: “Restrictor plate racing is very mentally exhausting. The new two-car tandem is even more difficult because you have less control over what is going on around you on the track. The closing rate is so much faster than what it used to be with the conventional style of drafting.”

On The New Style Of Drafting: “The new style of drafting isn’t very much fun. If you are the pusher, imagine yourself driving a compact style car that is pushing a pickup truck. You can hardly see a thing and you rely on the spotter and the car you are pushing to keep you from wrecking the field. If you are the pushee, there is nothing worse than catching a pack of cars with no option of passing and trying to get slowed down before you plow into the back of them, all because the car behind you is pushing and can’t see that things are about to go bad for both of us.”

On The Attack Plan For Saturday Night: “The plan for Saturday is to find couple different cars that I can work with, I learned from Talladega that it is better to have radio communication with the cars I am working with. You can’t afford to just ride around like in years past, you can easily lose too much track position and get in jeopardy of losing a lap. We definitely want to have a better outcome than in February, the team deserves it.”

Fast Links:

Driver / Team: J.J. Yeley on the web: JJYeley.com

Twitter: @JJYeley1

Facebook: Official J.J. Yeley Facebook page “JJ Yeley Official”

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DRIVER PUBLIC RELATIONS CONTACT:

NAME: Chris Knight, Knight Motorsports Management
PHONE: 239.834.9797
EMAIL: chris@chrisknightpr.com

DRIVER SPONSOR CONTACT:

NAME: Bob Chasse, Genuine Partners
PHONE: 386.566.8754