HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. -- J.J. Yeley will replace Tony Raines at Hall of Fame Racing, allowing him to maintain his association with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Yeley
Yeley was scheduled to be introduced as the driver for the No. 96 car at a Tuesday news conference, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made.
Yeley spent the past two seasons driving the No. 18 Chevrolet for Gibbs, but he's in the final year of his contract and will be replaced by Kyle Busch in 2008. The decision was difficult for Gibbs officials, who have invested heavily in the 30-year-old former sprint-car star.
"We love J.J.," team president J.D. Gibbs said last month at Busch's hiring. "I think we just couldn't figure things out really for J.J. and his style. We probably couldn't give him what he needed to really go fast. I know he can. I've seen him do it. He's been a good partner for us and we wish him the best down the road."
Yeley won't be far from Gibbs' reach at Hall of Fame Racing, a single-car team that has a strong alliance with JGR. The team was launched in 2003 by an ownership group that included Hall of Fame quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach and relied heavily on support from Joe Gibbs.
Majority ownership of Hall of Fame Racing was sold last week to Jeff Moorad, chief executive officer of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Tom Garfinkel, the chief operating officer. The new owners said their alliance with Gibbs will continue.
That made Yeley a good fit for Hall of Fame because he's already familiar with the JGR equipment and structure. Plus, he's from Phoenix and can do cross-promotion with the Diamondbacks if the new team owners desire.
The deal will also give Toyota another young driver in its rapidly expanding stable. JGR is expected to announce this week it is switching from Chevrolets to Toyotas next season, and Hall of Fame will follow. That would give the Toyota organization four new drivers -- including two-time champion Tony Stewart -- and three of them are 30 are younger.
Yeley is 20th in the points, with one pole and one top-10 finish this season. He was a career-best second at Charlotte in May.
His adjustment to stock cars has been slow but steady, which at times has frustrated him because of his impressive open-wheel resume. Yeley was the youngest driver to receive a USAC license when he did it at 16 in 1992, and he qualified for the Indianapolis 500 when he was 21.
He broke A.J. Foyt's record for USAC wins in a season with 24 (Foyt had 19) and he joined Stewart as the only drivers in USAC history to win its Triple Crown in 2003.
Yeley was in NASCAR the next year with JGR, but he failed to live up to the standards set by teammates Stewart and Denny Hamlin, who won two races as a rookie last season and finished third in the season standings.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Source: ESPN.com
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