Add J.J. Yeley to the list of Nextel Cup Series drivers who have no idea just where they fit in the sport.On Tuesday, Yeley announced that he is joining Hall of Fame Racing in 2008 to take over the No. 96 machines currently driven by Tony Raines. With the earlier announcement that Joe Gibbs Racing has hired Kyle Busch to drive the No. 18 in the Cup Series, it left Yeley looking for a ride.
Yeley claimed to have a long list of suitors for his services, which comes as something of a surprise considering the so very little he's done to distinguish himself with the championship-caliber Gibbs folks.
"This may come as a surprise to some people that I've chosen to come here, but with all the options I had, I felt this was going to be the best for myself," Yeley said in an Associated Press story by Jenna Fryer.
That's NASCAR-speak for "nobody wanted me to drive for an established team, so I took an up and coming team that could get me on the cheap."
Within the last several weeks, guys like Sterling Marlin and Jeremy Mayfield have been bounced from Cup rides but insisted that they'd only entertain competitive offers. Given how little Marlin has done in the last decade and the smoke shows Mayfield has left behind at virtually every organization he's been with, they can both be grouped in with Yeley as guys who just don't get "it."
Yeley has just 1 top-5 finish in 67 career Cup Series starts and only 4 top-10s with an average finishing position of 25th.
If you can't run competitively at JGR -- which, by the way, will have its 2 other drivers in Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin in the Chase this fall, and won 2 Cup titles with Stewart and another with Bobby Labonte when he was driving the No. 18 -- it has to make you wonder if you can run competitively anywhere.
The real shame in Yeley's signing with HOF is that Tony Raines is out of the seat.
Raines has always done the best he could in underfunded equipment at every stop, and he's taken it on the chin for 2 years now to get HOF up and running, even when they replaced him at the start of 2006 so Terry Labonte could get the new team in the first several races of that season.
But, again, it just goes to show that you don't have to be very good at what you do -- or any good at all, really -- as long as you have a resume in hand, a pretty face and plenty of marketing potential.
19 comments:
If the #18 team was so good why did Bobby Labonte give it up and go to the #43?
Agree with you about Jemery,will see him racing at Hickory or South Boston.
Obviously you are either new to the sport- and haven't done any homework on your story.
Bobby Labonte, a Winston Cup Champion, finished 2005 24th in points with Steve Addington as Crew Chief. When JJ took over as a rookie driver, he was fed to the wolves. Unfortunately, JJ was just happy to be there and didn't throw his team under the bus as his teammate did.
What should have changed is the Crew Chief. When that car comes off the truck- It’s usually fast, but Steve dials it out.
And just an FYI- both Richard Childress and Robert Yates have stated in public that they were VERY interested in JJ Yeley. Because, unlike you they paid attention.
Your next story should be an apology.
Why did you rip on Yeley? I think you will have to eat your words. He was courted by some very good teams but chose to go to one who will have his interests at heart. If I was him, I wouldn't want to be 3rd on the totem pole either.
The 18 team is a shell of it's former self. Same crew chief in charge since 2005 when Bobby Labonte left after a decade with the team. He seems happier at Petty Enterprises than he did at Gibbs the last year. JJ's been putting a smile on a crappy situation. I doubt Kyle will do the same. JJ will land on his feet and do well. Tony Stewart recommended him to Joe in the first place so Tony had to have seen something in him.
There are many times a year when NASCAR drivers visit Maine, and J.J. Yeley races up in Maine quite a bit.
*note of sarcasm*
What you said on J.J. Yeley is wrong and unjust. Have you ever heard of him before he came to NASCAR? No, I take it? Well he has more dirt wins than Tony Stewart.
The 18 team is crap. If need be, sit down with Trackpass in Richmond and listen to the radio chatter. J.J. asked JD if there was any changes JJ could have made and JD said, "No." This is poor character and makes me one very angry fan.
When a team is having difficulty with the equipment and such, what do you do? You change the crew around, shuffle them and try it out. The only shuffling that went on was after Denny Hamlin threw a hissy fit and they took some of the 18 crew and shuffled the team members who performed poorly to the 18 team.
I can't wait to see JGR crumble with Denny Hamlin's, Tony Stewart's, and Kyle Busch's egos get in the way.
You, quite frankly are a fool with no racing intelligence whatsoever. Tony Raines is a goods driver, but not someone you plan a future around. J. J. has done more in racing than most people can even dream of.
You must be a NASCAR noob, and certainly a racing noob based on your comments. I dont need to go into the whole 18 deal, because that has been well stated.
Let me ask you though, if you are good enough to get a poll in a NASCAR race, and after lap ten you are in the twenties!!!! I dont care how bad of a driver you are, if your team sucks then so shall you.
However that would take someone with actual knowledge to comprehend. I hope you get fired for your incompetence!
I whole heartedly agree — with Karen and the rest of those responses. Yeley has proven championship pedegrees in a variety of racing series; no one could make a consistant winner of the 18 team with the neglect that JGR has given it over the past several years.
Ever since the 11 team was formed, the 18 was quickly booted to the status of a red-headed-stepchild. It has become a test-car team that may have the same resources available to it as the 11 and 20, but provides pedestrian results on the track.
I wouldn't place those results entirely on Yeley; you can't expect much better from a young driver learning to compete in a rather unforgiving series while piloting marginal equipment, backed by a crew that is not quite up to snuff.
It will be very interesting to see how little KB copes with this situation. Good thing that he sure knows how to wheel a race car, 'cause he's gonna need it.
anonymous - probably because the JGR effort had become too highstrung for Labonte. And there is NO evidence that anyone beyond Jeff Moorad's team made any effort for J.J. Yeley. I'm surprised anyone hired him because Yeley clearly is outclassed as a racer - he hasn't improved his driving and shows no sign of having a clue how to improve the car.
i agree. if that 18 is sooo great why did labonte leave? labonte has been doin' better at petty!
if you would actually pay attension to anything, then maybe more people would belive you bull! do you even have 1/2 a brain?
It is common knowledge around the Nascar community that Steve Addington has not been able to get that 18 car to run. Bobby Labonte got fed up with it and he left (former cup champion, FYI). JD has done nothing to help that team and JJ is just another victim of the B.S. surronding that team. JJ got the ride because nobody else wanted it. How could anyone critize JJ Yeley knowing this information????????
Somebody didn't do their homework. That team has been junk for how long now?? Ever since Fatback left. Let's see, Labonte/Addington? Didn't work, so Bobby leaves graciously.
Yeley/Addington -- hasn't worked either. Seems to me the common thread is Addington.
Of course, the 18 doesn't seem to get the same attention these days as the 11 or 20. However, the Zippy/Stewart combo is strong.
Hamlin is a whiner who throws fits to get what he wants.
Well, we'll see how the Busch/Addington combo works out. Good luck JD with your drivers next year, you are gonna need.
Glad to see Bobby in much better spirits in his current situation. As for JJ, good luck to him in his new ride. If he feels this is a good fit for him then go for it!!
You have NO clue.... I have watched JJ race since he was 16 and have not seen talent like that in a long time. Especially at that age. He has raced in every series and won. Busch and Cup are soon to be on his list. I do think that 1 more year of Busch would have done good for him because of his dirt background but when an oppurtunity comes around for a cup ride like the 18 you take it. Would be silly not to. I am not sure where you get your info but sounds like you are trying to make a story up of nothing. Please do your research and get the facts straight before putting an article like that out. You make yourself look foolish when you have very passionate fans out there that do there homework when it comes to Nascar drivers, cars and teams.
Holy Cow Travis!
Hornets nest!
Your Blog isnt dead after all!
Hmmmm..."your blog isn't dead after all." Probably is because apparently the author doesn't know squat about JJ Yeley. Crawl back under your rock dude. We aren't Yeley Nation yet but when we are I'm sure you'll be deleting this entry from your blog lightening fast.
Whatever dude.
I have listened to a few buffons in my life, but you take the cake meathead. You apparently just started viewing auto racing. Do us all a favor and find another sport to vomit your ignorance.Yeley is one of the most talented drivers I have seen since the 90's. I have watch some of the greatest drivers in the history of American motor sports and I know talent when I see it. I also know horrible crew chiefs when I see them. Find another career until you have a labotomy.
Wow. All this for stating his opinion that Yeley is not the most talented driver in Cup?
I am well aware of JJ Yeley's accomplishments pre-Cup. However, the fact remains that you need to do the best you can with the equipment you have. At 30 years old, he should know that.
I watched JJ Yeley come up here to Maine last year and run a Super Late Model race in which he was in top-notch equipment with a talented team (the father-son teammates of his finished 2nd and 1st, respectively, in that race).
Meanwhile, JJ not only took the fenders off the car in practice, but he did it in the heat race, the consolation race, the hooligan race, and then when the promoter put him in the show with a provisional, he destroyed the car again in the feature. That crew spent all day repairing his car that he felt the need to drive into everyone on the track.
This is the same team that provided a car for Matt Kenseth in '04 and '05, and he went from 40th to 3rd in '04.
A talented driver of Yeley's caliber should surely be able to figure out a little 3/8-mile flat oval, shouldn't he?
Is the 18 car the 3rd rung on the ladder now? Yes. But it didn't have to be. In 2006, JGR put two rookies in their cars: a Late Model racer from Virginia that not a lot of people had heard of and a seasoned open-wheel racer with championships and tons of wins in other series. Who do you think JGR expected to perform better?
Remember, the 11 was the "new car" last year and normally the "new car" is the one playing 3rd fiddle. So at the least, they should have had some pretty comparable equipment that first season.
If the crew chief wasn't working, he should have been more vocal with the team and fought for his way. 3rd fiddle at JGR is still better than #1 at HOF.
The comments are all interesting, but I see a lot of blind faith out there.
Of course I know about Yeley's open-wheel credentials -- but it's about what he's done in a 'Cup' car that dictates his 'Cup' career. So far, as I pointed out, it's not a lot. It confuses me the way some people think he's definitely going to win soon in either a Busch or Cup ride -- I'm wondering what he's done to warrant such hope.
I guess we'll know right soon when Kyle Busch gets in the No. 18 whether it was the team or the driver. I'm not so quick to dismiss the team as the reason the way Yeley's fans are. It would be one thing if he ran in the top-15 every week, but that's not happening now.
I guess if I lived in the Carolinas and saw the Cup Series twice a year in person at Charlotte, I'd somehow be more qualified to write about racing. Maybe NHIS just doesn't count, not to mention the time that Yeley DID race in Maine. That, of course, was only one race, and I'm well aware it does not define his entire career.
TB
JJ Yeley had a top ten in Richmond and as of Monday morning no apology. His top ten finish just proves to all his fans that with the right stuff he can get the job done!
TO TBarrett, you might want to rethink your post maybe the Crew Chief is finally doing his job. He has to be worried about his job.
Steve Addington maybe able to blame two other driver but HOW COULD HE EXPLAIN IF KYLE had a bad run and for how long before finally giving him the boot.
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