LAP 42 WRECK RUINS YELEY’S NEW HAMPSHIRE EFFORT

J.J. Yeley’s high hopes for a good finish in Saturday afternoon’s Camping World 200 NASCAR Busch Series race at the New Hampshire International Speedway came crashing down literally when a 2-car wreck sucked in Yeley’s race car on lap 42 and ruined his effort.

Running 23rd on a lap 40 re-start following a caution flag, Yeley was behind the cars driven by David Gilliland and Marcus Ambrose when the latter two came together in the second turn. Ambrose’s Ford spun and darted up the race track towards the outside retaining wall, and Yeley eyed an opening between Ambrose’s car and the wall in an effort to get through the mess. It failed.

“The opening I was going for between the car and the wall just closed too quickly for me to get through and his (Ambrose’s) car just drove up my hood and just lodged on top of my Chevrolet. It just killed our day,” Yeley said in the garage area while repairs were being made to his #1 Miccosukee Gaming & Resort/Northeastern Supply Company machine.

“The accident took our hood off and basically destroyed any down force that we had, so all I could do was go out and run as many laps as I could for points. It is disappointing,” Yeley added after the race.

Yeley, who qualified for the race in the 19th position, was eventually able to get back out onto the race track to run 39 laps and was credited with a 36th place finish – his worst for the Phoenix Racing Team since the season’s third race in Mexico City when another wreck resulted in a 37th place finish for J.J. Ironically, the two cars that got together that ultimately ended Yeley’s pursuit were able to continue racing with Gilliland finishing 19th and Ambrose 30th.

“This is the kind of race you just have to forget about and simply look ahead to the next race because there is nothing you can do to change the end result. We’ll be back for sure in Daytona next week,” added Yeley who hopes to erase the 2007 season’s biggest disappointment for his Busch team. Yeley failed to qualify for the season opener in Daytona back in February and is looking to rebound the second trip to the World Center of Racing for Friday night’s race.

“Not making the race in Daytona back in February was a fluke and we’ll be out this time around to prove that,” stated Yeley, who did head to NASCAR’s other true super speedway at Talladega, Alabama in April and did qualify en route to a 17th place finish.

Defending Busch Series champion Kevin Harvick won the New Hampshire race, beating a fast-closing Carl Edwards by a car length, but Edwards did manage to increase his lead over second place Denny Hamlin to 806 points en route to what seems to be a landslide performance to his first NASCAR championship.

Friday night’s Winn-Dixie 250 is set to take the green flag at 8 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN2.