J.J. YELEY
Rolling the Dice

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (August 7, 2007) – The 11-turn, 2.45-mile historic road course at Watkins Glen International is almost 2,400 miles away from Las Vegas – the gambling mecca of the United States.

But this weekend, J.J. Yeley, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), along with 42 of his fellow competitors, will most likely spend Sunday’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Centurion Boats at The Glen rolling the dice.

While road course racing takes incredible skill and patience, if the first road course race earlier this year at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., is any indication, crew chief calls – along with a driver’s easy foot on the gas pedal to conserve fuel – might decide Sunday’s winner.

Former Formula 1 star Juan Pablo Montoya went on to win at Infineon after he conserved fuel over the last 20 laps to make it to the finish line first. Jamie McMurray, who battled Montoya over the final part of the race, was not as fortunate as his car’s fuel cell ran dry two laps before the finish, ruining his chance at victory.

In Yeley’s first Nextel Cup start at Watkins Glen one year ago, crew chief Steve Addington was able to get the Interstate Batteries machine on a pit stop cycle that appeared to be sending Yeley on to a top-five finish. But with just two laps remaining –Yeley’s right-rear tire went flat – along with his chances for his first top-five finish on a road course.

Yeley and Company will need better luck this weekend. They’ll roll the dice and hope for the cautions to fall just right so they can hit the proverbial jackpot – Yeley’s first career Nextel Cup win.

J.J. YELEY (Driver, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet):
You had a great run going in the Nextel Cup race at Watkins Glen last year before you had a tire go down on the last lap. Are you looking forward to heading back there this weekend?
“Last year we had a good run going. We had a top-10 car, easily. We were on the right side of the fuel window and it looked like we were going to come home with a top-five finish and we started to have a left-rear tire go down with less than two laps to go. I just tried to nurse it as far as I could, but it finally gave way coming through turn eight on the final lap and I wasn’t able to finish. It just kind of summed up how the season was going last year. What really looked like a good finish changed in about a half a lap. Going back to Watkins Glen, we have what I thought was a really good COT car at Sonoma. I definitely gained some confidence out of the race in Sonoma and I’m excited about going back to Watkins Glen because I think it’s a fun road course. Even though I have a limited amount of road-course experience, I’m really looking forward to going back there because I had some good finishes in the Busch Series there.”

You said you really enjoy Watkins Glen. Why do you enjoy it more than Infineon Raceway, and why is it different?
“The track has a wider racing groove to it and there are a lot more places on the race track that you can pass and you can carry a lot more speed. And it’s not as technical. It’s just a little bit more fun. You can spend a little more time racing another guy than racing the track.”

Is the key to road-course racing trying to stay on course and keeping your car clean and hoping the cautions and the pit strategy fall your way?
“That’s pretty much the key to road-course racing in NASCAR. You try to take care of your transmission and brakes and keep the car on course. It’s very easy to lose a tenth or three-tenths by missing a corner slightly, but track position is so critical when you go to these places. When you get off course, you are talking about losing five or eight seconds, or even more than that, trying to get back on course. It’s very important that you are always concentrating on what’s going on. Obviously, wheel hops are always an issue because that is so hard on transmissions, rear ends and truck arms. Taking care of equipment and keeping it on course are the keys to running well at Watkins Glen.”

How important is qualifying at Watkins Glen, or road courses in general, as opposed to which pit strategy you choose?
“Strategy is probably the biggest part of running well at all the road courses. A lot of guys, especially at Sonoma, were trying to coast and save fuel. I know that at the end of the race you can still have cautions and there need to be certain scenarios for all of that to pay off. We are hoping to go back with a little better fuel mileage than we had at Sonoma so we can fit in the right pit window. I’m hoping that means we can still race and be in that pit window, as opposed to riding around to save fuel. I enjoy places we get to go race, as opposed to where have to go and save fuel and hope for a straight green-flag run with no cautions.”