| | | | | |  | | CIA Stock Photo | Arizona Diamondbacks executive Tom Garfinkel (center), who now owns controlling interest in Hall of Fame racing, makes the announcement. | | | | JJ YELEY TO DRIVE #96 | Yeley replaces Raines in the No. 96 at Hall of Fame Racing | |
| | By Reid Spencer / Sporting News Wire Service In the second major change for Hall of Fame Racing in three days, the team announced Tuesday that J.J. Yeley has signed a three-year contract to drive the No. 96 DLP car in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, beginning in 2008.
Yeley replaces Tony Raines, who will continue in the No. 96 for the final 11 races of the season. Raines has been the primary driver of the car for the past two seasons but was not behind the wheel for road course races at Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International or for the first five races of 2005.
Yeley, who drives the No. 18 Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing, was told he would not be retained by that organization, which has hired Kyle Busch to drive the No. 18 starting in 2008. However, Hall of Fame has a contract with Gibbs, which supplies equipment to the single-car team and will continue beyond this year.
Gibbs has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday, reportedly to announce a switch from Chevrolet to Toyota. The affiliation between Gibbs and Hall of Fame is expected to dictate the same change in manufacturer for the latter organization.
Hall of Fame co-owner Bill Saunders announced Sunday at California Speedway that the team, which includes former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman in its ownership group, had sold controlling interest in the organization to Arizona Diamondbacks baseball executives Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel, though Aikman, Staubach and Saunders will continue as minority owners.
“After meeting with Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel, it was easy to see why both of them have been so successful with the Arizona Diamondbacks and their other past ventures,” Yeley said in a statement released by the team Tuesday afternoon. “Both of them are very determined to be successful. They know you can’t just come in and throw money at the team and expect to win races.
“The benefit of this team is that there’s already a great history and foundation in place with equipment from Joe Gibbs Racing, which is equal to the best equipment in the sport. All those things added up to make me feel that Hall of Fame Racing and DLP will be the best fit for me.”
Yeley is 20th in the Nextel Cup points standings with his only top 10 a second-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 in May at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Raines has yet to register a top 10 this season. His best finish is 13th at Texas Motor Speedway in April. He is 31st in points.
| | Posted September 05, 2007 , 2:07 pm EST
Last Updated September 12, 2007 , 7:44 am EST | | | | | | | | | | |
