Yeley hopes to make a splash again in Cup

Associated Press

LONG POND, Pa.

JJ Yeley thought he’d be back before now.

When Yeley was replaced at Joe Gibbs Racing by Kyle Busch following the 2007 NASCAR season, the easygoing driver thought he’d have little trouble finding a team clamoring for his services.

Young driver. Good looks. Engaging personality. Solid results. What’s not to like?

He landed on his feet — sort of — at Hall of Fame Racing in 2008, but found himself out of a job barely halfway through the season.

And just like that, the phone stopped ringing.

Part of that was by choice. Yeley figures he could have found a ride or two with a team just hoping to qualify for a race and then pull off the track at the first opportunity. They’re known as “start and parks” in the industry, field fillers mostly. It wasn’t a palatable option after spending two years driving full-time for one of NASCAR’s top teams.

So Yeley tried to wait it out, figuring eventually the economy would turn around. A year passed. He hung out at home with his young daughter and grabbed a handful of Truck Series starts as a favor to a friend.

Yeley’s perspective changed after he crashed while driving a Sprint bandit car in Kansas. He barrel-rolled at least eight times by his count and was knocked out for a few moments.

X-rays revealed a fracture in his C-4 and C-5 vertebrae. The doctors gave him two options. He could wear a brace for six months and let it heal naturally or he could have surgery and cut his rehabilitation time in half.

Guess which he chose.

After wearing the brace for a couple weeks, he had surgery and was back ready to race by the fall.

Suddenly, the idea of driving for a fledgling operation didn’t seem so bad.

“People tell you if you’re not there, you’ll be forgotten, but until you actually experience it like I did, I would have never realized that it happened that quick,” he said.

So he started showing up at the track. And instead of waiting for some team to approach him with a deal, he approached sponsors in hopes of selling himself as a package deal.

It’s a long way from his days at JGR, where all he had to do was shake hands and hop in the car. Not anymore. He’s OK with that.

“There’s a point where you have to realize you’re going to be better off going to the racetrack, maybe making more out of a finish or a run with lesser equipment,” he said.