Yeley gets busy preparing for a season of change

J.J. Yeley will have to carry the hopes of his new Hall of Fame Racing team by himself in '08 until a test team proves able to help. Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images for NASCAR

At a time most drivers are enjoying their last few moments of vacation, J.J. Yeley is already getting head start to the 2008 season. After embarking on his first Sprint Cup season with Hall of Fame Racing next week by testing the team's Toyota Monday through Thursday at Daytona,Yeley will forego the afforded by the last four weeks of the offseason.

Rather than sitting on the beach or playing golf, two of Yeley's favorite pastimes, he'll jump on a plane immediately to fly to Tulsa, Okla., to compete in the 22nd annual Chili Bowl. His qualifying race is Thursday night.

"I'm going there to win the race," Yeley said. "To have a free weekend away with how busy we are in NASCAR, you'd usually rather be in Hawaii or on a beach somewhere, but to me that race is so much fun, it's worth it. It's 280 race cars entered for one event, pretty much the best Sprint, Midget and Late Model drivers in the world, and to go there and beat those guys, it's pretty fun.

"I just enjoy it, and it's why I continue to go to it. I think it's one of the biggest races of the year and the Golden Driller trophy is one of the most prized to take home. It would go in the center of my trophy case."

The Chili Bowl is an all-star Midget race, run on a quarter-mile dirt track inside the Tulsa Expo Center, which seats 15,000 and is sold out for the five-day event. Yeley's competition will include Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne and Jason Leffler. NASCAR development drivers Josh Wise, Tim McCreadie, Bobby East and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. World of Outlaws Sprint car champion Danny Lasoski and runner-up Joey Saldana. USAC national champions Jerry Coons Jr., Levi Jones and Dave Blaney, and '07 National Non-wing Sprint car Driver of the Year Jon Stanbrough.

"They come from everywhere," Yeley said. "Sprint cars, Midgets, Late Models. There's nothing else generally going on in the middle of January and it's not taking away from anything else."

Stewart won the Chili Bowl for his second time last year. The two-time Cup champion and former USAC and IRL IndyCar champion considers the Golden Driller one of his prized possessions.

Yeley finished second last year. He's also been third at the Chili Bowl. Before moving into NASCAR in '04, Yeley joined Stewart as the only driver to win all three of USAC's national championships in the same season, in '03, and set a USAC record for single-season victories with 24 that year.

It's tough just to qualify for Saturday's 50-lap, 24-car main event. In 11 previous Chili Bowls, Yeley has reached the bog show five times.

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