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a NASCAR driver. Nicknamed "J. J." (Jimmy/Jack; after his father and a close family friend). His legal name is Christopher Beltram Hernandez Yeley. He was a competitor mostly in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series. Yeley won the 1997 edition of Indiana Sprint Week and captured the Rookie of the Year Award in the USAC National Sprint Car Series despite starting relatively few races. In 1998, Yeley competed in four Indy Racing League (IRL) races, including the Indianapolis 500. His one top-10 finish in these four races was at Indianapolis, where he finished ninth despite a spin on the first turn of the first lap, which nearly collected eventual race winner Eddie Cheever, Jr. Yeley signed with Joe Gibbs Racing, starting 17 of 34 races in the 2004 NASCAR Xfinity Series and achieving four top-10 finishes. In that year, he also made two starts in the NASCAR Cup #11 car. In 2005 Bobby Labonte made his announcement in November that he was leaving Joe Gibbs Racing. On November 12, at Phoenix International Raceway, Yeley was announced as the

new driver for the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet. Yeley's best Cup finishes of 2006 came at California Speedway and Loudon, NH where he finished 8th; his best Xfinity Series finish came on June 17 at Kentucky Speedway. His 2007 was filled with rumors about being released from Joe Gibbs racing. At the 2007 Coca-Cola 600, Yeley scored a career high second place finish on a fuel gamble, with Casey Mears actually scoring the victory. Exactly three weeks later, at Michigan, Yeley took his first career pole at the Cup level, beating Jimmie Johnson by one one-thousandths of a second (.001). During the middle of the 2007 season Joe Gibbs announced that his team would be switching to Toyota in 2008. Gibbs also announced that Yeley would not return for 2008. Gibbs ended up signing Kyle Busch to drive the #18. Yeley moved to Hall of Fame Racing, an affiliate of JGR, replacing

Tony Raines in the #96 DLP Toyota. His struggles continued, as the team fell from being in the top 35 every week with Raines behind the wheel to struggling to make races on a weekly basis. On August 6, 2008, Yeley was released from his contract to drive for Hall of Fame Racing. In 2009, he moved to the Truck Series, driving the #73 Chevy Silverado for Tagsby Racing. He was also named to take over the Mayfield Motorsports #41 Sprint Cup Series entry effective immediately following the indefinite suspension of owner/driver Jeremy Mayfield due to a substance abuse violation on May 9, 2009. Yeley drove at Daytona in 2010 for Daisy Ramirez Motorsports in the NASCAR Truck Series. This was the team's debut and he finished a career-best 10th after starting 36th. Yeley was announced as the driver for the Whitney Motorsports #46 Cup Series car on May 4, 2010. Yeley raced his way in the 2011 Daytona 500 in the Gatorade Duels for Whitney Motorsports, a team that failed to qualify for the 2010

event. For 2012, Yeley signed with Robinson-Blakeney Racing to drive the #49 Toyota in the Cup Series. He also drove the team's #28 Xfinity Series car in that series' season-opening race at Daytona. Halfway through the season, Yeley moved to Max Q Motorsports to drive the No. 37 in a partnership with Tommy Baldwin Racing. Both the #49 and the #37 were mostly start and park efforts. In 2013, Yeley moved to Tommy Baldwin Racing to drive the #36 Chevrolet, with sponsorship from Golden Corral at races on super speedways. United Mining, Accell Construction, and several other companies also served as primary sponsor throughout the season. Yeley ran his first full season (in a non-start and park ride for the first time

since 2008. He was replaced by Reed Sorenson for 2014. On February 13, it was announced that Yeley would drive the #44 with Xxxtreme Motorsport starting at Phoenix. In late April, the team purchased the #30 team from Swan Racing, with Yeley shifting to drive the new car number. Yeley replaced Ryan Truex in the #83 BK Racing Toyota at the Pure Michigan 400 after Truex suffered a concussion during a practice session. He later drove the team's start and park #93 at Richmond, and ran the last seven races in the #83 following Truex's dismissal from the team. In 2015, Yeley moved to BK Racing full-time, replacing Alex Bowman in the #23 Toyota. He also ran full-time in the Xfinity Series for #28 Toyota for JGL Racing, whom he had joined partway through the 2014 season. In 2016, Yeley had no rides for the Daytona weekend. However, on

February 24, 2016, it was announced that Yeley would drive the #14 Toyota Camry for TriStar Motorsports in the Xfinity Series, starting at Atlanta. Yeley replaced David Starr in the #44 at Richmond due to Starr being sidelined with an illness; Yeley eventually took over the ride full-time. For the 2017 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas, Yeley made his return to the Cup Series, driving the #7 Chevrolet SS for Tommy Baldwin Racing, a team he last drove for in 2013. In 2017, Yeley returned to the #14 of TriStar for the full season and a part-time schedule in the #7 for Tommy Baldwin Racing. On July 22, TriStar owner Mark Smith died, and the next week, Yeley finished a season-best 6th at Iowa Speedway. For 2019, NY Racing planned to field the #7 Steakhouse Elite Ford Mustang with Yeley as the driver for an undetermined number of races. Before the

team formally entered any races, Yeley and Steakhouse Elite partnered with Rick Ware Racing for the Pocono 400 in June. He ran 15 Cup races that season and had a best finish of 12th at Daytona. He also ran 15 races in the Xfinity Series for RSS Racing. He had a best finish of 16th at Bristol. On November 14, RWR announced Yeley would race full-time for the team in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. In 2020, Yeley was a back marker in most races. Rick Ware racing was way under funded and just didn't have the resourced to compete with many of the other teams. The team was only able to finish two races on the lead lap; and Yeley had a best finish of 21st; coming at Indianapolis. In 2021, Yeley ran races in both the Cup Series and in the Xfinity series. He drove almost all his races in both series for under funded Rick Ware Racing.

Ware’s team's again rarely run better than the top 20 in the Cup Series; and Yeley had a season best finish of 25th in eight starts. In the Xfinity series Yeley picked up a ride wherever he could find one. He posted seven finishes inside the Top 20; with a season best of 12th. In 2022 Yeley drove 19 races in the Cup Series; all for Rick Ware Racing. He ran 30 of 33 events in the Xfinity Series driving for Carl Long. Yeley made 26 starts in the Cup series in 2023, all of then for Rick Ware Racing. Ware’s team is still

one of the ‘weaker’ teams in the Cup series, but trying to improve. The best finish for Yeley was a seventh place run at Atlanta. It was his only top ten of the year. He had four total finishes inside the top 20. He made four starts in the Xfinity series. Three for Bobby Dotter, and one for Johnny Davis. He crashed out of all of them and had a best finish of 28th. Rick Ware has hired Justin Haley to drive one of his cars full time in the Cup series in 2023. As of the end of 2023 Yeley has posted a best Cup finish of second; two top fives, and nine top tens in 378 starts. He also has 15 top five finishes in the Xfinity series with a best of second at Memphis and Kentucky in 385 starts. Some info from Wikipedia

Fantasy NASCAR Racing

CHRISTOPHER BELTRAM HERNANDEZ "JJ" YELEY - 10/05/1976