acegear
Moderator
Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 973
Location: Enumclaw, WA
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 Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 8:06 pm Post subject: USAC Driver: JJ Yeley |
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J.J. Yeley is a second generation driver. He was behind the wheel of a quarter midget at the age of 10, later raced go-carts and at the age of 14 began racing midgets. Three years later he was in a non-wing sprint car setting track records.
One of the highlights of J.J.’s career was being the “youngest” driver at age 21 to qualify for the 1998 Indianapolis 500. He finished 9th in the 500 and went on to complete five Pep Boys Indy Racing League Events.
In 2001, J.J. claimed the USAC Sprint Car Championship, finishing 3rd in the Midget standings and 4th in the Silver Crown. J.J. was the only driver to finish top five in all series.
In 2003, J.J. set a new USAC record of 24 wins in a single season and broke A.J. Foyt’s USAC record of 19 wins, set in 1961. He is the second driver in history to win the “Triple Crown”, by winning all three USAC open wheel divisions in one season.
J.J. is a multi-talented driver, with knowledge, determination and competitive spirit, who loves racing and racing loves him.
J.J.’s 2003 USAC season was one for the ages as he became only the second driver in history to claim the coveted single-season “Triple Crown,” matching Tony Stewart’s 1995 feat of winning the Weld Racing Silver Crown, National Sprint Car and National Midget Car titles! He smashed the all-time single-season USAC feature victory record, scoring 24 wins! Of those, 13 came in National Sprints, six came in National Midgets, four in Silver Crown and one in a special USAC/SCRA Sprint special. He also had 13 National second-places and nine thirds! In qualifying he was the fastest qualifier for 20 National races and earned his racing teams nearly a half-million dollars in prize money! In May he earned a $50,000 cash bonus for back-to-back Silver Crown wins in Indianapolis! He also finished fourth in the Western Midget Car standings. Other major victories in 2003 included the championship f Valvoline “Indiana Sprint Week,” the “Tony Hulman Classic” Sprint race at Terre Haute, Ind., the “Hoosier Hundred” Silver Crown classic in Indianapolis, the “Sumar Classic” Silver Crown Crown race at Terre Haute, two “Buckeye Nationals” Sprint wins, four “Indiana Sprint Week” triumphs, and the Silver Crown finale at Syracuse, N.Y. At season’s end he claimed USAC’s Super License and virtually every major national “Driver of the Year” Award. He was also a member of AARWBA’s “All-American First Team” and AARWBA’s “Jerry Titus Award” winner. National Speed Sport News awarded him the publication’s first-ever “Champion of Champions” honor. He had an incredible year in 2002, winning the Silver Crown title and finished a close second in the Sprint Car points and was also second in the National Midget Car standings. For the second consecutive year he earned USAC’s “Super License” as the best National driver of the year and he was also named to the AARWBA’s All-America First Team. He led the National Midget Car standings in late-June and early-July but a violent crash at Belleville, Kans. in August severely damaged his chances for the “Triple Crown” sweep. In Silver Crown Cars he captured three of the final four races in the series, at Springfield and DuQuoin, Ill. and the series finale at Syracuse, N.Y. In Sprint Cars he won seven times and added four seconds and four thirds but finished 13 points behind series champion Tracy Hines. In the National Midget Cars he won four times and added four seconds and three thirds. He was especially impressive during USAC’s “Buckeye Nationals” in June, scoring four sins in eight races, including a Sprint/Midget “sweep” at Fremont, Ohio. He also swept a Sprint/Midget doubleheader at Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
USAC’s 2001 “Super License” Champion won in all three USAC National series, including Silver Crown wins at Knoxville, Iowa and in the “4-Crown Nationals” at Rossburg, Ohio. Four other “top-four” finishes helped boost him to fourth in the final 2001 Silver Crown points. The 2001 USAC Sprint Car titlist earned that honor on the final day of the season!
He won the "4-Crown Nationals" at Eldora Speedway and added four second-place finishes on his way to fourth in the 2000 Silver Crown points.
His only 1999 USAC triumph came in the 500th race in the history of the USAC Western Midget Car series at Belleville, Kans.
The sixth-ranking driver in the 1998 USAC Silver Crown points, J.J. capped his 1998 season with his initial Indianapolis 500 start as he became a veteran of the Indy Racing League. J.J. joined Tony Stewart as the only “repeat” winners in the Silver Crown wars in 1998 by sweeping the final events at Sacramento, Calif. on the dirt and Madison, Ill. on the pavement. He also finished second to Tony Elliott in USAC’s 200th Silver Crown race - at Terre Haute, Ind. - in July. His exploits earned him the “Most Improved Driver” honors.
A veteran of the west coast Midget Car and Sprint car wars, J.J. is the son of occasional USAC participant Jack Yeley and in 1997 burst upon the USAC scene in a big way. His first full season of USAC competition earned him five Silver Crown starts and a 12th-place finish in the “Tony Bettenhausen 100” at Springfield, Ill. but the Sprint cars were his forte. He was named the Sprint Car “Rookie of the Year” after finishing fifth in the 1997 Sprint Car final points and winning three races, including the “Tony Hulman Classic” and “Jim Hurtubise Classic” at Terre Haute, Ind. He also won the 1997 “Indiana Sprint Week” championship.
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A win is a win, and second place is never good enough |
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