Posted By: ljennings on March 01 2007 at 01:49:57 PM
NASCAR's J.J. Yeley to compete in the Las Vegas Dirt Classic
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
NASCAR Nextel Cup Series driver J.J. Yeley won't have much time for play in during NASCAR Weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Not only is he scheduled to run in the Sam's Town 300 and the UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400, Yeley also has announced he will compete in the Las Vegas Dirt Classic on Thursday, March 8 and Friday, March 9.
"As soon as I saw that they were going to race on the dirt track the same weekend as I would be there racing the Busch and Nextel Cup cars I immediately got on the phone to make sure I had a ride lined up and figure out what it was going to take to go over and play," Yeley said.
The Las Vegas Dirt Classic will feature two complete programs of racing for the USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series and the Western Allstars in conjunction with the annual NASCAR Weekend at LVMS.
Yeley is scheduled to compete in the USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series portion of the event.
"I ran there (LVMS' dirt track) in 1998 and 1999 in a Sprint Car," continued Yeley. "Tony Smiley of Phoenix is helping me out. He used to build the chassis that I ran back in the late 90s. I ran for him probably a dozen times throughout my career. He built me a brand new race car and will give me an opportunity to go run at different times later this year at other places, but Las Vegas will be the first."
Yeley, son of midget champion "Cactus" Jack Yeley, began his racing career at age 10. By the time he was 16, Yeley became the youngest driver ever to earn his USAC license. Yeley went on to win the "Triple Crown" by clenching the Midget, Sprint and Silver Crown championships in a single season.
"My first experience on dirt was in go-karts when I was nine or 10 years old," said Yeley. "Racing a go-kart that goes 80 miles an hour on dirt was pretty cool. I started really young and the first time I raced professionally on dirt I was 14 years old and racing against adults."
Winning the "Triple Crown" caught the attention of Joe Gibbs Racing which led to a full-time NASCAR Nextel Cup Series ride in 2006 behind the wheel of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries car.
Spectator gates open each day at 4 p.m. with qualifying at 5 and the first heat race at 6.
For additional event information and tickets, please call 1-800-644-4444 or visit www.lvms.com.
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