J.J. Yeley No. 46 Darlington Raceway-Espar Heaters Chevrolet Preview Las Vegas
Harrisburg, N.C. — J.J. Yeley's improbable run through the Gatorade Duel into the Daytona 500 not only secured him a starting position in the biggest race of the season, it also helped develop relationships with some companies that have jumped in to support the Whitney Motorsports team. Some of the companies are new to the sport, and some are as old as the sport itself.
Espar Heating Systems is new to NASCAR and will again rejoin the Whitney Motorsports team as an associate sponsor for this week's Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Espar is a leading manufacturer of heating systems for vehicles worldwide; the company also was on board for the Daytona 500.
Another sponsor returning at LVMS is one of the most familiar names in NASCAR: the legendary "Lady in Black," Darlington Raceway. The track will host the oldest superspeedway race in NASCAR, the Showtime Southern 500 on May 7, in conjunction with the Royal Purple 200 for the NASCAR Nationwide Series the day before. Darlington Raceway will also host the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in the Too Tough to Tame 200 on Saturday March 12.
How has the track at Las Vegas changed since it was repaved and reconfigured? Has it aged, developed any bumps, and how has the groove changed? "The new Las Vegas reconfiguration is night and day different from the original track design. The added banking and the new asphalt have increased speeds and made the track one of the fastest on the Sprint Cup schedule. The track has lost some grip and gained some character over the past few years which should help with multiple groove racing. I'd be surprised if we didn't see a lot of two and three wide racing."
We've seen a lot of aggressive racing during the first two weeks of the season; does the new point system play a role in that? "The racing has been very exciting, some times too exciting. I think it can be attributed to new driver/owner/sponsor combinations more than anything. Everyone wants to establish themselves as contenders for 2011 and sometimes that leads to some highlight reel moments."
This will be the first 1.5-mile track with the new nose on the Cup cars, how do you anticipate the handling of the car to be versus the old nose/splitter? "Las Vegas being the first 1.5 mile track will test the teams' ability to adjust to the new noses. Handling is always important but aerodynamics has become the most important on the tracks that are fast like Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The driver feel won't change much with the new noses, keeping the nose of the car sealed to the ground is key for a fast race car. The balance of the car will change slightly with the new nose because they create more down force than the noses of last year."
J.J. Yeley at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: J.J. Yeley has three previous Sprint Cup Series starts at LVMS, with a best finish of 17th in 2006. His average start is 22.0 and his average finish is 20.7. He has completed 802 of a possible 804 competition laps (99.7%). In four previous Nationwide Series races, his best finish was eighth in 2006.
For on-site interviews with driver J.J. Yeley and/or team owner Dusty Whitney at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, please contact Ron Linkous at (817) 366-3687.