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JJ Yeley
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Christopher Beltram Hernandez "J.J." Yeley born on October 5th, 1976 in Phoenix, Arizona is a renowned NASCAR race car driver. He currently drives the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs in the NEXTEL Cup Series, and the #1 Miccosukee Indian Gambling Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing in the Busch Series.
Yeley first became famous in the world of auto racing when he took the Hoosier State by storm during the 1997 edition of Indiana Sprintweek. He won that series on a grand note and captured the Rookie of the Year Award in the USAC National Sprint Car Series.
The following year 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 9th despite a spin on the first turn of the first lap, which nearly collected eventual race winner Eddie Cheever, Jr.
Yeley also raced in the IRL in 2000 in an under-funded effort with McCormack Motorsports, but finally returned to USAC racing and continued his winning spree by winning the 2001 and 2003 National Sprint, 2002 and 2003 Silver Crown, and 2003 National Midget Series titles.
He is the second driver after Tony Stewart in 1995 to win all the three championships in USAC's top divisions in 2003, and achieve 'Triple Crown' in a single season. Incidentally, Stewart owns the Sprint and Silver Crown cars in Yeley's 2003 season; the Midget which Yeley drove in 2003, Steve Lewis' #9, had been driven by Stewart in 1995.
Yeley impressively scored 24 USAC wins in his 2003 season and broke the previous record of 19 set by A.J. Foyt in 1961, and later tied by Sleepy Trip in 1988 and Jay Drake in 2000.
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