Ricky Rudd’s announcement this past weekend that he will depart from Robert Yates Racing at the end of the 2007 season has opened the door for JJ Yeley to take over the #88 Ford in 2008. JJ Yeley was recently released from the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevy to make room for Kyle Busch in 2008. A team source at the newly formed Yates/ Newman Haas Racing [actually Yates/Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing] confirms that all signs point’ to Yeley as their choice to take over the #88 Ford.(Cup Scene Daily)(8-20-2007) UPDATE: #18-J.J. Yeley, Nextel Cup’s latest free agent, has said he is in conversation with four teams, which he would not disclose, but Robert Yates Racing [Yates/Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing] president Doug Yates is happy to report his team is extremely interested in hiring Yeley. RYR will have a vacancy now that veteran Ricky Rudd has announced he is retiring from full-time Cup racing after this season. #38-David Gilliland also drives for RYR. “We’re very interested in J.J.,” Yates said Wednesday. “He’d be good for our company. He’s very marketable, and he’s a pretty good driver. We’re talking to him. We are definitely interested.” Yates said there is no timetable to get a deal done. He said he is convinced that with the right team chemistry, Yeley can succeed. Yeley currently is 20th in points, while his JGR teammates, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin, are firmly in the Chase. “How can you say a guy two years into the sport is not making the cut?” Yates said. “He needs to be with a team that believes in him.”(ESPN.com)(8-31-2007)
