14th Place Finish for Yeley at Chicago

A 14th place finish concludes the day for JJ Yeley in the No. 44 Zachry Toyota at Chicagoland Speedway. The Phoenix native, qualified 19th for the Drive for Safety 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race.

"A good finish after a roller coaster kind of day," Yeley said. "The race track was much looser today compared to practice yesterday. I really struggled with rear grip on my Zachry Toyota. After a few adjustments from Frankie, I was able to carry better corner speed and move around on the multi-groove Chicagoland surface.  I touched the wall off turn 4 and had to pit earlier than we wanted and got trapped a lap down because of a Caution. We caught a break late in the race to get the Lucky Dog and pit with 15 laps remaining. I charged as hard as I could to get to a respectable 14th place finish."

A caution came out early in the race on lap seven. Running in the 17th position, Yeley radioed he was battling a loose handling condition. Crew Chief Frank Kerr opted to keep Yeley out and wait to pit during the competition caution on lap 25.

During that pit stop, the No. 44 received four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment; cycling Yeley back to field to restart 16th. Even with the adjustments, Yeley continued to battle a loose handling car but consistently kept his pace within the top-15 but fell a lap down from the leader. He remained steady and received the free pass with the next caution on lap 88.

Pitting and receiving additional adjustments to the Zachry Toyota allowed for Yeley to return to the field and advance as high as 10th. With a long green flag run, the Zachry Toyota became free in turns one and two and snug in turns three and four.

Yeley came to pit and a caution came out causing Yeley to fall a lap down. He continued to battle and a timely caution, with 15 laps remaining, worked to Yeley's advantage as he became the free pass recipient for the second time and was posted back on the lead lap. Crew Chief Frank Kerr called Yeley to pit for four tires and fuel which played a key role in the final laps of the 200-lap event.

Yeley concluded the Drive for Safety 300 with a 14th place finish and advanced one point, to 15th, in Driver Standings.