Open-wheel transfer Yeley satisfied with progress

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- J.J. Yeley knew what he was getting into. He knew there would be comparisons to Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon and all the others who form the seemingly endless line of drivers who have made the transition from open-wheel stardom to NASCAR.

So when Yeley signed with Joe Gibbs Racing last year, many folks expected him to jump in a stock car and go fast right away. After all, that's what Stewart did. That's what Gordon did.

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So why couldn't Yeley do the same? He's the guy who won USAC's triple crown in 2004, winning championships in Silver Crown, Sprint Car and Midgets, setting a record for victories along the way.

Stewart won all three titles in one year himself, and now he's considered one of the best drivers in NASCAR. Shouldn't Yeley be able to do the same?

Well, not so fast.

This weekend, Yeley will be driving in the 10th NASCAR Busch Series race of his career, the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway. And that's the 10th time in his career he's raced a stock car.

Chances are good that not even Stewart or Gordon were ready for prime time by their 10th race in a stock car.

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"I know that some people have high expectations for me, and I have them for myself," Yeley said. "You go back and look at stats from Jeff Gordon's or Tony Stewart's first year in Busch -- they're not real impressive. I don't think either one of them won a race in their first year."

No, they didn't. But Yeley knows he'll get nowhere by comparing stats. Stewart and Gordon didn't get to where they were by looking at numbers, and Yeley knows he'll only run up front if he does what he does best.

Gibbs didn't pluck Yeley from USAC because of Stewart and Gordon or anyone else. He signed Yeley for one reason: Yeley can drive a racecar.

"I know the competition is tough, but I expected to run up front," Yeley said. "Obviously, I have the confidence in myself that I can win races. You look at our stats, and they're not very impressive."

By most standards, they aren't. Yeley has finished in the top 10 only one, and that was last week's eighth-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway. His other results have been field-fillerish: 23rd at Las Vegas, 42nd at Texas, 19th at the first Nashville race, 23rd at California, 16th at Gateway, 23rd at Richmond, 15th at Charlotte and 26th at Dover.

But look a little deeper. He started shotgun on the field at Charlotte but drove to a top-15 finish. At the first Nashville race, Yeley was running ninth with five laps to go before he and another driver crashed.

So while adjusting to a new team, new car, new tracks and a new driving style, Yeley really hasn't done that bad.

More importantly, he knows what he was doing wrong and what he needs to do to make it right.

"Probably the biggest problem I may have struggled with at the beginning of the year is not adapting my driving style to the way the cars drive," Yeley said. "With the USAC-type cars, the driver's a little bit more in control. If the car's not doing what you want, you can physically drive the car and make it do what you want.

"Stock cars, with the weight of the car, the limited power, that percentage has changed, and the car is a little bit more in control. Being able to back down what I'm doing with the car and help the crew chief fix it vs. me overdriving it and creating more problems (is an issue)."

In a sense, Yeley was trying to do too much driving. That's a natural tendency, especially if you're supposed to be the next superstar in the sport.

	Credit: Autostock

But Yeley is learning the old adage that sometimes you have to slow down to go fast. A rigorous testing schedule has helped in that regard, and Yeley has also learned the value of communication with his crew chief, Doug Hewitt.

An open-wheel car, especially on dirt, is often controlled with the gas pedal. Need a little help getting the car turned, push the throttle.

You can't do that in a stock car, for they're simply too big and bulky. You have to figure out what the car is doing in the corners, tell the crew chief, and let him fix it.

"The biggest thing for me is learning more about the car because they are so different than what I'm used to mechanically," Yeley said. "Just being able to give the crew chief a little bit more accurate information."

Listening to JGR teammates Stewart and Bobby Labonte has helped in that regard, as Yeley tunes into the team's radios during Nextel Cup practices to hear what kind of things the drivers are saying to their crew chiefs. Feedback is critical in this sport, but you have to give the right kind of feedback.

"We've gotten to the point now where I know what changes feel like," Yeley said. "In a run, I know more now what I need in the car vs. the beginning, when I was just letting them know what the car's doing and let them figure it out themselves."

At Busch races run in conjunction with Cup events, Stewart and Labonte have been available to give advice to Yeley. But Yeley said he hasn't been that uncomfortable anywhere to where he's gotten out of the car and run to Stewart or Labonte, saying, "I'm lost. You need to help me."

"Sometimes if I feel a little confused and I'll have four different things happen to me in five laps, I'll try to figure if it's something I'm causing with the way I'm driving the car vs. something the car's doing on its own," Yeley said. "I try not to give (my crew) updates every five laps, just so I'm not confusing them on something I might be doing in the racecar.

"It helps me a lot that I've always been hands-on. I understand racecars."

And he understands the game of NASCAR is not won on the first lap. It might take time, but Yeley is determined to run up front in this sport. Given his approach, it might come pretty soon.