Surprising Yeley may visit Victory Lane soon

You're going to think I am crazy, but no one in the Nextel Cup Series has surprised me more than J.J. Yeley.

Yeley's promotion to NASCAR's highest division came about two seasons too soon. Everyone knows that, but these are the times we live in. There is a serious driver shortage in NASCAR today, and because of it, J.J. Yeley is a Nextel Cup driver.

	RYAN SMITHSON •   E-mail Ryan •   Opinion archive

When he was announced as the replacement for Bobby Labonte at Joe Gibbs Racing, a lot of people scoffed, including me. Yeley certainly wasn't ready to replace a capable, proven driver like Labonte.

He's a serial crasher. I wouldn't be surprised if Joe Gibbs Racing sent out an interoffice memo at JGR approving overtime pay for the fabricators. The team probably wondered aloud if it might have to start worrying about qualifying every week.

Remember the sight of Matt Kenseth hoisting the championship trophy at Homestead in 2003? At the time, Yeley had never driven at the NASCAR level. It took him two years to get a Nextel Cup job.

Such inexperience is usually a formula for crashes, ticked-off veterans and worried sponsors.

None of that has happened. All Yeley has done is mash the gas on Fridays and learn on Sundays. He has probably learned more this season -- in seven races -- than he did in all of 2004 and 2005 combined.

It hasn't hurt that Yeley is a quiet, confident man. He doesn't let things rattle him too much. Being a married, 29-year-old father will do that to you. Even in the Busch Series, where he has destroyed a mountain of equipment, Yeley has always been even-tempered, mature and upbeat.

Building a solid foundation in Nextel Cup racing is all about getting the team into position to win races. Yeley hasn't lit up the circuit, but he has already shown that his car is good enough to qualify well and race well.

Even on the short tracks -- where Yeley was expected to hit everything but the pace car -- he has done very well. He simply hasn't had very good luck this season, but it will eventually come around. The talent is there, and the team is fired up.

Inside the Numbers A comparison of J.J. Yeley's first seven races of 2006 and Bobby Labonte's first seven races of 2005 in the No. 18 Chevrolet   Yeley Labonte Wins 0 0 Top-5s 0 0 Top-10s 1 0 Avg. Finish 24.1 32.4 Pts. Standing 24 37

When Yeley first entered NASCAR via the Busch Series, he was often compared to Tony Stewart, both of whom enjoyed massive amounts of USAC success before entering stock cars.

Looking back, that was not a fair comparison. Stewart was already an IRL champion before he even entered the Busch Series, and the Busch Series was a considerably easier place to learn when Stewart ran in it.

At the same time, Yeley has shown that his open-wheel background is conducive to today's short spoiler and soft tires. The Nextel Cup cars are considerably more powerful and harder to drive than the Busch cars, and maybe Yeley has finally found his calling.

It would be an even money bet to wager on Yeley winning at the Nextel Cup level before he wins a Busch race. My guess is that the Nextel Cup win comes first.

Yeley will never be Rusty Wallace when it comes to short tracks, but with the schedule featuring a buffet of 1.5-mile and 2-mile tracks, he won't have to be.

Races on those tracks are much harder to predict than short tracks and road courses, and Yeley is going to show up one Sunday and dominate en route to the win.

That being said, he will probably finish 25th the week after that. Rookies do that, especially ones with little stock car experience. It happens.

When Yeley gets around 50 Nextel Cup starts, watch out. He will starting winning in the same manner Greg Biffle did when he finally got some seasoning at the top level.

Just don't be surprised.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.