WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- As J.J. Yeley looks to find success in the future, the outgoing Joe Gibbs Racing driver can't help but wonder if more could've been done in the past.

Last week it was determined that Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Busch would replace Yeley in the No. 18 car for the 2008 season, and despite rumors and innuendo around the NASCAR garage, Yeley has yet to sign a deal with a team but said he is talking to several "top-quality" operations that want to make him a championship-caliber driver.

"They want to put an effort behind me that we can go win races. That's what I'm excited about," Yeley said this weekend before competing at Watkins Glen International in Sunday's road-course race.

Yeley said he wished more had been done to improve his performance on the No. 18 team, similar to what other Cup teams in the garage do when team and driver fail to get on the same page and produce results.

Yeley cited seemingly successful personnel changes made on Jamie McMurray's team, who asked Larry Carter to join the team in place of Carl Edward's crew chief Bob Obsborne at the beginning of the season, as one example.

"We never made huge changes to see if there was going to be something out there that was going to help the program ... I guess I'm a little sad that I wasn't given the changes that might have made the difference," Yeley said. "We may have just taken too slow of an approach to find [chemistry]."

On Sunday before the Cup race, J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing, said he and Yeley did have discussions about potential crew changes and he said Yeley suggested trying "something different." But Gibbs ultimately felt it wasn't in the best interest of the team.

"In the past we've made changes just to make changes and sometimes it causes more problems doing that," Gibbs said. "We just weren't in a position to do that and decided to keep the group together."

Gibbs said Yeley made valid points but he still feels confident the No. 18 operation had the equipment and personnel in place to perform well.

Kyle Chapman, business manager for Yeley, said he and his driver are in talks with several different NASCAR teams at the moment, but will not discuss specifics until Yeley's current team makes an official announcement of the driver's departure.

"To say a deal has been signed would be totally false," Chapman said. "And to say we've signed with the 21 [of Wood Brothers/JTG Racing] would be false as well."

Regarding the talks with other teams, which are said to include Dale Earnhardt Inc., Chapman said they are going well.

"Talks with other team owners have got J.J. rejuvenated," Chapman added. "There are people out there willing to build a team around him and do whatever, at whatever price, to create a successful operation to fit him."

As to whether or not Joe Gibbs Racing fought to keep Yeley a part of the three-car Cup operation, Chapman wouldn't comment but said, for the most part, everyone knew a change was coming. (Continued)