Photo – Rey Del Rio/Getty Images
Officials from AM Racing (@AMRacingNASCAR) announced today that NASCAR veteran driver JJ Yeley will pilot the team’s No. 22 Toyota Tundra for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) season-opening NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway on Friday night, February 24th.
Yeley, a native of Phoenix, Ariz. will make his 23rd career NCWTS start and first since last March’s race at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway. In Yeley’s previous 22 starts, the two-time USAC Sprint Car champion has one start at the “World Center of Racing” in 2010 resulting in tenth place finish.
The partnership for now is a one-race agreement with industry veteran Rick Ren serving as crew chief.
Yeley’s efforts will be backed by Legrand and Superior Essex.
“I am looking forward to being behind the wheel of the No. 22 Superior Essex Toyota for the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in the Camping World Truck Series,” said Yeley. “It’s a great opportunity that Tim Self, AM Racing, Legrand and Superior Essex put together, and I’m glad to be a part of it. I can’t wait to get out on the track and drive the Toyota Tundra to the front.”
Legrand is a leader in network infrastructure solutions, with products designed to support data centers, commercial buildings or audio / video applications, connectivity products that meet industry standards and rack cabinets that can be manufactured globally.
Superior Essex is a leading manufacturer and supplier of communications cable and accessory products serving the communications industry and related distribution markets for over 80 years. Headquartered in Atlanta, Gal, Superior Essex specializes in magnet wire manufacturing and distribution.
“This is a great opportunity for AM Racing,” said AM Racing team principal Tim Self. “The team has built JJ a very strong truck for competition with the hope that we can contend for the win at Daytona in a few weeks. JJ has a niche for the draft and we feel that he can not only put our team and partners in the spotlight, but also give us a good assessment of our truck program overall.”
Yeley, 40, has a combined 23 starts at the 2.5-mile superspeedway across NASCAR’s top-three national divisions with two XFINITY Series poles, one top-five and four top-10s. Yeley’s best finish at Daytona is fourth in the 2006 XFINITY Series opener after starting on the pole driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Last week, the Mooresville, North Carolina-based team announced they have switched engine manufacturers for the 2017 season. Joe Gibbs Racing engines will power the team’s Toyota Tundras this season starting with the 100-lap race at Daytona.
Details of AM Racing’s second driver and marketing partnership(s) lineup for Daytona is forthcoming.
The NextEra Energy Resources 250 (100 laps / 250 miles) is the first of 23 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on the 2017 schedule. Practice begins on Thursday, February 23 from 2:00 p.m. – 2:55 p.m. A final practice session is set for 4:00 p.m. – 4:55 p.m. Qualifying is set for race day, Friday., February 24 beginning at 4:30 p.m. The 32-truck field will take the green flag shortly after 7:30 p.m. with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Satellite Radio, Channel 90).