CUP: J.J. Yeley nearly sets new laps completed record in Homestead last-place finish
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Jared Haas, @RealJaredHaas
J.J. Yeley picked up the 23rd last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway when his #44 Urban Youth Racing School Chevrolet fell out with crash damage after 223 of 267 laps.
The finish, which came in Yeley’s 385th series start, was his second of the year and first since the Coca-Cola 600 on May 26, 2024, 20 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 32nd for the #44, the 679th from a crash, and the 864th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 74th for the #44, the 1,400th from a crash, and the 1,968th for Chevrolet.
In this second half of the season, the Johnathan Cohen’s NY Racing Team has become an increasingly regular presence as one of the few remaining “open teams” in the Cup Series, qualifying for four races since the 600 with a season-best 23rd in Atlanta. Yeley most recently ran 27th in the fall race at Talladega, where he came home two laps down. The veteran driver has also run the occasional XFINITY race – seven so far this season – most often in Bobby Dotter’s #14 Ford. His most recent race at Las Vegas saw him qualify 28th, only to be wrecked by Leland Honeyman, Jr. in the opening laps, leaving him 25th.
While the NY Racing Team has run many vibrant paint schemes during its existence, Yeley’s Homestead car resembled Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson’s NextGen test cars from 2022. It still retained the massive Chevrolet logo over the quarter-panels, but now carried the #44 and a logo on the hood for the Urban Youth Racing School, which also backed the team at Las Vegas this past March and Kansas last month. In opening practice, he ranked 37th of the 38 entrants, then qualified last of the 19 entrants in Qualifying Round 1B with a lap of 33.063 seconds (163.325mph), placing him 37th on the grid.
Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Chad Finchum, making his first Cup start at Homestead. His #66 GreenLightPP.com Ford for Motorsports Business Management turned in the slowest overall lap of 33.794 seconds (159.792mph), nearly eight-tenths slower than Yeley. He’d be joined at the back by two drivers penalized for unapproved adjustments: 21st-place Chris Buescher in the #17 Fastenal Ford and 26th-place Joey Logano, the Las Vegas winner, for a steering issue on the #22 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford. Prior to that, there was some delay in Corey LaJoie’s #51 Schulter Systems Ford getting start on pit road, but he retained the 33rd starting spot. Yeley dropped back to start alongside Finchum in the final row, moving Logano and Buescher to 35th and 36th, respectively.
When the green flag dropped, Finchum inched ahead of Yeley, crossing the stripe 2.973 seconds back of the lead to Yeley’s 3.087. Seconds later, as the field headed into Turn 3, trouble broke out up front. Justin Haley qualified a strong 10th in the #7 Chili’s Catch-a-Rita Chevrolet, and by Turn 3 had fought his way to 6th, racing alongside Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #47 Kroger / Vitamin Water Chevrolet. As Haley squirreled his way past Stenhouse to his inside, the two made contact, and Haley spun to the apron, nearly collecting Playoff contenders Chase Elliott and William Byron, then Kaz Grala’s #15 Meat ‘n Bone Ford. Somehow, Haley escaped without any damage, and took over last place as he crossed the stripe 31.322 seconds back of the lead, 14.255 behind the now 37th-place Finchum. “Well, that didn’t take long,” said Finchum.
On Lap 3, Haley’s crew completed their pit stop and sent him back out, 23.454 seconds back of the lead, 3.868 behind Finchum. By Lap 4, he passed LaJoie, whose #51 dropped to the tail end of the line for a pit road infraction after following Haley, Finchum, and Harrison Burton’s #21 Dex Imaging Ford onto pit road. On the Lap 6 restart, LaJoie dropped Finchum back to last, and by Lap 8, Yeley was back to 37th, 1.590 seconds ahead of the #66. As the tail end of the field fell apart, the interval between Finchum and Yeley continued to grow from 2.333 seconds on Lap 10, 3.174 on Lap 12, 3.785 on Lap 13, 4.920 on Lap 14, 7.47 on Lap 19, and 9.786 on Lap 23. Five laps later, when he was more than ten seconds behind Yeley, Finchum was first to lose a lap.
Green-flag pit stops followed, shuffling the order. On Lap 33, the spot fell to Ryan Preece in the #41 Bonanza Cabernet Ford, then LaJoie on Lap 34, Erik Jones’ #43 Dollar Tree Toyota on Lap 36, Grala’s #15 on Lap 38, then Yeley on Lap 40. Over the radio, Carl Long talked Finchum through the best path around the track, at one point telling him to not back the corner up more. Their plan was to stretch their tires to Lap 65, but for Finchum to pit if the car proved too difficult to handle. Finchum ended up pitting on Lap 44 and retook last from Yeley the next time by. Just three laps later, Kyle Larson drew the caution when he cut a right-rear tire and hit the wall in his #5 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet. At the time, Finchum was now two laps down.
On the Lap 54 restart, Larson cleared minimum speed, and Finchum ran his fastest lap of the race. When Stage 1 ended on Lap 81, Finchum was three laps down, but the only driver off the lead lap. “That run was definitely better handling wise,” said Finchum. “I think the lap times showed that, but I wouldn't care for a little more of that.” On Lap 93, five laps after the restart, Finchum again ran his fastest lap of the race at a 34.212. Meanwhile, NASCAR alerted its spotter to Yeley, who bounced off the outside wall on Lap 114. He came down pit road, only to receive a pass-through penalty for a failing to use the access road in Turns 1 and 2. After the penalty, he was three laps down on Lap 125, and the leaders passed him in the low lane on Lap 142.
On Lap 157, Finchum was still in last place, between five and six laps down, when leaders Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott rushed past in their side-by-side battle for the lead. As Hamlin prevailed to win Stage 2 on Lap 166, Finchum remarked his car was “really free on that run,” so Long called for half a round out of the right-rear. On the Lap 173 restart, Finchum was still three laps behind 37th-place Yeley, but another driver found trouble. Ty Gibbs lost fourth gear on his #54 Monster Energy Toyota, dropping him to the tail end of the lead lap. On Lap 187, Gibbs bumped Haley into his second spin of the day entering Turn 3, drawing another caution. Finchum incurred a tail-end penalty for speeding in Section 3, but all 38 starters were still on track.
For the Lap 192 restart, Finchum’s spotter remarked that Yeley was having trouble ahead of him. Gibbs also found trouble on Lap 194 when he crossed LaJoie’s nose off Turn 2, causing damage that sent Gibbs back to pit road. By Lap 198, when Gibbs returned to the track, he’d slipped to 37th between Yeley and Finchum, between three and four laps down. Gibbs cleared minimum speed, though the driver remained understandably frustrated. On Lap 221, Finchum reported his car was now “too tight, need to freer,” and he now ran seven laps down, three behind Gibbs. Then on Lap 226, Yeley slowed onto the access road in Turns 1 and 2 with concrete on the right-side tires, indicating another hit to the outside wall. He made it back to pit road, now six laps down, then returned to the track six laps down. “If it feels messed up,” the team told him. “Take it to the garage.” But as he headed down the backstretch, he immediately pulled back onto the access road in Turn 3. “Take it to the garage,” the team said. Yeley pulled into the first opening, just before the Mobility Pit Box. He parked behind the team’s hauler, which was parked to the right of Finchum’s in the infield. Yeley took last from Finchum on Lap 235, out of the race since he didn’t clear minimum speed after his last hit to the wall.
Yeley pulls behind the wall, ending his day. (SCREENSHOT: NASCAR Drive)
Finchum, Gibbs, LaJoie, and Haley completed the Bottom Five.
Hocevar enjoys the race of his career
In addition to the dramatic finish settled among the Playoff contenders, Carson Hocevar enjoyed the best Cup Series race of his career. On Lap 57, his #77 Zeigler Auto Group / LoJack Chevrolet climbed from 15th at the start to 9th, then passed William Byron on Lap 68 and reached 5th on Lap 75. He continued to battle among the leaders on Lap 97, and took the checkered flag in 9th, beating two of the eight Playoff contenders. It was an impressive run at the track which saw Hocevar punch his ticket into the Truck Series Championship Four last year.
Right behind Hocevar came three of the four Stewart-Haas Racing teammates, headed by a particularly impressive Ryan Preece, who climbed from 35th on the grid to finish 10th, only his fifth top-ten finish of the year and first since Bristol.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*While this marked the first last-place run for the #44 in a Cup Series race at Homestead, it’s Yeley’s second at the track, following June 14, 2020, when his fuel pump failed on Rick Ware Racing’s #27 Ford after 211 laps. That race also saw him as the lone DNF.
*The 223 laps Yeley complete ranks as the second-most for a Cup Series last-place finisher at Homestead, just 17 laps behind record holder Regan Smith, who turned 240 laps on November 18, 2018. When Yeley attempted to return to the race, he bested Stacy Compton’s previous second-best record of 222 laps, set back in 2001.
*Yeley is now tied with Morgan Shepherd for the third-most last-place finishes in NASCAR history (42 each).
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #44-J.J. Yeley / 223 laps / crash
37) #66-Chad Finchum / 258 laps / running
36) #54-Ty Gibbs / 261 laps / running
35) #51-Corey LaJoie / 266 laps / running
34) #7-Justin Haley / 266 laps / running / led 1 lap
2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Stewart-Haas Racing (5)
2nd) Penske Racing (4)
3rd) Joe Gibbs Racing, Kaulig Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Spire Motorsports (3)
4th) Hendrick Motorsports, NY Racing Team, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Trackhouse Racing (2)
5th) Front Row Motorsports, Legacy Motor Club, RFK Racing (1)
2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (16)
2nd) Chevrolet (14)
3rd) Toyota (4)
2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
