NASCAR Cup

Texas: JJ Yeley preview

Texas -- Big Week, Big Race, Big Market, Big Purse & the Home of DLP CORNELIUS, N.C. (April 2, 2008) -- Without question, in the more than 10 years that Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) has appeared on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, the races ...

Edited: Apr 4, 2008, 2:37 AM

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Texas -- Big Week, Big Race, Big Market, Big Purse & the Home of DLP

CORNELIUS, N.C. (April 2, 2008) -- Without question, in the more than 10 years that Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) has appeared on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, the races conducted at the 1.5-mile oval have become extremely important.

TMS is located in the large Dallas/Fort Worth market. Its two NASCAR race weekends draw some of the largest crowds on the circuit. And TMS also pays among the best purses on the schedule.

For J.J. Yeley, the already important Samsung 500 Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at TMS is all the more important since the Dallas/Fort Worth market is home to the primary sponsor of the No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing Toyota -- DLP® HDTV, a division of Texas Instruments.

Yeley will visit with several employees from the company on Wednesday before taking to the track this weekend in hopes of making them proud with a strong run in the No. 96 DLP HDTV Toyota during the 334-lap race.

A busy week? Sure. But Yeley knows he's got the support of thousands of Texas Instruments employees who stand behind him.

J.J. YELEY, driver of the No. 96 DLP HDTV Toyota Camry:

What are your overall thoughts heading to Texas?

"It seems like every time I go to Texas, generally I have a pretty good race car. But at some point during the race, we get into trouble and the finishes reflect that Texas is not one of my best, nor my favorite race track to go to. So, between the Nationwide Series and the Cup Series, we haven't had the best finishes. To me, it's a new slate, a new team, a new sponsor -- DLP -- which is from the Dallas area. So that makes it exciting because it means you're going to show up a day or two early and meet some new fans and go and take a tour of the company and have some fun. It makes for a little bit longer of a week, but it's pretty neat."

Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway are very similar. How do you expect the new Sprint Cup car to handle at Texas after having driven it at Atlanta?

"Having a new crew chief in Steve Boyer, I think things will be a little different. We're going to have a different outlook. I think we're going to go to Texas with a little bit of a different package than we ran at Atlanta. We weren't really that horrible at Atlanta. We just needed to build on a couple of things. The engineers have been working really hard and have spent a lot of time at the seven-post rig. I'm really looking forward to getting to Texas and running well for DLP."

Since you've been racing in the Sprint Cup Series, Texas races have always been a big deal for you. Your previous sponsor, Interstate Batteries, is based in Dallas, and your current sponsor, DLP HDTV and Texas Instruments, are based there as well. How big of a weekend is this for you?

"When you go to Texas, you know it's one of the favorite races for the fans. I think it has the second- or third-highest attendance. It's just amazing to see how many fans are there, and the track always produces great racing. We want to have an exceptional run for DLP HDTV since they'll have a lot of executives, customers and partners there. It's an important weekend for them."

-credit: hofr

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