Date: Aug. 3, 2008
Event: Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 (Round 21 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. (2.5-mile triangle)
Start/Finish: 43rd/39th (Out of Fuel, completed 196 of 200 laps)
Winner: Carl Edwards of Roush Fenway Racing (Ford)
 |
| cia photo | | |
J.J. Yeley, driver of the No. 96 DLP HDTV Toyota for Hall of Fame Racing, ran out of fuel with four laps remaining and finished 39th in Sunday’s Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa.
After the fuel tank ran dry on lap 196 of the 200-lap race, Yeley coasted his car to pit lane to the attention of the DLP team for some much needed gas. But unfortunately, Yeley and the team were not able to get the engine re-fired and complete the race.
“We just fought loose in through the center (of the corner) all day and it really hurt us bad through turn one,” said a disappointed Yeley. “After about 10 or 15 laps of a run, we just couldn’t carry any speed. We made it better on each stop all day long, but it made the car a 20th- to 25th-place car. But we took the gamble on fuel and that the car was going to stay decent at the end and it didn’t pan out for us.”
After starting 43rd, Yeley and crew chief Steve Boyer used the first half of the race to work on a race car that was loose in the center of the corner, throwing several changes at the chassis that seemed to improve its handling. While the DLP team got better throughout the day, Yeley sat in the 29th position as the caution flag waved on lap 126 for rain in turn two. Since Yeley had pitted just five laps prior, Boyer elected to stay out while several other teams pitted for fuel and tires as the red flag eventually came out on lap 131 to temporarily halt the race so that track crews could dry the 2.5-mile triangle.
The decision to stay out appeared to work, as it catapulted Yeley to 14th-place when the race restarted on lap 134 after a 41-minute rain delay. Even on tires that were five laps older than many behind him, Yeley held his ground in 16th-place as the caution flew on lap 138. Now Boyer had a decision to make – pit for tires, or stay out and pit one final time in hopes of stretching their fuel mileage to the end. The DLP team opted to stay out, as Boyer asked Yeley to save as much fuel as possible in hopes of being able to make it to the end with only one more stop. On lap 161, Yeley came to pit road for what he had hoped would be his final time.
Unfortunately for Yeley, Boyer and the DLP team, it wasn’t, as the gas tank on the No. 96 machine ran dry, forcing the team to push Yeley into the garage area as the checkered flag dropped.
“We took a shot at hitting a home run and it backfired on us,” said Yeley. “I let off early and did everything I could to save fuel and we actually got worse fuel mileage than what we thought, which was kind of shocking. We’re still not exactly sure why. It’s very disappointing to know that while we didn’t have a great car, we were going to finish between 20th and 25th but ended up 39th instead.”
Despite the 39th-place finish, Yeley gained one spot and now sits 36th in the championship driver standings, with a post-Pocono total of 1,263 points. The No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing entry is 38th in the series’ owner standings with 1,381 points, 196 markers behind the 35th-place No. 66 car of Haas CNC Racing.
Carl Edwards won the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 to score his 11th career Sprint Cup victory, his fourth of the season and his second at Pocono. Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and David Ragan rounded out the top-five. Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin, Jamie McMurray and Jeff Gordon comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were seven caution periods for 31 laps, with five drivers failing to finish the race.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Aug. 10 Centurion Boats at The Glen at the Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International road course. The race begins at 2 p.m. EDT with live, high-definition coverage provided by ESPN beginning with its pre-race show at 1 p.m. The race will also be broadcast live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128.
-DLP® HDTV-