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J.J. Yeley Hits Milestone With 800th NASCAR National Series Start

JJ Yeley, driver of the #44 100 Coconut Water Chevrolet, poses for a photo on the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 14, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

In the 2024 RAPTOR King of Tough 250 from Atlanta Motor Speedway, J.J. Yeley made his 800th start in NASCAR’s three combined National Series.

This includes races in the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Craftsman Truck Series. 47-year-old Yeley’s historic feat occurred in the second 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season race on Saturday, February 24th. Fellow competitors A.J. Allmendinger and Ryan Ellis made their 100th Series starts in the same event.

Over the weekend, I happened across the statistic by pure luck. It stemmed from a piece I was working on about drivers who did not land a long-term NASCAR ride in 2024. Adding up his 378 Cup starts, 385 Xfinity starts, and 36 Truck starts equaled a total of 799. Upon the wave of Saturday’s green flag, he would partake in his 800th NASCAR National Series event.

Welcome to the Club

2003 USAC Triple Crown winner J.J. Yeley became the 31st driver in NASCAR history to compete in 800 combined races. He joins the following list of veterans who have reached this career milestone (as of Monday, February 26th, 2024; numbers accumulated from Racing Reference):

  1. Kevin Harvick (1,299 starts – 826 Cup, 349 Xfinity, 124 Trucks)
  2. Kyle Busch (1,217 starts – 680 Cup, 366 Xfinity, 171 Trucks)
  3. Joe Nemechek (1,197 starts – 674 Cup, 453 Xfinity, 70 Trucks)
  4. Richard Petty (1,184 starts – 1,184 Cup)
  5. Mark Martin (1,143 starts – 882 Cup, 236 Xfinity, 25 Trucks)
  6. Michael Waltrip (1,072 starts – 784 Cup, 279 Xfinity, 9 Trucks)
  7. Morgan Shepherd (1,027 starts – 517 Cup, 453 Xfinity, 57 Trucks)
  8. Terry Labonte (1,017 starts – 890 Cup, 124 Xfinity, 3 Trucks)
  9. Jeff Burton (1,005 starts – 695 Cup, 306 Xfinity, 4 Trucks)
  10. Dale Jarrett (997 starts – 668 Cup, 329 Xfinity)
  11. Matt Kenseth (985 starts – 697 Cup, 288 Xfinity)
  12. Ken Schrader (984 starts – 763 Cup, 116 Xfinity, 105 Trucks)
  13. Bobby Labonte (942 starts – 729 Cup, 203 Xfinity, 10 Trucks)
  14. Darrell Waltrip (921 starts – 809 Cup, 95 Xfinity, 17 Trucks)
  15. Ricky Rudd (909 starts – 906 Cup, 3 Xfinity)
  16. Kenny Wallace (904 starts – 344 Cup, 547 Xfinity, 13 Trucks)
  17. Dave Marcis (888 starts – 883 Cup, 4 Xfinity, 1 Truck)
  18. Kyle Petty (885 starts – 829 Cup, 55 Xfinity, 1 Truck)
  19. Jeff Gordon (878 starts – 805 Cup, 73 Xfinity)
  20. Bill Elliott (874 starts – 828 Cup, 44 Xfinity, 2 Trucks)
  21. Elliott Sadler (855 starts – 438 Cup, 397 Xfinity, 20 Trucks)
  22. Brad Keselowski (846 starts – 523 Cup, 257 Xfinity, 66 Trucks)
  23. Greg Biffle (842 starts – 515 Cup, 244 Xfinity, 83 Trucks)
  24. Kurt Busch (834 starts – 776 Cup, 30 Xfinity, 28 Trucks)
  25. Denny Hamlin (832 starts – 652 Cup, 164 Xfinity, 16 Trucks)
  26. Sterling Marlin (825 starts – 748 Cup, 77 Xfinity)
  27. Jeff Green (815 starts – 270 Cup, 535 Xfinity, 10 Trucks)
  28. Dale Earnhardt (812 starts – 676 Cup, 136 Trucks)
  29. Ryan Newman (805 starts – 733 Cup, 65 Xfinity, 7 Trucks)
  30. Todd Bodine (800 starts – 241 Cup, 333 Xfinity, 226 Trucks)
  31. J.J. Yeley (800 starts – 378 Cup, 386 Xfinity, 36 Trucks)

In 2022, Todd Bodine returned to the Truck Series for six races to achieve 800 combined starts. Denny Hamlin was the most recent addition to the club with his Cup start at Richmond Raceway in April last year.

Recent Runs

In 2023, J.J. Yeley made 26 starts for Rick Ware Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. A 7th place in Atlanta’s summer race was his first Top 10 since the 2013 Daytona 500 and his best finish since a 3rd at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June of 2008. Yeley did not return to the team this year in pursuit of a full-time Xfinity Series opportunity. Unfortunately, nothing would materialize.

In the days leading up to the 2024 Daytona 500, NY Racing Team signed on Yeley after Greg Biffle pulled out due to contract conflicts. Due to a slow qualifying effort and being a non-charter, the pair had to race their way in by competing in the Bluegreen Vacation Duels. Yeley was to battle 7-time Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson in Duel 1. His impressive run caught the attention of many, and on the white flag, he found himself ahead of Johnson. Coming off the final corner, Yeley was ultimately passed and failed to make the 66th running. The opportunity would have been his seventh Daytona 500 and his 800th NASCAR National Series race.

No. 800

J.J. Yeley was brought on to race with Xfinity team SS-Green Light Racing for Atlanta’s RAPTOR King of Tough 250. He had previously made starts for Bobby Dotter including eight Truck races from 2011 to 2016 and 17 Xfinity races from 2020 to 2023.

The pair qualified 36th of 38 total entries. In the early part of the race, Yeley raced his way to nearly the top half of the field. However, on lap 59, he would be spun out by Kyle Weatherman on the front stretch. Despite no significant damage, most of their race was spent marred two laps down. Yeley would pilot the No. 14 to a 24th-place finish. The night ended with a post-race altercation after Yeley’s crew chief physically confronted Weatherman on pit road.

The milestone of 800 starts was not mentioned during the Fox Sports 1 broadcast.

We congratulate J.J. Yeley on his historic NASCAR accomplishment and wish for continued success in his racing career. Stay tuned here at LWOS Motorsports for NASCAR news, results, updates, and more.

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