JJ Yeley ‘excited’ for Talladega opportunity with Spire

The start of the season did not go the way J.J. Yeley had planned.

Despite two opportunities to potentially qualify for races during Daytona Speedweeks in February, Yeley struck out on making both the NASCAR Cup Series’ season-opening Daytona 500 with NY Racing and the NASCAR Xfinity Series opener with RSS Racing.

After a low owner points position and rain knocked Yeley out of the Xfinity race, he found a good friend in the Daytona International Speedway driver’s lot and struck up a conversation. Yeley told that friend he was making the most of the situation and remaining positive.

During their talk, the friend mentioned he had open inventory in one of his rides in 2025 and wanted Yeley to help fill that inventory.

That friend was Spire Motorsports’ team owner Jeff Dickerson.

Yeley and Dickerson ultimately worked out the deal for Yeley to drive the team’s No. 7 Chevrolet at Talladega Superspeedway next Friday (Oct. 17).

“(I’m) excited for the opportunity,” Yeley said to The Racing Experts. “We’re going to go out there, I’m going to give it my best and then hopefully we’ll still be there when we’re rolling around off of Turn 4 to see the checkers and hopefully I’ll be the first one there.”

Yeley, 49, is no stranger to the team. In 2020, he drove for Spire in select Cup races.

The Spire No. 7 Truck ride is no stranger to victory lane this year alone. The truck posted wins with Kyle Busch at Atlanta in February and Carson Hocevar at Kansas in May.

Long-time NASCAR crew chief Brian Pattie, the crew chief on those race-winning trucks, will work with Yeley at Talladega.

Yeley acknowledged the race is one of his best opportunities to contend for a victory in NASCAR.

The goal isn’t a top-10 or to log points — it’s to win.

“It’s become increasingly difficult to go and win unless you’re in top-notch equipment and obviously Spire’s truck program fits that category,” Yeley said. “I definitely think being a superspeedway in the trucks, anybody can have that opportunity because they push a lot of air. They pack air there.”

The NextGen car in the Cup Series changed the dynamic of drafting to make it different from how other NASCAR vehicles draft — like a truck.

“There’s opportunities for big runs. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of pushing and again those pushing leads to the crashes, but you know in this situation and it’s gonna be such a different situation that I’ve been in for years and years,” Yeley said.

Behind the scenes, Yeley said he has been working with the team to get his seat ready since last week, with final preparations this week.

“There’s no stress, there’s none of that pressure; they run multiple trucks every weekend, so again, they’re on their game, it’s a throwback to me, to be kind of the situation of in (this) racing program,” Yeley said.

The Spire deal for Talladega is a one-off deal for Yeley and the team.

Over the years, Yeley has sniffed the chance to win across various NASCAR series.

Twice in the Xfinity Series, Yeley has finished runner-up (2005 Pikes Peak and 2006 Kentucky). In 2007, during his second full-time Cup season with Joe Gibbs Racing, Yeley finished second in a fuel-mileage finish to Casey Mears in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.

In 36 career Truck Series races, Yeley has posted two Top-10 finishes with a career-high of ninth in 2017 at Daytona.

If Yeley’s first NASCAR national touring series win is in the cards next week, Yeley will not ride off into the sunset as a winner in his final start.

“I’m not ready to to hang it up by any means,” Yeley said. “Definitely not a retirement type of scenario. If we win now, it’ll be a party scenario.” 

In fact, the 2026 cards for Yeley may have opportunities for the racing veteran, which could include more Cup Series races with NY Racing and races in the Xfinity Series.

For now, the focus is to collect the trophy at Talladega — and express gratitude for the opportunity.

“From the leadership, ownership group (at Spire), all the way down to everyone in the front office, that’s just been very helpful, and in this process,” Yeley said.

“Again, being a one-off, the opportunity for me and what they’ve done, it just shows the level of professionalism of where that team has gotten to, and (I’m) excited to go to try and win a race for them.”

The Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 17 on FOX.