JJ Yeley Spins While Leading; Pablo Donoso Finishes Third at Phoenix


PHOENIX, AZ Nov. 8, 2007—J.J. Yeley, of Phoenix, appeared to be headed for his fourth victory in the No.14 Greer Special as the USAC Silver Crown Series closed out its season Thursday night at Phoenix International Raceway’s Copper World Classic. However, a spin while leading with 16 laps to go, dashed his hopes and with it, team owner A.J. Foyt’s championship bid.


Yeley’s teammate Pablo Donoso, of Santiago, Chile, made a bold move with two laps remaining, to jump from fifth to third after starting 12th in the 100-lap feature.


“Pablo went between two cars going into turn one and made it, but I’m still not sure how. The kid’s got car control,” said George Snider, who ran the two-car program for Foyt’s team, which won six of the nine pavement races this year.


Yeley finished ninth in the race, making entrant A.J. Foyt Enterprises just 12 points shy of the USAC entrant title. The No. 14 finished second in the standings despite competing in only 10 of the 14 Silver Crown events this year.


“J.J. said that the car got sideways on him and he couldn’t get it gathered up in time and he spun,” said Snider. “The motor died and he lost two laps waiting to get restarted. If he’d been able to keep it running, he still could have won the race because he came right up through there on the restart.


“It’s a shame because it would have been nice to win the title for A.J.,” said Snider. “It was really looking good for a while there. That’s a hard way to go out. I know J.J. felt real bad about it but what can you say? That’s racing.”


Donoso finished 10th in the driver standings. Other drivers who took the No. 14 Greer Chevy to victory circle were Tracy Hines who won at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and Bobby East Jr. who won at Iowa Speedway and O’Reilly Raceway Park.