May 24, 2008
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600
September 14, 2007
Christopher Beltram Hernandez Yeley (born October 5,
1976) is a NASCAR racecar driver from Phoenix,
Arizona. He currently drives the #96 DLP/Texas
Instruments Toyota Camry for Hall of Fame Racing in
the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Yeley initially made a mark for himself in the world
of auto racing when he took the Hoosier state by
storm during the 1997 edition of Indiana Sprintweek.
He won that series and captured the Rookie of the
Year Award in the USAC National Sprint Car Series
despite starting relatively few races.
In 1998, Yeley competed in four Indy Racing League
(IRL) races, including the Indianapolis 500. His one
top-10 finish in these four races was at
Indianapolis, where he finished 9th despite a spin
on the first turn of the first lap, which nearly
collected eventual race winner Eddie Cheever, Jr.
Yeley also raced in the IRL in 2000 in an
underfunded effort with McCormack Motorsports, but
ultimately returned to USAC racing, picking up where
he had left off by winning the 2001 and 2003
National Sprint, 2002 and 2003 Silver Crown, and
2003 National Midget Series titles.
His championships in all three of USAC's top
divisions in 2003 made him only the second driver,
after Tony Stewart in 1995, to achieve the "Triple
Crown" in a single season. Stewart was, in fact, the
owner of the Sprint and Silver Crown cars in Yeley's
2003 season; the Midget which Yeley drove in 2003,
Steve Lewis' #9, had been driven by Stewart in 1995.
Yeley scored 24 USAC wins in his 2003 season,
breaking the previous record of 19 set by A.J. Foyt
in 1961 and later tied by Sleepy Trip (1988) and Jay
Drake (2000).
