After their third consecutive Daytona 500 DNQ, NY Racing Team returned for the following weekend's NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway), again with J.J. Yeley behind the wheel of the No. 44 Chevrolet.
Yeley, who was in the No. 44 car for all three of those Daytona 500 DNQs and is actually now riding his own 0-for-5 streak dating back to 2020, was unfortunately knocked out of the Atlanta race in a late accident and credited with a 31st place DNF, and unlike a year ago, when the team competed in two of the next six races on the schedule, they have not been back in the Cup Series since.
That is set to change at Talladega Superspeedway, although it will not be Yeley behind the wheel of the No. 44 car like it was in 2025.
J.J. Yeley replaced at NY Racing Team for Talladega NASCAR Cup race
Joey Gase, who competed for the team in the summer races at Daytona International Speedway in both 2024 and 2025, is set to drive the No. 44 Chevrolet this weekend at Talladega. His 20th place finish at Daytona in 2024 is tied for the best result in team history with the late Greg Biffle's 20th place finish in Atlanta four years ago.
Because there are five non-chartered (open) cars on the entry list for Sunday's 188-lap Jack Link's 500 around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked Lincoln, Alabama oval, and only four can join the 36 chartered cars in the 40-car field, Gase is not locked into the race.
The other four open cars include the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet, the No. 66 Garage 66 (MBM Motorsports) Ford, and the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet. They are set to be driven by Jesse Love, Casey Mears, Chad Finchum, and Daniel Dye, respectively.
Live coverage of this Sunday afternoon's Jack Link's 500 is set to be provided by Fox from Talladega Superspeedway beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action from NASCAR's biggest oval!
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