NY Racing Team tried and failed to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 for the third consecutive season back in February with J.J. Yeley behind the wheel of the No. 44 Chevrolet.
Yeley has since competed in three races this year, most recently in the race at Chicagoland Speedway back in early July, which he finished in a season-worst 35th.
He finished in a surprising 21st at Michigan International Speedway in early June, which was just one position shy of the best result in team history. He also finished 31st at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway) with a late DNF.
This weekend, the team have entered the No. 44 car at Daytona again, and they once again run the risk of failing to qualify, as there are 41 cars on the entry list. Only four of the five non-chartered (open) cars will get to compete in Saturday night's 160-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval.
NY Racing Team changes drivers for Daytona
For the third year in a row, the team have turned to Joey Gase to pilot the No. 44 Chevrolet in the summer Daytona race.
Gase, who made his first start of the year for team at Talladega Superspeedway back in late April and finished 30th, finished 20th at Daytona two summers ago, matching the late Greg Biffle's 20th place finish at Atlanta in March 2022 as the best in team history.
Gase has made just four Cup Series starts since the end of the 2021 season, having sat out the 2022 and 2023 campaigns entirely. He finished in 28th at Daytona for NY Racing Team a year ago, and he also ran the 2025 race at Iowa Speedway for Garage 66 and finished 37th.
Despite his Cup Series appearances being few and far between, after he had competed in the series on some level each year from 2014 to 2021, the 33-year-old native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa has stayed active in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series side by running much of the schedule over the past several years, doing so for the Joey Gase Motorsports team he owns.
Gase is set to battle with Beard Motorsports' Casey Mears, Garage 66's Gray Gaulding, 23XI Racing's Corey Heim, and Live Fast Motorsports' Daniel Dye for a spot in Saturday night's race.
TruTV is set to broadcast Friday's decisive Coke Zero Sugar 400 qualifying session from Daytona International Speedway starting at 5:00 p.m. ET, while the race itself is set to be shown live on NBC beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on Satuday, August 28. Start your free trial of FuboTV and don't miss the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale!
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