After failing to qualify for the 2025 NASCAR Cup series season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, NY Racing Team returned the following weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
But J.J. Yeley was taken out in a crash, and the No. 44 Chevrolet did not return to the series at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), Phoenix Raceway, or Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It returned to the entry list for this past weekend's race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Yeley finished the 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Homestead, Florida oval in 35th place, marking his first actual result since his 35th place finish in the 2024 season finale at Phoenix with the same team and matching his best finish since his 27th place finish at Talladega Superspeedway in October.
But as most fans expected, NY Racing Team will not be back for this coming Sunday afternoon's race at Martinsville Speedway.
The team made a total of 10 appearances and nine starts last year, all but one with Yeley behind the wheel, and only once did they compete in back-to-back events. It marked their busiest Cup Series season in terms of entries since 2014 (11), and it was the busiest ever in terms of actual starts.
A similar schedule is predicted for 2025, though they have not yet confirmed any additional starts beyond this past Sunday's Straight Talk Wireless 400.
It is rare that a Cup Series entry list exceeds 40 cars for a race other than the Daytona 500, so it's tough to imagine that NY Racing Team won't be locked in whenever they choose to compete, even as a non-chartered (open) team. Last year, they did not make their second start until the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, so they are already ahead of that pace.
As far as open cars go, there are still two on the entry list for this Sunday afternoon's Cook Out 400 at Martinsville, and neither one has competed in a Cup race yet this year. Burt Myers is set to drive the No. 50 Chevrolet for Team AmeriVet, and Casey Mears is set to drive the No. 66 Ford for Garage 66.
Both teams tried and failed to qualify for the preseason Cook Out Clash exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium, and Garage 66 tried and failed to qualify for the Daytona 500.
The Cook Out 400 is set to be shown live on Fox Sports 1 from Martinsville Speedway beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, March 30. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action!