J.J. Yeley is back at the Daytona 500. On Thursday, MBM Motorsports announced Yeley will drive the #55 Ford Mustang with sponsorship from HEX.com and AXA Holdings.
MBM does not possess a charter, meaning he will have to record a fast qualifying time or race his way in through the Duel. If Yeley makes the race, it will be his seventh career 500 and first since 2015. His best finish in the Great American Race is tenth in 2013 for Tommy Baldwin Racing. Yeley’s last 500 attempt came in 2020 for Rick Ware Racing, where he missed the show.
He will be part of a two-car effort for MBM alongside the #66 for Timmy Hill. It is MBM’s third time fielding two cars in the 500. While the team has used #66 with Hill in all three tries, the second car has varied in numbers and drivers: the 2020 500 saw Chad Finchum miss the race in the #49, while Garrett Smithley did so in the #13 in 2021.
MBM has made two 500s. The first in 2018 came with Mark Thompson in the #66 where he finished twenty-second in his final NASCAR start; at the age of 66, he was the oldest driver to race a 500. Hill finished twenty-seventh in the other successful 500 qualification in 2020.
“We’re extremely excited to partner with MBM Motorsports, HEX.com and J.J. Yeley, all while bringing a new sponsor to the sport that’s cutting edge in the cryptocurrency space,” commented Malco Enterprises (owner of HEX) CEO Josh Maloney. “We look forward to working together to take on a very competitive field at Daytona.”
Yeley is a journeyman racer who has driven in all three national series for multiple teams. In 2021, he ran six Cup Series races for Rick Ware Racing along with the Las Vegas fall round for MBM. The latter start, his first for the team’s Cup programme, ended in thirty-eighth.
Owned by Carl Long, MBM is primarily an Xfinity Series operation. The team fields the #66 full-time in that series for multiple drivers.