Yeley Matches 2016 Points Finish

JJ Yeley takes his No. 14 around the Bristol Motor Speedway in April
(Photo-CCK Photography)

For the second straight season, JJ Yeley was in contention for one of the playoff spots at the end of the season. Returning to Tri-Star Motorsports for the third straight season, Yeley had some high notes in a bumpy season but the end result was the same as last season. Yeley finished 14th for the second straight season, a success in its own sense. 

Yeley started off the season with two DNF's. The next five races though, he finished 22nd or better every weekend. In a span of five weekends, his best finish came at Bristol in April where he finished 11th.

A rear-gear issue at Michigan would relegate the No. 14 to a 39th place finish, his worst finish of 2017.

During the week between Indianapolis and Iowa, Tri-Star Motorsports owner Mark Smith passed away after a long battle with cancer. The team rolled onto Iowa just as expected and ended the afternoon with their season-best finish of sixth. The sixth-place finish would put the team back on the map for a spot in the playoffs. 

A blown engine at Watkins Glen would put the team in a bind with seven races before the end of the regular season. Wally Rogers and his team would make a run for their money finishing inside the top-20 every weekend leading up to Chicago but in the end, it wouldn't be enough to put them in the playoffs. 

Despite missing the playoffs, the season wasn't over. During the playoffs, Yeley had a good string of finishes to end 2017 finishing inside the top-20 every weekend except at Homestead where they finished 22nd.

TriStar Motorsports revealed on Facebook that the team will be moving their shop to Mooresville during the off-season. No word on if the Cup Series program will return but it is expected that the XFINITY Program will return. (Koelle,2017)