Vigoro will Sponsor Racing Driver J.J. Yeley

JOLIET, Ill. -- Vigoro lawn and garden products along with The Home Depot will be the primary sponsors of Joe Gibbs Racing driver J.J. Yeley as he attempts to make his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series debut at Michigan Speedway. Yeley will enter the #11 Vigoro/Home Depot Chevrolet Monte Carlo for the GFS Marketplace 400 on Sunday, August 22nd.

Sold exclusively at Home Depot stores, Vigoro is manufactured by St. Louis-based United Industries Corporation, which goes to market at Spectrum Brands. "Vigoro is moving fast in the lawn and garden category, much like J.J. Yeley behind the wheel of the Vigoro/Home Depot Chevrolet," says Kent Davies, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Spectrum Brands. "J.J. has been invaluable as a spokesman for our product, and we are very excited to support him as he makes his initial foray into NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series racing."

"On behalf of over 300,000 associates, The Home Depot is proud of its relationship with Joe Gibbs Racing and our partnership with Vigoro's line of lawn and garden products," says Steve Jansen, Merchandising Vice President, Home Depot Lawn & Garden. "We look forward to seeing Tony Stewart and J.J. Yeley competing together on the track at Michigan."

A native of Phoenix, the 27-year-old Yeley joined Joe Gibbs Racing with an impressive list of credentials. In 2003, he became only the second driver in racing history to win the USAC Triple Crown by earning the Sprint, Midget and Silver Crown championships in a single season. En route to that milestone, Yeley earned a total of 24 USAC victories, easily surpassing the mark of 19 set by A.J. Foyt in 1961 and tied in 1988 by Sleepy Tripp and in 2000 by Jay Drake. And while amassing such a large win total, Yeley became the first driver in USAC history to win on pavement and dirt in all three national series in a single season.

In 2004, Yeley has competed in 10 NASCAR Busch Series events. His best outing of the year was at Nashville Superspeedway in June, where he scored his first top-ten, finishing eighth. His best start was at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when he qualified seventh.

"I'm extremely thankful to Joe Gibbs Racing for giving me this opportunity, and I'm very pleased that Vigoro and The Home Depot are supporting this effort," says Yeley. "They have been behind me 100% with my switch from open-wheel to stock cars, and this will be a great challenge to compete against the best stock car drivers and teams in the world. But it's certainly a challenge that I look forward to embracing."

"J.J. Yeley continues to impress everyone within our organization as he gains more seat time," says J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. "This next step for J.J. is just a small segment in the progression of his career. He is a very motivated and focused young man, and he knows where he wants to race, and that's against the best that NASCAR has to offer. The support from Vigoro and Home Depot has certainly played a key role in his development as a stock car driver, and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing appreciates the opportunity to represent a great product like Vigoro in the marketplace."