But the single-car team raced to the front of the line today, signing Yeley to a multiyear deal to replace Tony Raines in the No. 96 next season. It capped a whirlwind three days for the team, which since Sunday has introduced new majority owners, a new driver and indicated it likely will follow partner JGR to Toyota.

"This may come as a surprise to some people that I've chosen to come here, but with all the options I had, I felt this was going to be the best for myself," Yeley said. "I really wanted to be a part of something where we could grow together as a team."

Yeley spent the past two seasons driving the No. 18 Chevrolet for JGR, but he's in the final year of his contract and will be replaced by Kyle Busch in 2008.

The decision was difficult for Gibbs officials, who have invested heavily in the 30-year-old former sprint-car star. But Yeley won't be far from Gibbs' reach at his new team: Hall of Fame Racing has been aligned with JGR since its 2003 inception.

The original ownership group, which included Hall of Fame quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach, relied heavily on support from Joe Gibbs, and the team receives chassis and motors from JGR.

Majority ownership was sold last week to Jeff Moorad, chief executive officer of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Tom Garfinkel, the chief operating officer. The new owners said their alliance with Gibbs will continue, but the team is committed to growing into its own entity.

"I wanted to have a clean break from Joe Gibbs Racing, to really go out and prove myself away from them," Yeley said. "Here at Hall of Fame Racing, we're still doing that. There is still enough distinction there. We want to at some point, go off on our own and be our own team, where we rely on our guys to go out and win races."

The deal also will give Toyota another young driver in its rapidly expanding stable. JGR is expected to announce Wednesday that it's switching from Chevrolets to Toyotas next season, and Hall of Fame will follow. That would give the Toyota organization four new drivers — including two-time champion Tony Stewart — and three of them are 30 are younger.

Yeley is 20th in the points, with one pole and one top-10 finish this season. He was a career-best second at Charlotte in May.

His adjustment to stock cars has been slow but steady, which at times frustrated him because of his impressive open-wheel resume. Yeley was the youngest driver to receive a USAC license when he did it at 16 in 1992, and he qualified for the Indianapolis 500 when he was 21.

He broke A.J. Foyt's record for USAC wins in a season with 24 (Foyt had 19), and he joined Stewart as the only drivers in USAC history to win its Triple Crown in 2003.

Yeley was in NASCAR the next year, but he failed to live up to the standards set by teammates Stewart and Denny Hamlin, who won two races as a rookie last season and finished third in the season standings.

Garfinkel, who spent five years as the top executive at Chip Ganassi Racing before joining the Diamondbacks, said Yeley was the only driver the team wanted to sign.

"He's the true definition of a racer — all he wants to do is get in the car and race, and race to win," Garfinkel said. "After meeting J.J. ... there was no discussions of T-shirts. He didn't bring up money. He didn't bring up diecast cars. All he wanted to know was how he was going to go fast and if he was going to have an opportunity to win."

Hall of Fame Racing is considered a success based on its standing as a single-car team competing against the big-budget operations that currently dominate the Chase for the championship standings.

Although Raines is 31st in driver standings, the car is 25th in owner points and ranked ahead of cars owned by the big teams of Ganassi, Roush Fenway Racing, Gillett Evernham Motorsports and Dale Earnhardt Inc.

But Raines is 43 and in the final year of his contract.