Yeley confirms Gibbs exit

Yeley has been driving for Gibbs since 2004, but completed his first full season in the No. 18 car only last season, ranking 29th in the points with three top-tens as his best results during the year.

He has been unable to match the pace or results of either of his teammates, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. With Joe Gibbs keen on keeping his team as a three-car operation, Yeley's lack of results and some top drivers becoming available will see them part ways at the end of the season.

"Well, right now I'm leaving Joe Gibbs Racing," Yeley said at Watkins Glen. "I have a lot of good opportunities in store for me. I don't have a date set on when I'm going to announce what I'm doing but I have talked to several different teams.

"I can assure you that all the teams I'm talking to are all top-quality teams that want to make me a championship-calibre driver. They want to put an effort behind me that we can go win races. That's what I'm excited about."

Yeley, driver of the No. 18 car, said discussion for a renewal of his contract with Joe Gibbs, which expires this year, didn't come to fruition. He admitted recent moves in the driver market could have affected negotiations.

"I've had a couple discussion with J.D. (Gibbs) and I'm at the end of my contract here so it's not a matter of being replaced or being fired, it's just a matter of we've been in negotiations trying to figure out what it's going to take to make this team run better," Yeley added.

"Obviously there are some drivers out there that have become available that have shaken up NASCAR. If it was Dale Jr. to Kyle Busch and so on and so forth, I'm sure it's not going to stop now.

"So it's been a couple weeks and it's just gotten to the point where the timetables needed to be set. I think they're getting closer to what they're going to do."

Yeley confirmed he has held talks with DEI among other teams but has not finalized a deal for next year yet.

He currently sits 21st in the NASCAR Nextel Cup standings with a pole at Michigan and a second place at the Coca Cola 600 as his best results do date.