In a vicious crash at Texas Motor Speedway a couple of weeks ago, Cody Ware suffered an impacted fracture in his right foot. While the 26-year-old racer was able to gut it out and race at Talladega Superspeedway this past weekend, Ware will step aside at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, where more footwork is required behind the wheel.
JJ Yeley, who is a frequent flier in Rick Ware Racing NASCAR Cup Series equipment, will slide behind the wheel of the No. 51 Nurtec ODT Ford Mustang this weekend.
Ware made the announcement that he would be stepping aside at the Roval on Tuesday in the form of a statement on Twitter.
The statement from Ware read:
“This weekend I am making the tough decision to step aside and support my team from outside the car. Given the extensive footwork required for a road course event, I don’t feel I’ll be able to give 100% effort to my team, my sponsors or to Ford.
“I appreciate everyone’s continued support and well wishes & I can’t wait to be back in action in Vegas. My recovery process is going great & I’m feeling stronger each day. Big thanks to JJ Yeley for filling in for me for this event-I’ll be there pulling for you.”
Here is the accident at Texas Motor Speedway that led to Ware’s injury:
Ware, who scored his first-career NASCAR Cup Series top-10 finish last month at Daytona International Speedway, had high hopes for a solid finish last weekend at Talladega, despite being in a boot due to his injuries sustained at Texas Motor Speedway.
However, Ware’s No. 51 car faded this past Sunday after a right rear tire leaked air, which caused his car to drag the splitter, diffuser and blocks. The damage to the undercarriage of the car impacted its speed in the draft for the remainder of the event and Ware finished 32nd.
Ware has never completed a full NASCAR Cup Series season, although he did compete in 32 events during the 2021 campaign. Missing Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval will ensure that he will again not compete in the complete schedule in 2022, but he felt it was the right thing to do considering the injury to his right foot.
Yeley has a total of 348 NASCAR Cup Series starts to his record, including 15 this season in a combination of Rick Ware Racing and MBM Motorsports equipment. Yeley’s career-best finish in NASCAR Cup Series competition is a runner-up finish in the 2007 Coca-Cola 600, while driving the No. 18 car for Joe Gibbs Racing.
