Hall of Fame Racing News
Updated: 2010
Monday, Aug. 31, 2009
Erik Darnell to replace Bobby Labonte in the No. 96: Yates Racing, announced that former NASCAR Camping World Series Rookie-of–the-Year and current NASCAR Nationwide Series driver, Erik Darnell will be behind the wheel of the No. 96 entry in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for seven races this season. Darnell will make his Sprint Cup Series debut Labor Day weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the No. 96 Academy Sports & Outdoors Ford Fusion. He also is slated to pilot the No. 96 at Loudon, Kansas, Talladega, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead. Darnell will carry the familiar colors of Northern Tool + Equipment for the Loudon and Kansas races. Academy Sports & Outdoors will be Darnell’s primary sponsor at Atlanta, Talladega and Texas. Bobby Labonte will continue to race the No. 96 Ford under the Hall of Fame Racing banner with Ask.com and DLP as his primary sponsors at Richmond, Dover, Fontana, Charlotte and Martinsville. “This is a move that will be beneficial to Yates Racing surviving this difficult economic time,” said Bobby Labonte. “Of course, I’m disappointed that the sponsorship environment is so challenging right now, but I intend to make the most out of the remaining races that I’m behind the wheel for Ask.com, DLP and Hall of Fame Racing.”(Yates Racing PR)
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Academy Sports to sponsor Labonte five races: Hall of Fame Racing announced that Academy Sports + Outdoors, a leader in the sports and outdoor industry, will sponsor Bobby Labonte and the No. 96 Ford for five races in the Sprint Cup Series in 2009. Academy Sports + Outdoor's will debut with the No. 96 Academy Sports + Outdoor Ford at Bristol Motor Speedway. The retail leader will again race at Darlington Raceway in the Southern 500, Daytona International Speedway in the Coke Zero 400, Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Pep Boys Auto 500 and Talladega Superspeedway in the Amp Energy 500. (Yates Racing PR)
Monday, January 19, 2009
Yates/Hall of Fame Racing points transfer: Hall of Fame Racing today the #96 Ask.com Ford Fusion and Bobby Labonte as the manufacturers’ wild card entry into the famed Budweiser Shootout following NASCAR’s rule change on Friday. “The #96 joined the Ford family at the right time,” said Hall of Fame Racing Co-Owner, Tom Garfinkel. “We’re pleased to get Hall of Fame and Ask.com into the Shootout and have an early chance to start working towards solid top-five and top-10 finishes this season. We are pleased to be working with Bobby Labonte and Yates Racing and look forward to seeing this combination of talent come together for the first time in the Shootout.” Labonte and the #96 will also receive Yates Racing points from the #38, piloted by David Gilliland in 2008. The transfer will put the #96 in 27th position going into the Daytona 500 in February. Yates Racing’s #98 Menards Ford Fusion will start the 2009 season in 23rd position after a points transfer from the #28. Paul Menard will drive the machine for the full 2009 season. Travis Kvapil will start the season as a fresh entry in the #28 Yates Racing Ford. Sponsorship opportunities are available; please contact Jon Sands with Yates Racing at 704-720-4621.(Yates Racing PR)
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Report: Labonte in No. 96; Ask.com to sponsor: Former Sprint Cup champion Bobby Labonte will drive the No. 96 car for Yates Racing. Hall of Fame Racing announced earlier in the day that it has aligned itself with Yates Racing to run the 96 for the entire Sprint Cup season. Labonte, who had been in discussions with Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing for the No. 8 car, will be the driver as part of a three-car operation. His car will be sponsored by Ask.com for the first 18 races of the season, starting with the Daytona 500, with an option to buy more as the year goes on. Ask also signed on as "the official search engine of NASCAR," in two separate deals that bring new money into NASCAR at a time most of the industry is scouring the crumbling economic market for funding. (ESPN.com)
Official -- Hall of Fame Racing & Ask.com Team/NASCAR Sponsorship
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Hall of Fame Racing finished? Unless something surprising happens, it appears the Hall of Fame Racing team won't be competing full-time in the 2009 Cup season, if at all. No one involved on the #96 car has said anything official, but the shop is dormant at the moment. One individual involved in the team said the organization already has sold some of its equipment. The team does not have a manufacturer lined up and hasn't announced a driver. DLP/Texas Instruments, which was the primary sponsor since the team's inception in 2006, is only on the car for a few races in 2009. No other sponsors have been announced. The best-case scenario for the team is to sell the number, and whatever sponsorship the #96 has, to a larger Cup team. Team co-owner Jeff Moorad is finalizing a purchase of the San Diego Padres after resigning this week as CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Clearly, the Cup team isn't his top priority at the moment. Moorad and Tom Garfinkel bought HOFR in 2007 from original owners and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach, who partnered with Bill Saunders to form the team.(ESPN.com)
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Hall of Fame Racing not likely to merge: (Tyler) Epp said it was unlikely his team – whose ownership group is led by Arizona Diamondback executives Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel – would merge with another team for 2009. “It’s been a rough year of transition, but that doesn’t change the intent and the model we’re trying to build,” Epp said. “Whenever you merge two different groups, you have to compromise on things, and we don’t want to compromise [certain] things.” As far as a driver for next year, Epp said he has had talks with at least six drivers whom he would be interested in having for 2009. “I can’t say enough about Ken Schrader and the job he’s done this year,” Epp said. “He’s certainly on the list.” Epp added that the team most likely will not be an affiliate of Joe Gibbs Racing next season, but he would like to remain with Toyota. He said the team likely would contract a body hanger, and the team also would need to find an engine supplier.(SceneDaily.com)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Hall of Fame Racing to layoff employees: Hall of Fame Racing, the NASCAR team owned by Arizona Diamondbacks executives, will cut its staff even if it secures sponsorship to run a full 2009 season. HoF general manager Tyler Epp said Tuesday employees were told no one will be laid off before the end of November, as team officials search for more funding. But with 44 employees for a single-car operation, Epp said the team is overstaffed. "The reality is we ran 39th in points this year and personnel changes are going to be made," Epp said. "And we simply have too many people for a one-car team. We're going to have a reduction no matter what happens." (AP/ESPN.com)
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Coleman out of No. 96: No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing's Brad Coleman's fortunes changed quickly. According to Hall of Fame Racing, Coleman is now a free agent. He is no longer under contract to Hall of Fame. (ESPN.com)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Hall of Fame Racing with Wood Brothers? A relationship with the legendary #21 Wood Brothers and Ford is an option for the #96 team owned by Arizona Diamondbacks' executives Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel. "It's fair to say we're assessing all of our options," said Moorad. "We should know in the next couple of weeks. Our intention is the 96 continues, but we're open-minded. We've talked to a couple of teams about some interesting merger possibilities and yet we may be in business on our own." The team currently gets its Toyota chassis and engines from Joe Gibbs Racing, a deal that expires at season's end. Multiple sources told The Republic it's not expected the #96 will continue with Toyota. The Wood Brothers have long been with Ford. (Arizona Republic)
Sunday, July 13, 2008
#96 Hall of Fame Racing cleared of any wrongdoing: NASCAR held J.J. Yeley’s No. 96 car in the garage as the rest of the field fired the engines and then issued a one-lap penalty at the start of the race, due to what officials said was an unapproved part. But after the race, NASCAR met with Hall of Fame racing co-owner Tom Garfinkel and apparently cleared the team of any wrongdoing. “NASCAR had reason to believe we were doing something we shouldn’t have been doing – and we weren’t doing it,” Garfinkel said. “But they had sufficient reason to believe that because of some mistakes in procedure that we made.” Yeley said that each week, his team uses a drink system that requires crew members to put a cold water bag into the car before the race. If they put it in early, it gets too hot and isn’t drinkable. But NASCAR apparently felt something was amiss, and ran the car through inspection both with and without the water bag to address weight concerns. Officials apparently suspected that the #96 team had gone to the old trick of putting lead in the water bag to make extra weight. After the race, Pemberton said the team had “served our penalties. We’re done with them,” he said. “We’re comfortable with that team and we feel like they weren’t trying to pull the wool over our eyes.”(SceneDaily.com)
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