Hall of Fame Racing was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing team principally owned by former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman and veteran Trans Am driver Bill Saunders. The team was founded in 2006 and sponsored by Texas Instruments DLP division. In 2007 with drivers Tony Raines and Ron Fellows (for the road courses) behind the wheel of the No. 96 DLP Chevrolet, the team would finish 25th in owners points. The team was sold to Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkle after the 2007 season and eventually closed after the 2009 season.

History Car No. 96 history

Terry Labonte and Tony Raines (2006) Hall of Fame Racing was first rumored in 2003, but it took three years to start competing. The team announced at Texas Motor Speedway on November 3, 2005, that for the 2006 season, the team would be operating only one car, the No. 96 sponsored by Texas Instruments' Digital Light Processing technology. As a new team with nothing to fall back on, Terry Labonte took advantage of the Past Champion's Provisional and drove the car for the first five races, placing it inside the top 35 in the point standings, and guaranteeing a starting spot in upcoming races. Labonte also drove the car at the two road courses, with Tony Raines racing at the others. Raines and the team had a solid night during the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, taking the lead for 28 laps and finishing in 7th place. The team's highest finish in 2006 was third at Infineon Raceway with Labonte at the wheel, and finished 26th in owners points.

Tony Raines (2007) Raines was to compete in 2007 on a full-time basis, however those plans changed after the year began, when it was announced that road course driver Ron Fellows would take the wheel at the road courses at Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen. Fellows went on to finish 15th at Infineon and 4th at the Glen, and Raines' best finish was 9th at the UAW-Ford 500. Raines was able to earn the team 25th in the final owners' points standings, however, the highest finish for any single car team in the Sprint Cup Series since 2005 with the Wood Brothers and Ricky Rudd, and also improving upon HOF's 26th-place finish the year before. Raines ended 2007 with 18 top 25 finishes.

J. J. Yeley (2008) For 2008, the team decided to hire J. J. Yeley from Joe Gibbs Racing. The contract was to last throughout 2010, and it was announced that they would be switching to Toyota. With Yeley at the wheel, the team quickly fell out of the top 35 in points and, by the end of the year, failed to qualify for five races. In August 2008, Hall of Fame Racing released Yeley, replacing him with Brad Coleman for one race, and later Ken Schrader and Joey Logano. P. J. Jones also ran a one-off race for HOF Racing at Watkins Glen, finishing 37th. The team's highest finish in 2008 was 3rd at New Hampshire with Yeley in a rained shorted race, but finished better than 25th only 5 times out of 36 attempts, and ended the year 39th in the Nextel Cup Series owners standings (out of 43 full-time teams). It was also announced in September 2008 that Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, Bill Saunders and Mark Griege were no longer part of the ownership group, leaving only Moorad, Garfunkel, and Whitman as the owners.

Brad Coleman had signed a development contract with Hall of Fame and was expected to drive the car in 2009, but he was reported to be released at the end of the year and replaced by Bobby Labonte after running only one race for the team in 2008.

Bobby Labonte (2009) On January 13, 2009, Hall of Fame Racing announced an alignment with Yates Racing. Technically, Hall of Fame Racing closed its doors, laying off all of its employees, and brought over sponsorship to the former No. 38 car, changing the number to No. 96. Bobby Labonte was to be the full-time driver with sponsorship from search engine Ask.com, who provided primary sponsorship for 18 races, Academy Sports and Outdoors for 5 races, and Texas Instruments/DLP for 8 races. However, in August due to sponsorship problems, Labonte was replaced by Roush Fenway Racing Nationwide Series driver Erik Darnell, for 7 of the last 12 races. Darnell came over with sponsorship from Northern Tool and Equipment and Labonte replaced David Gilliland in the 71 TRG Motorsports car. The team ended the season 31st in owners points, with only 1 top-5 finish.

Following the 2009 season, Yates Racing merged with Richard Petty Motorsports and Front Row Motorsports, and the No. 96 team was shut down. The car owner points were transferred to Front Row for the 2010 season.

Car No. 96 results NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts 2006 Terry Labonte 96 Chevy DAY17 CAL34 LVS24 ATL22 BRI27 SON3 GLN37 26th 3259 Tony Raines MAR21 TEX24 PHO17 TAL17 RCH30 DAR20 CLT40 DOV26 POC16 MCH38 DAY21 CHI40 NHA22 POC21 IND11 MCH32 BRI25 CAL37 RCH39 NHA26 DOV23 KAN28 TAL20 CLT7 MAR14 ATL34 TEX19 PHO21 HOM20 2007 DAY33 CAL23 LVS19 ATL38 BRI24 MAR20 TEX13 PHO14 TAL22 RCH22 DAR39 CLT14 DOV21 POC36 MCH39 NHA20 DAY39 CHI24 IND41 POC15 MCH34 BRI28 CAL27 RCH35 NHA21 DOV36 KAN18 TAL9 CLT31 MAR14 ATL23 TEX20 PHO37 HOM29 25th 3203 Ron Fellows SON15 GLN4 2008 J. J. Yeley Toyota DAY25 CAL29 LVS27 ATL37 BRI25 MAR27 TEX42 PHO39 TALDNQ RCH34 DAR26 CLT38 DOV24 POCDNQ MCH41 SONDNQ NHA3 DAYDNQ CHI24 IND28 POC39 39th 2368 P. J. Jones GLN37 Brad Coleman MCH38 Ken Schrader BRI21 CAL41 RCH27 DOV33 TAL16 CLT38 MAR28 ATL35 TEX30 PHO27 HOMDNQ Joey Logano NHA32 KAN39 2009Bobby Labonte Ford DAY22 CAL20 LVS5 ATL40 BRI22 MAR16 TEX40 PHO29 TAL28 RCH31 DAR18 CLT12 DOV28 POC28 MCH28 SON20 NHA21 DAY21 CHI21 IND23 POC36 GLN20 MCH43 BRI36 RCH31 DOV23 CAL26 CLT31 MAR13 31st 3035 Erik Darnell ATL30 NHA30 KAN29 TAL37 TEX30 PHO31 HOM36

References

External links Can Staubach and Aikman find Cup success in 2006?