Hall of Fame Racing
# Hall of Fame Racing

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 | NSCC | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2006 | Terry Labonte | 96 | Chevy | DAY 17 | CAL 34 | LVS 24 | ATL 22 | BRI 27 | | | | | | | | | | | SON 3 | | | | | | GLN 37 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 26th | 3259 |
| 2006 | Tony Raines | 96 | Chevy | | | | | | MAR 21 | TEX 24 | PHO 17 | TAL 17 | RCH 30 | DAR 20 | CLT 40 | DOV 26 | POC 16 | MCH 38 | | DAY 21 | CHI 40 | NHA 22 | POC 21 | IND 11 | | MCH 32 | BRI 25 | CAL 37 | RCH 39 | NHA 26 | DOV 23 | KAN 28 | TAL 20 | CLT 7 | MAR 14 | ATL 34 | TEX 19 | PHO 21 | HOM 20 | 26th | 3259 |
| 2007 | Tony Raines | 96 | Chevy | DAY 33 | CAL 23 | LVS 19 | ATL 38 | BRI 24 | MAR 20 | TEX 13 | PHO 14 | TAL 22 | RCH 22 | DAR 39 | CLT 14 | DOV 21 | POC 36 | MCH 39 | | NHA 20 | DAY 39 | CHI 24 | IND 41 | POC 15 | | MCH 34 | BRI 28 | CAL 27 | RCH 35 | NHA 21 | DOV 36 | KAN 18 | TAL 9 | CLT 31 | MAR 14 | ATL 23 | TEX 20 | PHO 37 | HOM 29 | 25th | 3203 |
| 2007 | Ron Fellows | 96 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | SON 15 | | | | | | GLN 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 25th | 3203 |
| 2008 | J. J. Yeley | 96 | Toyota | DAY 25 | CAL 29 | LVS 27 | ATL 37 | BRI 25 | MAR 27 | TEX 42 | PHO 39 | TAL DNQ | RCH 34 | DAR 26 | CLT 38 | DOV 24 | POC DNQ | MCH 41 | SON DNQ | NHA 3 | DAY DNQ | CHI 24 | IND 28 | POC 39 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 39th | 2368 |
| 2008 | P. J. Jones | 96 | Toyota | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | GLN 37 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 39th | 2368 |
| 2008 | Brad Coleman | 96 | Toyota | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | MCH 38 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 39th | 2368 |
| 2008 | Ken Schrader | 96 | Toyota | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | BRI 21 | CAL 41 | RCH 27 | | DOV 33 | | TAL 16 | CLT 38 | MAR 28 | ATL 35 | TEX 30 | PHO 27 | HOM DNQ | 39th | 2368 |
| 2008 | Joey Logano | 96 | Toyota | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | NHA 32 | | KAN 39 | | | | | | | | | | 39th | 2368 |
| 2009 | Bobby Labonte | 96 | Ford | DAY 22 | CAL 20 | LVS 5 | ATL 40 | BRI 22 | MAR 16 | TEX 40 | PHO 29 | TAL 28 | RCH 31 | DAR 18 | CLT 12 | DOV 28 | POC 28 | MCH 28 | SON 20 | NHA 21 | DAY 21 | CHI 21 | IND 23 | POC 36 | GLN 20 | MCH 43 | BRI 36 | | RCH 31 | | DOV 23 | | CAL 26 | CLT 31 | MAR 13 | | | | | 31st | 3035 |
| 2009 | Erik Darnell | 96 | Ford | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ATL 30 | | NHA 30 | | KAN 29 | | | | TAL 37 | TEX 30 | PHO 31 | HOM 36 | 31st | 3035 |
