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Hall of Fame Racing
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Hall of Fame Racing is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing team principally owned by Jeff Moorad, Tom Garfinkel, and Tom Davin. The team currently operates as a subsidiary of Yates Racing, fielding the #96 Ask.com/Texas Instruments DLP HDTV/Academy Sports + Outdoors Ford Fusion for Bobby Labonte, and was created as a joint venture between former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman.
Originally founded in 2003, the team began competing at the beginning of the 2006 season with technical assistance from Joe Gibbs Racing.
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Encyclopedia
Hall of Fame Racing is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing team principally owned by Jeff Moorad, Tom Garfinkel, and Tom Davin. The team currently operates as a subsidiary of Yates Racing, fielding the #96 Ask.com/Texas Instruments DLP HDTV/Academy Sports + Outdoors Ford Fusion for Bobby Labonte, and was created as a joint venture between former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman.
Originally founded in 2003, the team began competing at the beginning of the 2006 season with technical assistance from Joe Gibbs Racing. Hall of Fame Racing switched manufacturers along with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008 from Chevrolet to Toyota.
In September 2007, Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel of the Arizona Diamondbacks bought controlling interest in the team.
On January 13, 2009, Hall of Fame Racing announced an alignment with Yates Racing that allows them to operate out the Yates Racing shop in Concord, North Carolina. In accordance with the alliance Hall of Fame Racing will be fielding Ford Fusions for 2009.
History
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 #96 sponsored by Texas Instruments' DLP technology. Terry Labonte 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 taking control at the others. The team's highest finish in 2006 was third at Infineon Raceway, a road course, with Labonte at the wheel.
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 ace 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.
On September 4th, 2007, the team announced the hiring of former driver of the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing, J. J. Yeley. The contract was to last throughout 2010, and it was announced that they would be switching to Toyota in 2008. 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. Brad Coleman was reported to be released at the end of the year after running only one race for the team, and Joey Logano and his bosses at Joe Gibbs Racing decided he was to no longer race the 96 car. P. J. Jones also ran a one-off race for HOF Racing at Watkins Glen, finishing 37th. The teams highest finish in 2008 was 3rd at New Hampshire after a fuel mileage gamble. The team 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 fulltime teams). It was also quietly announced in September that Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, Bill Saunders and Mark Griege were no longer part of the ownership group. That leaves only Moorad, Garfunkel, and Whitman as the owners.
On January 13, 2009, Hall of Fame Racing announced an alignment with Yates Racing. The team will operate out of the Yates Racing shop and switch from Toyota to Ford for the 2009 season. Bobby Labonte will be the driver and Ask.com, DLP HDTV, and Academy Sports + Outdoors will be the sponsors. Since the hiring of Labonte, the team has improved greatly after Labonte finished 5th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
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