Sources:Bobby Labonte to drive #8

#2
#2
Hold the phone.......


Just saw on a couple of the NASCAR pages I check that Labonte will be announced as the new Hall of Fame #96 driver for next year. They just announce the "partnership" with Yates today and will announce Labonte as the driver tomorrow. With Yates now basically having 4 cars with the HOF team moving into their shop it will put Roush at 9 drivers pretty much. Yates is just a satellite Roush team so now the Cat in the Hat will have 4 test dummy teams instead of just two.
 
#3
#3
Wow, this came out of nowhere. Why would Bobby go to HOF instead of EG. I don't think EG is a great operation but they are heads and shoulders above HOF. This is getting crazier and crazier by the day.
 
#4
#4
You know I was thinking about this and have come to the following conclusions:

1. EGR could be a dumpster fire next year. Montoya has Target apparently as they will go with him. That leaves the other car, the #42 car, with Wrigley's for about half of the races and no other sponsors. The 01 car is gone for all intents and purposes as well as the 15 since Menard bolted to HOF. The 8 car doesn't have sponsorship either. Ganassi will park a car without sponsorship instead of run it out of his pocket IMO. Especially if the #42 is only sponsored for half of the races. Maybe HOF has has offered Labonte piece of mind in knowing they will run the entire season no matter what. Or, Labonte is bringing a sponsor to HOF with him that may not have wanted him to run Chevy's or run for EGR.

2. Maybe Ganassi didn't want Labonte. The rumors had been out there but there was always sponsors involved. Maybe Ganassi would have took a sponsored Labonte but would rather not take an unsponsored Labonte. I doubt that's the case but you never know. And maybe, just maybe, Labonte would rather driver for HOF. Being aligned, however small, with Jack Roush is still a pretty big deal. Labonte has to know that this HOF/Yates/Roush effort won't be hurting for horsepower and he should have consistent cars to run with. At times last year Kvapil and Gilliland both had strong top 5 and top 10 runs going. Even Hall of Fame - now that they have the Roush/Yates help - is better than Petty. Labonte has to be happy about that at least.
 
#5
#5
I like Bobby and want to see him do well. He had the 43 runnind decent the last 2 years. HOF couldn't do anything with JGR help. I don't think they will dso much better switching manufacturers for the 3rd straight year. Maybe a good driver like Bobby can help them turn things around.
 
#6
#6
With Hall of Fame moving into the Yates shop it tells me its more than just a partnership. Its like Michael Waltrip "parterning" with JTG racing and Ambrose. Ambrose is just basically driving MWR cars with JTG slapped on the side and another owner listed. I'm sure that JTG has a big say-so in the cars but they are MWR cars. The MWR employees are the one's who prepare those cars. I see the same thing happening with this Hall of Fame/Yates deal. Its basically like Hall of Fame is probably paying Yates so much to maintain the cars and let them run out of their shop but keep the team in the HOF name.

I kept up with Hall of Fame somewhat because I was a fan of JJ Yeley. I will never say he is the most talented driver in the sport but I think he is better than what he was able to show on the track. Anyway, JJ and others have said that the technical alliance with JGR was basically a joke. JGR was sending junk cars and equipment to HOF and wasn't sharing the info like the folks at HOF paid for. They were getting first generation COT's from JGR when JGR was already on their 3rd generation cars.

A partnership like what HOF/Yates has will be much different. With them being in the same shop I have to think that HOF will at least get equal cars to the other Yates cars next year. Those cars would be better than the 1st generation reskinned JGR cars they were getting last year. I mean, they were getting JGR Chevy COT's that they had reskinned to Toyota. You know that technology wasn't very beneficial to HOF last year.
 
#7
#7
Who do you think RYR will get rid of DG or TK? They said yesterday that along with the 96 they would run 2 other cars. I think TK is the better driver but for some reason DG seems to draw better sponsorship offers.
 
#8
#8
I didn't catch the part that they were going to get rid of a car but it does make sense. With Menards built in sponsor as well as HOF footing the bill for their car that means Yates will only have to run one car out of his pocket. I'm sure he'll get quite a few one off sponsors like he did last year. I fully expect if one car is dropped it will be Gilliland. After the stunt with Montoya toward the end of last year where he stuffed him head first into the wall out of the turn - that done DG in I'm afraid.

It was a very stupid move that ruined his reputation in the garage. I have heard several drivers comment on that right after it happened and all of them were livid over the situation. So, I expect them to keep Kvapil if they do indeed drop a car. I already saw that Menard was going to get the #38 points from last year but I figured that was just because he was coming over with sponsorship.
 
#9
#9
HOF operated in 2008 as a single-car operation aligned with Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. It will operate this season out of the Yates facility in Concord, N.C., as a three-car Ford operation.
Yates Racing, which has a partnership with Roush Fenway Racing, announced last season that Paul Menard would drive the No. 98. Travis Kvapil [28] and David Gilliland [38] drove for Yates last season, but sources said neither has been guaranteed a ride in 2009.
"This partnership with Hall of Fame is a great stepping stone for the Yates organization," Max Jones, the co-owner and general manager of Yates Racing, said in a statement regarding the merger. "We are able to continue the expansion of our shop and field another Sprint Cup entry.''

This could be taken both ways. Maybe they have partial sponsorship for the beginnning and if they can get more than they will be able to keep 4 cars. Will be interesting to see what happens to Gilliland if he is released. He didn't do much in the nationwide series the last 2 years after that win at a "Cupless" Kentucky race.
 
#11
#11
Don't feel bad, I would guess that you are part of the majority. We will not know for sure where everybody is untill they show up at Daytona.
 
#12
#12
USAF_Vol said:
:no:

I'm disappointed...this seems bad to me. I don't get it.
Click to expand...

It gets curiouser and curiouser.

What DND said makes sense, but HOF racing was even less competitive than Petty. Tremendous waste of talent now for so many years.
 
#13
#13
rbroyles said:
It gets curiouser and curiouser.

What DND said makes sense, but HOF racing was even less competitive than Petty. Tremendous waste of talent now for so many years.
Click to expand...

You know I may eat my words on this one but honestly I don't think we will compare this to the HOF team from last year. We should compare this car to the Yates cars from last year since they will be prepared by the Yates folks. Last year those two cars finished 23rd and 27th in points. Labonte finished 21st, two positions higher than Kvapil. More digging though shows that Labonte had only two top 10's compared to Kvapil's 4 top 10's. Gilliland had one top 5 and two top 10's.

Labonte is still a consistent driver IMO and will get out of the cars what he can. Every once in awhile those Yates cars tend to be strong with the Roush help. I expect Labonte will be able to take advantage of this and run moderately well. I don't expect him to get in the Chase or anything like that but this car could be a top 20 car and he could have 7-8 top 10 runs. I don't think it will look anything at all like the HOF cars of last year.

Below is a concept shot of the car someone did - it may not even be close to what the real thing turns out as being but worth a look:

2009141152823.jpg
 
Last edited:
#15
#15
Thats not a bad looking car. I hope he does well. He brought the 43 car from the back of the pack. I imagine he can do the same with the 96.
 
#16
#16
David Gilliland appears to be the odd man out at Yates Racing, where the team says it will field three cars following its new partnership agreement with Hall of Fame Racing. Along with Paul Menard’s #98 [which supposedly would get the owners points from the #38] and Bobby Labonte’s #96, Travis Kvapil’s #28 team is expected to remain while Gilliland and the #38 appear to be out. “I just heard of the thing today, from the Internet, so that’s what I assume,” Gilliland said Wednesday afternoon. “I haven’t actually had a sit-down with them, but I’m still under contract with them through 2009. So we’re just going to have to work through it, and hopefully, we can get something else going.” Gilliland said he’s sorting through the contract and seeing what he’s able to do and what the next step could be, but he understands that the current economic climate makes it tough. He was “a little bit” shocked that he is now likely without a ride just a few weeks before the Daytona 500 and the start of the new Sprint Cup season. “It’s just kind of a bummer that it’s this late in the [offseason], you know?” he said. “We’ll just have to see what we can come up with and see what we can try and do.
 
#17
#17
Taking legal action against your car owner tends to make other owners reluctant to hire you.
 
#18
#18
::sig:: im pretty disappointed by this. First bobby not going to EGR and now gruden getting fired when he coulda came here :(
 
#19
#19
DownNDirty said:
Hold the phone.......


Just saw on a couple of the NASCAR pages I check that Labonte will be announced as the new Hall of Fame #96 driver for next year. They just announce the "partnership" with Yates today and will announce Labonte as the driver tomorrow. With Yates now basically having 4 cars with the HOF team moving into their shop it will put Roush at 9 drivers pretty much. Yates is just a satellite Roush team so now the Cat in the Hat will have 4 test dummy teams instead of just two.
Click to expand...

I just read that Bobby was driving the #96 Ford!
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top