Expect an announcement from Hall of Fame Racing in the next seven to 10 days that it is switching to Toyota for 2008, sources said. HOF is a satellite outfit to Joe Gibbs Racing, which already has confirmed that it will move next year. The team will add a second full-time Spring Cup car in 2009 for 19-year-old phenom Blake Coleman. J.J. Yeley will drive for HOF next season, with Coleman doing as many as seven Cup races in 2008.
J.J. Yeley will replace Tony Raines at Hall of Fame Racing, allowing him to maintain his association with Joe Gibbs Racing. Yeley was scheduled to be introduced as the driver for the No. 96 car at a Tuesday news conference, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made. Yeley won’t be far from Gibbs’ reach at Hall of Fame Racing, a single-car team that has a strong alliance with JGR. The team was launched in 2003 by an ownership group that included Hall of Fame quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach and relied heavily on support from Joe Gibbs.
Continue reading Hall Of Fame Racing Replacing Raines With Yeley
Two executives with the Arizona Diamondbacks have purchased majority interest in the NASCAR team owned by Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach, The Associated Press learned Saturday night. Jeff Moorad, chief executive officer of the Diamondbacks, and Tom Garfinkel, the chief operating officer, will be introduced as the controlling owners of Hall of Fame Racing at a Sunday news conference at California Speedway, two people familiar with the deal told the AP. They requested anonymity because the formal announcement had yet to be made. Aikman and Staubach, Hall of Fame quarterbacks for the Dallas Cowboys, formed their race team with three other partners in 2003. The No. 96 is in its second full season, driven by Tony Raines and sponsored by Texas-based DLP HDTV.
The original ownership group, including Aikman and Staubach, will remain involved as minority owners. But Moorad, who is part of the Diamondbacks ownership group, and Garfinkel will have controlling interest. Garfinkel has vast racing experience through his previous role as executive vice president of Chip Ganassi Racing. He spent five years working directly under Ganassi and was intimately involved in every aspect of Ganassi’s NASCAR and open-wheel organizations. Moorad founded his own management company in 1983, and has represented athletes such as Manny Ramirez, Will Clark, Steve Young, Warren Moon, and Aikman. It was that previous relationship with Aikman that led the executives to Hall of Fame Racing when they began looking for a team to purchase.
Hall of Fame Racing has a close alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing, and that’s not expected to change with the sale. Gibbs currently fields Chevrolets, but is expected to announce next week that it is switching to Toyota. Although aspects of the Hall of Fame sale are still being discussed, sources told The AP the team will use the same manufacturer that Gibbs does next season.
Joe Gibbs Racing still hasn’t announced whether it will switch to Toyotas next year, but the buzz is that it will. Tony Stewart’s souvenir trailers were selling merchandise at 50% off regular price last week at the Brickyard, Stewart’s home track and a place where the Hoosier native is wildly popular.
A source at Richard Childress Racing said it has been approached by Hall of Fame Racing, a satellite Gibbs team, about buying engines from the newly merged RCR-Dale Earnhardt Inc., engine operation in 2008. Presumably, HOF is hedging its bets, if it ends up not being part of a Gibbs move to Toyota.