Sponsorship woes have forced a former NASCAR champion to give up his seat and turn it over to a young rookie at a crucial part of the season.
Erik Darnell will replace Bobby Labonte at Yates Racing for at least seven Sprint Cup events starting with this weekend’s race in Atlanta.
Darnell has two wins in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and finished fourth in the championship last season. This year he has competed in ten Nationwide Series races, scoring top-5 finishes at Darlington and Milwaukee.
Unable to fund the entire season for Labonte, Yates turned to Roush-Fenway Racing with whom they share a technical alliance with. Roush was able to find a sponsor, with the only catch being that Darnell be behind the wheel of the No. 96 Ford.
"Racing in the Cup series is every driver's goal," Darnell said. "The Cup series is where the best of the best compete and I am looking forward to racing against those guys. I'm excited that Northern Tool and Equipment will be able to make the jump with me and that Academy Sports and Outdoors has agreed to sponsor me as well."
Labonte, a former Nationwide Series and the 2000 Sprint Cup Champion, will race the Ford at Richmond, Dover, Fontana, Charlotte and Martinsville.
Ever the gentlemen, Labonte said he understands the circumstances that will force him to miss seven races. It will mark the first time that the Corpus Christi Texas native will miss campaigning a full Cup schedule, an unbroken string that dated back to his debut season of 1993.
"This is a move that will be beneficial to Yates Racing surviving this difficult economic time," said Labonte. "Of course, I'm disappointed that the sponsorship environment is so challenging right now, but I intend to make the most out of the remaining races that I'm behind the wheel for Ask.com, DLP and Hall of Fame Racing."
The driver swap comes at a key part of the NASCAR season in terms of the driver’s championship.
Even though Labonte is currently 30th in the standings, putting a rookie into the Sprint Cup series at a time when many drivers are trying to make it into the Chase for the Championship and having a rookie on the track during the final ten race playoff could backfire. Labonte, along with brother Terry are two of the most universally admired drivers in NASCAR, not only with fans but competitors as well.
Should Darnell be involved in ruining another drivers championship hopes in any way, the negative reaction from fans and competitors could backfire on the sponsors, Northern Tool and Equipment and Academy Sports and Outdoors.
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Comments
This is a classless move by both sponsers, Yates and Rousch.
Bobby LaBonte has turned into nothing but a backmarker anyway. Go home, enjoy your family. You must have saved some money..???
If you need a few bucks next year, sell your past champions provisional to a s&p team once in a while.
Now we know that the HoF contract with Yates calls for Roush to call the shots. I feel sorry for both Bobby and Paul Menard. Clearly, Yates is the red-headed stepchild of Fenway-Roush. Darnell may be good, but he doesn't have the seat time he should at this stage of the race for the Chase.
Yates is only in racing for Roush's surplus teams.
I feel sorry for Bobby. At least he is valuable with his PCP.
I am a longtime Bobby Labonte fan and will no longer be spending my hard-earned dollars at Academy. Sports Authority is closer to my house, anyway.
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