Terry Labonte and Tony Raines have championship athletes signing their paychecks, these days. Credit: Autostock

HOF Racing pegs T. Labonte, Raines to drive

Labonte will run seven races, Raines the rest in No. 96 Chevy

JUSTIN, Texas -- Hall of Fame Racing, headed by former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach, announced Thursday at Texas Motor Speedway that Terry Labonte and Tony Raines will share driving duties for its No. 96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet in the Nextel Cup Series beginning with the 2006 Daytona 500.

Troy Aikman Credit: Autostock

ALSO Texas Instruments will be the primary sponsor for a NASCAR team run by former NFL stars Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach, who aim to have a car and driver ready for the Daytona 500 in February.   •   Complete story,  click here Philippe Lopez has been named crew chief for the new Hall of Fame Racing operation.  "My first priority is to get the shop up and running," said Lopez, who was working in the research and development department at Richard Childress Racing before taking the job with Hall of Fame Racing.  •   Complete story,  click here

Labonte, a two-time Cup champion, will drive the car for the season's first five races and the two road-course races. Raines, the 1999 Busch Series rookie of the year, will pilot the car in the season's other 29 events.

"My focus is on driving the car," said Labonte, who is essentially on loan to the team from Hendrick Motorsports, for whom he'll drive 10 other races.

"I know how the car should feel as far as getting it set-up," Labonte continued. "That's something that's tough for someone without a lot of Nextel Cup experience, because it's hard to know what your car needs to feel like for 500 miles."

For Raines, it's a chance for him to prove what he said he's known for a long time.

"I've worked really hard at making it to this level and I feel very fortunate that I've stuck with it and now have an opportunity to run in the Cup Series with an association with Joe Gibbs Racing. Running their engines, their equipment and being able to use their people is something a lot of drivers wish they had.

"I'm very thankful that Roger, Bill, Troy and Philippe saw what I've known all along - that I can compete and succeed at this level given the right equipment and the right people," added Raines.

Having a two-time Cup champion as a teammate doesn't hurt, either.

"I'm a big Terry Labonte fan," said Raines, who also has four Craftsman Truck Series wins. "To have someone to lean on is going to help me and it's going to help the team.

"As a race car driver, that's all you want to do. Success in this sport is about the relationships you make and the relationships you keep. This team has some of the best relationships in the business, and I'm proud to be a part of Hall of Fame Racing."

Aikman said his and Staubach's effort isn't anything like other celebrities that have tried unsuccessfully to field a Cup team.

"We're going into this with our eyes wide open," he said. "We've assembled a great group of people. We aligned ourselves with the right sponsor, one who will give us the resources to go out and be successful."