Bobby Labonte is out of the No. 96 car for 7 races. Yates Racing is putting in Erik Darnell in the hopes of bridging a sponsor gap that ASK.com has left open in the weeks they don’t sponsor the car.
Darnell is bringing Academy Sports and Outdoor for some races, and Northern Tool and Equipment for a few other races.
On the bright side, while the youth of our sport don’t have any sponsor backing, Bobby will be back in the car with Ask.com for Richmond, Dover, California, Charlotte and Martinsville.
So the question in my mind… (I have to wonder where else a question just might reside?) is can Darnell pull this off in the Cup series? Why couldn’t Yates slap the sponsors on the car with Bobby in the left seat?
I’m smelling the writing on the wall folks. (They used the smelly pens to write with.) Who thinks that Bobby might be looking for a new ride next year?
Just wondering out-loud.
There’s more detail over on NASCAR‘s site, where the article isn’t quite so biased.
Photos: Courtesy of Getty Images for NASCAR
