Darnell also shares a ride on the Nationwide Series with Roush Racing but will now compete at New Hampshire, Kansas, Talladega, Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead in the Sprint Cup Series as well. His No. 96 will be primarily backed by Academy Sports and Outdoor at Atlanta, Talladega, and Texas, while his car will be sponsored by Northern Tool and Equipment at New Hampshire and Kansas.

Yates Racing has had to scramble to bridge a sponsorship gap and this seems to be the solution they have settled on. This will mean that veteran racer Bobby Labonte will be stepping out from behind the wheel of the No. 96 car for seven races. Ask.com has been the main sponsor for the No. 96 car through most of the 2009 season. They committed to 18 of the first 21 races on the schedule and up to 29 total races, depending on the conditions. DLP has committed to filling some of the sponsor gaps that have appeared, but not all of them. Yates Racing and Hall of Fame have a one-year agreement to provide for the No. 96 race car and it’s up to Yates Racing to fill any sponsorship holes.

There were a number of races that didn’t have the sponsorship they need to be successful for the team and they’re looking around for additional help for the 2009 Sprint Cup Series season. The help Yates Racing and Erik have received from Northern Tool is going to help them make it through the Nationwide and Truck Series seasons.

Erik Darnell is a talented driver who has been steadily progressing through the ranks. I am looking forward to seeing what he can do as a Sprint Cup driver and watching him progress through his Sprint Cup Series career. In the years to come Erik is one of the drivers we could be watching thrill us on the Sprint Cup Series. He has a lot to learn but he has the talent to become one of the best in the business.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

Erik Darnell Makes Jump to Sprint Cup

Image details: North Carolina Education Lottery 200 served by picapp.com

It took awhile – 178 races to be exact – but, Matt Crafton has finally won his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race by holding off Chad McCumbee in a green-white-checkered shootout Friday night in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Kyle Busch appeared as though he was headed for another victory, leading 86 of the 136 laps, but he was involved in an accident with Ron Hornaday back on lap 104 that sent both trucks spinning into the Turn 3 wall. Busch suffered significant damage to the right side of his truck, essentially knocking him out of contention for the win.

Erik Darnell was leading the race with just 7 laps to go, spun his tires on a restart and gave up several positions. As this was happening, Johnny Benson passed Darnell for the lead, but was black flagged by NASCAR for jumping the restart and was ordered to make a pass through penalty in the pits. The series of events handed the lead over to Crafton, with Todd Bodine and Hornaday battling it out for second place just behind him.

With just three more trips around the 1.5 mile track left to go, Bodine spun Hornaday heading into Turn 1, and NASCAR froze the field under caution for the final time of the evening, sending the race into overtime. From there, Crafton held off Chad McCumbee, who made a run down the backstretch during the final lap in an effort to catch the race leader, but all for naught. Crafton crossed the finish line and secured his first official set of NASCAR checkered flags.

Brendan Gaughan finished third, followed by Erik Darnell and Rick Crawford to complete the top-five. Kyle Busch was able to get enough out of his car after the earlier accident to hang onto an 8th place finish. Bodine was still able to finish up in 12th, and Hornaday was relegated to a 23rd place finish.

Following the race, Crafton said, “Finally, we can shut them up. Now they can say, ‘When’s the second one coming?’  Track position was everything. I have a really good group of guys. We’ve been together for two years now. We’re a small group of guys, but we’re going to win more races. I can promise you that.”

Despite Bodine’s claims that his tangle with Ron Hornaday was unintentional, an irate Hornaday stated, “There’s no excuse for that. He flat tried to kill me,” Hornaday said. “You don’t do that on the straightaway. We were pretty good friends, but I don’t know now.”

Hornaday’s lead in the points standings has now been reduced to a mere 5 points over Rick Crawford, and Todd Bodine now trails by only 38. The win by Crafton has placed him 4th in points, and the top-five run by Erik Darnell puts him into the top-ten, as he moves up four spots to ninth.

Craftsman Truck Series Standings (from nascar.com):

Post from: EveryJoe

Crafton Gets First Truck Series Win