Raines Daytona Speedweeks preview

Car No.: 96 - Hall of Fame Racing DLP HDTV Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS

Chassis No. 005:

Chassis No. 005 was never used by Hall of Fame Racing in 2006, but did serve as a backup car for all four superspeedway events. It was tested at Daytona International Speedway in January 2007. Before coming to Hall of Fame Racing, Chassis No. 005 served as one of Bobby Labonte's superspeedway cars at Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR).

Notes of Interest:

. Feb. 18 will mark Tony Raines' second career Daytona 500 start. He has only competed at Daytona International Speedway twice in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. Ironically he started and finished in the same position in both of his two starts. (2003: 33rd - Daytona 500; 2006: 21st - Pepsi 400).

. Raines and Terry Labonte, who split the driving duties of the No. 96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet in 2006, combined to finish 26th in owner points and as a result, the No. 96 is guaranteed a starting spot in the Daytona 500.

. Brandon Thomas will call his first Daytona 500 as a crew chief. He is no stranger to superspeedway competition, however, having served as Joe Gibbs Racing's head of superspeedway research and development from 2004 until October 2006. Under Thomas, JGR scored three superspeedway wins in an 18-month span. All three victories came at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway - two at the hands of Tony Stewart (July 2005 and July 2006) and one from Denny Hamlin, who won the non-points Budweiser Shootout in February 2006.

-credit: hofr