Yates Racing confirmed Monday that points earned by David Gilliland in the No. 38 Fords last year will transfer to Bobby Labonte and the No. 96 Fords, and that Paul Menard’s No. 98 team will get points from the No. 28 driven last year by Travis Kvapil.
That puts Labonte, whose car is owned by Hall of Fame Racing in an affiliation with the Yates team, and Menard in the top 35 and locked into the starting lineups for the first five Cup races on 2009.
Kvapil will start the season without points in the No. 28 Fords.
The team also announced that Menard will run 16 Nationwide Series races with Matt Puccia as crew chief. Rheem Water Heaters will be the primary vendor on the car for 14 of those races.
Menard will enter the season’s first races at Bristol weekend, Texas, Phoenix, Darlington, Charlotte, Dover and New Hampshire. He’s also scheduled for events at Chicagoland, Watkins Glen, Montreal and Homestead in addition to the second races at Michigan, Atlanta, Richmond, California and Phoneix.
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