Car number 96 has started 640 races and has 2 wins, 0 poles, 19 top 5s, 69 top 10s, and 223 DNFs in NASCAR Cup Series competition.
In 1971 a young man named Richard Childress began racing full time as an owner/driver. Childress’s first shot at NASCAR came two years prior in 1969 when a drivers strike at Talladega created a shortage of drivers. Childress was asked by Big Bill France to scab for the race, and thus began the career of the racing legend.
From 1971-1975 Childress stared his #96 car in 108 races, scoring 3 of his 6 career top 5 finishes. For the 1976 season, Childress decided to change his car number to honor Junior Johnson’s past driving success. From that point forward Childress would alway be associated with the #3.
From 1956-1973 Bobby Keck started 76 of his 98 career races in the #96 car. Keck was never a front runner, averaging a 20th place finish over his career. He did, however, qualify for every race he attempted except for 1- the 1963 Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville.
In late 2005 Hall of Fame Racing was created as a joint venture between former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman. Tony Raines was the first driver for the team, driving in 29 races in 2006 while Terry Labonte drove in 7. Raines had the best run for the team at the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte leading 23 laps and finishing 7th.
For 2007 Raines was named the full time driver of the #96, but that changed as the season developed. Road course ringer Ron Fellows was tapped to drive the car at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. Fellows scored the teams top finish of the year coming home 4th at Watkins Glen.
In 2008 the team formed an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing resulting in a manufacturer switch to Toyota and the hiring of former JGR driver JJ Yeley. With Yeley behind the wheel the team quickly fell out of the top 35 in points and struggled making races. Yeley was released from his contract before the year was over, and the team fielded cars with Joey Logano, PJ Jones, Ken Schrader, and Brad Coleman for the remainder of the year.
For 2009 the team switched to Ford as they merged with The failing Robert Yates Racing. Bobby Labonte was named the driver with sponsorship from Ask.com. However, funding issues would cause Labonte to be removed from the car in favor of Erik Darnell for 7 of the last 12 races. After the 2009 season the team merged with Richard Petty Motorsports, where it was dissolved.
Ray Elder was a six time champion of the NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model Series (now K&N Pro Series West), and would compete in the NASCAR Cup Series events whenever the tour came to the west coast from 1967-1978. 27 of his 31 career starts were in #96, including his 2 wins, both at Riverside in 1971 & 1972.
Truck series standout Andy Houston drove the #96 in every one of his 22 Cup series starts. In 2000 he competed in five races to prepare for his 2001 rookie campaign with PPI Motorsports. Out of the five races his best finish would come at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, a 26th. Houston began the 2001 year well with a 9th place qualifying effort at the Daytona 500 in the #96 McDonald’s Ford. It would be one of the highlights of the year, as Houston ended the year with no top 10s and a best finish of 17th at Martinsville; Houston only managed to qualify for 17 races and his team folded after McDonald’s pulled its sponsorship late in the season. He never returned to the Cup Series.
Dale Earnhardt started the #96 car in 4 races in 1978.
In 2017 D.J. Kennington qualified car #96 for the Daytona 500, but ultimately would fail to finish after getting caught in a 16 car accident.
Kennington and the Gaunt Brothers team returned in 2018 for 22 races: 7 with DJ, 10 with Jeffrey Earnhardt, 4 with Parker Kligerman, and 1 with Jesse Little. In 2019 Kligerman returned for 14 starts with the GBR team, with a best finish of 15th in both the Daytona 500 and the Fall race at Talladega.
In 2020 Daniel Suarez took over the #96, as the Gaunt Brothers Team attempted it’s first full-time season. The lack of charter bit the team early, as Suarez crashed during the Duel qualifying race leading to the team failing to qualify for the Daytona 500. Trouble struck early the following weak at Las Vegas as well, as a problem with the car caused Suarez to slow as the field came to start the race, essentially putting Suarez several laps down to begin his season.
After some early issues, the #96 quickly became “best of the worst” by consistently outperforming their fellow back-marker teams. Suarez would rally to finish 31st in points, but after 35 starts he was clearly not impressed with the team.
In 2021 the GBR team returned to a part-time opperation. Ty Dillon made 4 starts with the team, while Landon Cassill made 2 starts, Harrison Burton made his cup series debut with the team at Talladega, and Parker Kligerman returned for 1 race. The team did not field an entry for 2022.
Other notable names in the #96
David Green, 37 races
Hut Stricklin, 5 races
Tiny Lund, 3 races
Steve Grissom, 3 races
Morgan Shepherd, 2 races
Mike Bliss, 2 races
Ed Negre, 1 race
Elmo Langley, 1 race
Todd Bodine, 1 race
Derrike Cope, 1 race
Robby Gordon, 1 race