Content deleted Content added
Line 45:
The No. 98 car was a [[NASCAR]] [[Sprint Cup Series]] team that debuted in 2009 as the No. 66 under a technical alliance with [[Michael Waltrip Racing|MWR]], which supplied the team's [[Toyota Camry]], engines and technical support.<ref>"[http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/headlines/cup/02/04/mwaltrip.tlabonte.prism/index.html Waltrip says alliance with Prism Motorsports helpful]", [[NASCAR]], 4 February 2009.</ref> [[Terry Labonte]] ran the No. 66 for the [[2009 Daytona 500]], where he finished 24th. [[Dave Blaney]] ran the rest of the season, except for the [[Aarons 499]] at Talladega as he was away with his family. [[Michael McDowell (NASCAR)|Michael McDowell]] attempted to qualify for the event but failed to do so. According to Blaney, Prism had anticipated attempting to run all of the laps in "six or eight" Sprint Cup races in which the team was able to secure full sponsorship, which included [[Window World]] for the [[Daytona 500]] and [[Aaron's, Inc.|Aaron's]] for the [[Coca-Cola 600]]. The [[Denny Hamlin]] Foundation was on the car at [[Lowes Motor Speedway]], Talladega and Texas, with Blaney only making the race at Talladega. Ultimately, the team qualified for 31 of the 36 Sprint Cup races in the 2009 season – 30 by Blaney and 1 by Labonte—but only ran two complete races (the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600). For the remainder of 2009, the No. 66 car was a start and park team, much like their Nationwide Series counterparts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vindy.com/news/2009/may/11/blaney-blessed-at-squeezing-a-buck/ |title=Blaney blessed at squeezing a buck |date=2009-05-11|author=John Bassetti|publisher=[[Youngstown Vindicator]]|accessdate=2009-05-29}}</ref>
Blaney returned to the No. 66 in 2010. Again, Prism struggled with sponsorship, as it was unable to find a sponsor for the team for even the [[2010 Daytona 500]], and Blaney subsequently failed to qualify for it.<ref name="sponsor" /> Blaney made the team's first race of the year in the 2010 [[Auto Club 500]], qualifying fifth,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=4929636|title=Jamie McMurray sits on pole in California week after winning Daytona 500|work=ESPN.com|accessdate=1 August 2015}}</ref> leading four laps before finishing 41st. The 66 was later impounded by NASCAR. The team was able to rebound from the impound, and ran the whole entire race, finishing 29th at the Shelby American.
While the 66 team frequently [[Start and park|start-and-parked]], it occasionally showed competitive speed. Blaney qualified 8th, 4th, and 3rd at the [[2009 Food City 500]], the [[2009 Sharpie 500]], and the [[2010 Food City 500]], respectively (all at [[Bristol Motor Speedway|Bristol]]), as well as a 5th place start spot at the [[2009 Auto Club 500]], though the team finished 41st or worst in all four races.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.racing-reference.info/drivdet/blaneda01/2009/W|title=Dave Blaney|work=racing-reference.info|accessdate=1 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.racing-reference.info/drivdet/blaneda01/2010/W|title=Dave Blaney|work=racing-reference.info|accessdate=1 August 2015}}</ref>
| |||