Brandon Thomas will serve as crew chief of the #96 DLP HDTV Chevy driven by Tony Raines beginning with the Bank of America 500 Nextel Cup Series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway officials from Hall of Fame Racing announced today. Philippe Lopez, who has served as crew chief for the first 30 races of the season, will now concentrate full-time on his duties as competition director for Hall of Fame Racing. “We’ve had this plan in place since the beginning of the season,” said Bill Saunders, managing partner of Hall of Fame Racing. “At some point in the near future we want to expand to two cars, move into a bigger shop and continue to put together an elite Nextel Cup team. Philippe was doing a fantastic job, not only serving as crew chief, but also as competition director. We’re excited to bring Brandon in so that he can concentrate fully on being a crew chief and Philippe can concentrate solely on being competition director to further Hall of Fame Racing’s growth.” Thomas comes to Hall of Fame Racing from Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) where he’s been employed since 2003. JGR supplies cars, engines and technical support to Hall of Fame Racing, which is owned by Hall of Fame NFL quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach, as well as Saunders. Raines and Thomas will work together for the final six races of the 2006 season before gearing up for the 2007 season.(Hall of Fame Racing/True Speed Communication PR)(10-10-2006)
