HOF and Yates announced Tuesday an alignment of their organizations, with Yates operating the No.96 entry for the full 2009 schedule. The No.96 team will function out of the recently-expanded Yates facility in Concord, NC.

Doug Yates and Max Jones will continue as co-owners of Yates, while Tom Garfinkel and Jeff Moorad will remain as co-owners of HOF

Yates already fields Fords for drivers Travis Kvapil, David Gilliland and Paul Menard.

Labonte, the 2000 Cup Series champion, was reportedly in discussions with Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing to drive the No.8 Chevrolet. Last month, he was released from his contract with Petty Enterprises after driving the famed No.43 Dodge from 2006-08.

Earlier this month, Petty and Gillett Evernham Motorsports agreed in principle to form a new four-car Sprint Cup organization.

Labonte drove 11 seasons (1995-2005) for Joe Gibbs Racing, where he recorded all of his 21 career victories. He has not won a Cup race since the 2003 season-finale at Homestead.

"I'm excited to be part of what Ask.com is bringing to our sport," Labonte said. "In a time like this, it's great to see a sponsor come in with technology and ideas that will help all of the competitors in NASCAR and enhance the experience for all of our fans, no matter which driver or team they cheer for."

Ask.com has also entered into a partnership with NASCAR as the "official search engine of NASCAR."

HOF has operated as a single-car team since 2006. The organization underwent major changes for the 2008 season when Moorad and Garfinkel, top executives with the Arizona Diamondbacks at the time, bought a majority interest in the racing team from NFL Hall of Famers Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman. Moorad has since resigned from the Diamondbacks organization as he pursues a purchase of the San Diego Padres while Garfinkel remains with the team. HOF also switched from Chevrolet to Toyota last year.

J.J. Yeley drove the No.96 car for a majority of last season, but HOF released Yeley in August, replacing him with Ken Schrader, Joey Logano and Brad Coleman for the remainder of the year.