Total: 14 Monster Energy Cup Series: 14 Busch Series: 0
Furniture Row Racing (FRR) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2005 to 2018. The team was owned and sponsored by Furniture Row, a U.S. furniture store chain, and was based in Furniture Row's home city of Denver, Colorado, being the only NASCAR team headquartered west of the Mississippi River. FRR most recently fielded the No. 78 Toyota Camry full-time for Martin Truex Jr. FRR won their first and only championship in 2017 with Truex, becoming the first winner of the Cup Series under Monster Energy sponsorship. The team was also the first single-car team ever to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup, which it did in 2013 with Kurt Busch and again in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 with Truex.
From 2016 to 2018 Furniture Row Racing had a technical alliance with fellow Toyota team Joe Gibbs Racing; previously, from 2010 until the end of 2015, the team had an alliance with Richard Childress Racing under the Chevrolet banner.
Following the 2018 season, Furniture Row Racing closed its doors and sold its charter to Spire Sports + Entertainment, which is currently competing as Spire Motorsports. Much of the former FRR team currently operates under Falci Adaptive Motorsports, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing adaptive motor racing to people with physical disabilities.[1]
Furniture Row Racing entered a second car for the first time in 2008, entering the No. 87 car for Kenny Wallace for the Daytona 500. In early 2008, Wallace returned to Furniture Row to drive in the Daytona 500 in a car that was supposed to serve as a safety net for Nemechek in case his team didn't make the field. Instead, Nemechek locked himself into the field with a third place qualifying run, and Wallace secured a spot in the race in the Gatorade Duels.
On August 7, 2016, Furniture Row Racing announced that Erik Jones would compete full-time in the Cup Series with backing from 5 Hour Energy. It marked the return of the No. 77 for the first time since Charlotte fall in 2014, then operated by Randy Humphrey Racing. In December 2016, Furniture Row Racing purchased the charter of the No. 62 owned by Jay Robinson and used it for the No. 77, guaranteeing the team a spot in every race of the 2017 season.[2] Jones was on loan from Joe Gibbs Racing. In the Coca-Cola 600, Jones had a career best finish in 7th place, but Austin Dillon would go onto win the race. At Pocono Jones improved his best career finish and collected his first top 5 finish by finishing 3rd. At Kentucky, Jones took a 6th-place finish for his fifth top ten of the season.
On July 11, it was announced that Jones would leave the team after the 2017 season for his long anticipated move to the JGR No. 20 car in 2018, but 5 Hour Energy will have to stay with the team due to the viceroy rule and Monster Energy being the series sponsor. Following Jones' announced departure, Furniture Row Racing sold their No. 77 charter to JTG Daugherty Racing for the No. 37 team and announced that they would indefinitely close the No. 77 team at the end of the season, while also saying that the 77 was not just a one-year thing.[2]
Wallace was scheduled to drive the first five races in 2006, with Robertson filling out the rest of the schedule. At the 2006 Daytona 500, Wallace failed to put the No. 78 Furniture Row car in the field. Wallace qualified for the next two races, at California Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finishing 41st and 38th, respectively. However, the performance of the team was not good enough to make the top 35 in points, and the team ran with various drivers for the rest of the year; Jimmy Spencer (both Pocono races) and Travis Kvapil (at road courses) also drove the car. FRR also teamed up with PPI Motorsports to share equipment and resources throughout the season. Robertson competed in select Busch Series events in 2006, his best finish being 29th.
Wallace was hired to continue to be the full-time driver in 2007. He had two sixth-place starts that season, but was released in August 2007. After Scott Wimmer and Sterling Marlin failed to qualify in the following weeks, Joe Nemechek was named the permanent driver. FRR completed a three-year contract with Nemechek (2008–2010) towards the end of the season. Nemechek locked himself into the field with a third place qualifying run in the 2008 Daytona 500. At the spring Talladega race, he gave the team their first pole. In the fall race at that track, Nemechek gave FRR its then-best finish ever of 11th.
For 2009, the team announced it would cut back to a part-time schedule due to financial constraints. Nemechek was to remain as the driver, but the team bought out the rest of his contract after he refused to run a partial schedule. Regan Smith ran 18 races in the No. 78 car in 2009.
FRR resumed full-time duties in 2010. The team aligned with Richard Childress Racing and earned top 35 status for the first five races of 2010 by purchasing the owner points from RCR's No. 07 car.[3] Childress was listed as the official owner of the No. 78.
On November 15, 2010, the Furniture Row Racing transporter and motorcoach were destroyed in an accident on Interstate 25 about forty miles from the team's Denver headquarters. Richard Childress Racing provided the team a fully equipped transporter for Furniture Row's use at Homestead.[4]
At the 2011 Daytona 500, Smith gave Furniture Row its first top ten, with a seventh-place finish. On May 7, 2011, Smith gave Furniture Row its first top five finish, and first victory, at Darlington Raceway in the Southern 500, holding off Carl Edwards. In 2012, the team struggled mightily, and Pete Rondeau was replaced as crew chief by former RCR crew chief Todd Berrier before Indy. The addition of Berrier resulted in the first back to back top-10 finishes (both 9th places) for FRR and Smith.
Despite Berrier bringing Smith two top ten finishes and one top-five finish, manager Joe Garone announced that Smith would be replaced by Kurt Busch beginning with the 2012 Bank of America 500 at Charlotte.[5]
In the 2013 season, Busch improved the status of Furniture Row as a team, with the car becoming more competitive and running in contention more frequently than not. In the first 26 races, Busch recorded 8 top five and 13 top ten finishes, and one pole position (at Darlington in May). These were statistics easily comparable to drivers who were running with the powerhouse teams. The team also had low points, such as a scary wreck in the May race at Talladega that saw Busch flip over and land on top of Ryan Newman in turn 3 with six laps to go. A number of poor finishes, and errors like crashes at New Hampshire and Martinsville, plus a dead battery while leading under a red flag at the Coca-Cola 600, kept the team hovering on the Chase bubble. A streak of top ten finishes by Busch in August, combined with a second-place finish at Richmond, secured the team a Chase berth entry. This marked Busch's eighth season making the Chase. This also made Furniture Row Racing the first ever single car team to race into the Chase.
The car was sponsored by Furniture Row for most of the season, except at Talladega that October, when the car was sponsored by Wonder Bread, in tribute to Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. This was the second time Busch has driven a car with a Talladega Nights-based paint job at Talladega, with the other time being a car based on the "ME" paint job in May 2012 during his tenure with Phoenix Racing.[6]
In August 2013, it was announced that Busch would not be returning to FRR for 2014, as he had signed with Gene Haas to drive with Stewart-Haas Racing starting at the 2014 Daytona 500. The team also announced that they had extended their alliance with RCR. For close to two months, speculation over who would replace Busch at Furniture Row had suggested Juan Pablo Montoya to be the most likely candidate, as Montoya was to be replaced in the No. 42 at Chip Ganassi Racing by Kyle Larson.[7] Other potential candidates being Jeff Burton and Bobby Labonte, veterans who had not yet secured rides for 2014.[7] However, Montoya eventually announced that he would join Team Penske in the IndyCar Series.[8] In early October, after Michael Waltrip Racing announced that their No. 56 team was being cut to a part-time team due to the loss of NAPA Auto Parts as a sponsor in the fallout from the Spingate scandal at Richmond, it was reported that Furniture Row was in talks with Martin Truex Jr. to potentially sign him.
Prior to the November race at Texas, it was announced and confirmed that Truex had signed a multi-year deal to drive for FRR beginning at the 2014 Daytona 500.[9] The announcement also added that FRR had hired all of the crewmen from Truex's MWR team as well.[citation needed]
The team's performance declined slightly in 2014, with Truex scoring only five top tens, leading only one lap and finishing 24th in the standings. At the end of the season, the team released crew chief Todd Berrier, hiring rookie crew chief Cole Pearn.
Martin Truex Jr. scored the team's second win and second Chase berth in 2015.
Truex's performance dramatically improved during the 2015 season, largely due to the new driver-crew chief relationship between Truex and Cole Pearn. During the Daytona 500, Truex led one lap and finished 8th. Truex earned nine top tens throughout the first 10 races, finishing second at Las Vegas. He led the most laps at Kansas and appeared on his way to a win, when a poor pit stop shuffled him to a ninth-place finish. After leading the most laps for four-consecutive races, Truex and Furniture Row finally broke into victory lane, winning the Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 at Pocono Raceway in June getting Furniture Row Racing its 1st Sprint Cup victory since the Southern 500 in 2011 and breaking a 69 race winless streak for Truex. The win locked Truex and the team into the Chase for the Sprint Cup for 2015 and put him second in the standings. The next week, Truex would finish 3rd in a rain shortened race at Michigan International Speedway becoming the first driver since Richard Petty in 1969 to score 14 top 10s in the first 15 races of the season. Truex would not visit victory lane for the rest of the year but did score a total of 22 top 10s, including 8 top 5s, and finished 4th in the championship standings after racing his way to the championship 4 at Homestead.
On September 27, 2015, it was confirmed that Truex had re-signed with Furniture Row for 2016 and beyond. The team also announced a switch to Toyota in 2016, receiving a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing and engines from Toyota Racing Development.[10] Truex would win his second race with Furniture Row on May 29, 2016 after leading a record-breaking 392 of 400 laps of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.[11] Truex was able to score his first multi-win season as he won the Southern 500 at Darlington and then scored off a victory at Chicagoland passing leader Ryan Blaney with 4 laps to go. Truex scored his fourth win of the season two races later at Dover, However, for the 78, the car lost the engine at Talladega, cutting the car from the Chase.
At the 2017 Daytona 500, Truex was the race leader with two laps to go, but Kyle Larson passed him in the second turn and Truex ended up finishing 13th. At Las Vegas, Truex led the most laps (150) and became the first NASCAR driver to win all three stages. Truex and Brad Keselowski battled for the win late and with two to go, Keselowski had engine trouble and Truex scored his first victory of the season. At Kansas, Truex battled with Ryan Blaney all night and led the most laps with 104, beating out Blaney. At the Coca-Cola 600, Truex dominated, leading 273 laps while Erik Jones had a career best finish in seventh place, but Austin Dillon eventually won the race. Truex dominated again at Kentucky, winning all three stages and leading the most laps, battling Kyle Busch on several restarts throughout the race for the win.
At the 2017 Brickyard 400, Truex battled Busch for the lead late in the race, but accidentally wrecked Busch, taking both himself and Busch out of the race and foiling Busch from being the first driver in the history of the speedway to three-peat. The wreck caused a lot of controversy in the Toyota operation. Following the incident, Furniture Row Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing suspended three No. 78 crew members for confronting Busch's crew chief Adam Stevens.
Following all of their success throughout the playoffs and regular season, the No. 78 team won the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Homestead after leading a fitting 78 laps.
Truex started off the season with an 18th-place finish in the Daytona 500, after being caught up in a late race wreck. For the next few weeks, he picked up top five finishes in five straight races, including two poles, and a win at California. Truex scored three additional wins at Pocono, Sonoma, and Kentucky. He stayed consistent enough to make it to the Championship 4. Truex finished second at Homestead and in the points standings.
On September 4, 2018, Barney Visser announced that with the loss of major sponsor 5-hour Energy, he had no choice but to announce that the team would cease operation at the end of the 2018 season, one year after winning their first championship title.[12] On November 7, 2018, it was announced that Truex and Pearn would move to the No. 19 team of Joe Gibbs Racing.[13] The No. 78's charter was eventually sold to Spire Sports + Entertainment on December 4, 2018, and currently runs in the Cup Series as Spire Motorsports No. 77.[14][2]
Kurt Thomas Busch is an American former auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the 2017 Daytona 500 winner. He is the older brother of two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch.
Kenneth Lee Wallace is an American race car driver and former reporter for Fox NASCAR. He retired from NASCAR in 2015 after driving in the national series since 1988. In a career spanning 25 years in NASCAR, Wallace had nine wins, all occurring in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Now retired from NASCAR competition, he continues to race on local dirt tracks across the country as a hobby.
Martin Lee Truex Jr. is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion and a two-time Xfinity Series champion, having won two consecutive championships in 2004 and 2005.
Joseph Frank Nemechek III is an American professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 24 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. Nemechek has made the second most national series starts in NASCAR history. He claimed the record in 2019 after he passed seven-time Cup Series champion Richard Petty, but was surpassed by Kevin Harvick in 2021. Nemechek won the 1992 NASCAR Busch Series championship.
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization founded by Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs. His son, J. D. Gibbs, ran the team with him until his death in 2019. Founded in Huntersville, North Carolina, in 1992. JGR has won five Cup Series championships.
Chance 2 Motorsports is a former NASCAR racing team that was founded by Teresa Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2003. Although connected with Dale Earnhardt, Inc., the race team founded by Dale Earnhardt and run by Teresa Earnhardt after his death, the two were separate operations.
Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The team began running part-time in 2004 as Means-Jenkins Motorsports under a partnership with Jimmy Means and restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, with Jenkins becoming the full team owner in 2005. In the Cup Series, FRM currently fields two Ford Mustang Dark Horse teams full-time: The No. 34 for Michael McDowell and the No. 38 for Todd Gilliland as well as the No. 36 part-time for Kaz Grala. In the Truck Series, they field the No. 38 Ford F-Series for Layne Riggs.
Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings LLC, doing business as Michael Waltrip Racing ("MWR"), was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The company was as a 50–50 partnership between Robert Kauffman, the founder and managing partner of Fortress Investment Group, and two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip, who first established the team in 1996 in the Busch Series. The team was the first full-time three-car team to field Toyota Camrys when Toyota entered the Sprint Cup racing fold in 2007, before being joined by Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008. MWR was also the last original Toyota team in the Sprint Cup Series to still be in operation, as Bill Davis Racing and Red Bull Racing Team had both ceased operations in the preceding years.
The 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 58th season of professional Stock car racing in the United States and the 35th modern-era NASCAR Cup series season. It was started at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 12 with the Budweiser Shootout and ended on Monday, November 20, with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Chase for the Nextel Cup began with the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, September 17, at New Hampshire International Speedway. This was the last full-time season with the Gen 4 car.
Regan Lee Smith is an American former professional stock car racing driver and a current pit reporter for Fox NASCAR. He most recently drove part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro SS for JR Motorsports.
Phoenix Racing is a motorsports team that currently competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series East fielding the No. 1 Toyota Camry and various Super Late Model events fielding the No. 51 Chevrolet SS for Jake Finch. Owned by Florida businessman James Finch, the team fielded NASCAR entries across the top three series from 1989 through 2013. The team fielded a wide variety of drivers and often changed manufacturers, though it often maintained a relationship with Hendrick Motorsports. In the Cup Series, Phoenix Racing was victorious just once in 251 starts over 24 seasons.
NEMCO Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The team is owned by driver Joe Nemechek and his family. NEMCO Motorsports has had success, winning the 1992 Busch Series Championship. The team previously competed in both Cup and Xfinity Series competition. NEMCO currently competes in the ARCA Menards Series.
The 2008 Aaron's 499 was the ninth race in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. It was held on April 27, 2008, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama.
The 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series was the 70th season of NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States, and the 47th modern-era Cup series season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Advance Auto Parts Clash, the Can-Am Duel qualifying races and the 60th running of the Daytona 500. The regular season ended with the Brickyard 400 on September 9, 2018. The playoffs ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 18, 2018. Martin Truex Jr. was the defending champion, having won his first in the series.
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) is a museum in Mooresville, North Carolina. Formerly a race team founded by Dale Earnhardt and his wife, Teresa Earnhardt, it competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, the highest level of competition for professional stock car racing in the United States, from 1998 to 2009. Earnhardt was a seven-time Winston Cup champion who died in a crash on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Despite his ownership of the DEI racing team, Earnhardt never drove for his team in the Winston Cup; instead, he raced for his long-time mentor and backer Richard Childress at RCR. In the late-2000s, DEI suffered critical financial difficulties after drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip, and sponsors Anheuser-Busch, National Automotive Parts Association and United States Army left the team; DEI consequently merged with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2009, moving their equipment into the latter's shop, while the former's closed down. Chip Ganassi Racing's NASCAR operations was subsequently purchased by Trackhouse Racing Team in 2021.
The 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series was the 71st season of NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States, and the 48th modern-era Cup series season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Advance Auto Parts Clash, the Gander RV Duel qualifying races and the 61st running of the Daytona 500. The regular season ended with the Brickyard 400 in September. The playoffs ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead–Miami Speedway on November 17, 2019. Joey Logano of Team Penske entered as the defending series champion.
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series was the 72nd season for NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 49th season for the modern era Cup Series. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Busch Clash, the Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying races, and the 62nd running of the Daytona 500. The regular season ended with the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona on August 29. The NASCAR playoffs ended with the Season Finale 500, the first finale at Phoenix Raceway on November 8.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series was the 73rd season for NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 50th season for the modern era Cup Series. The season started at Daytona International Speedway with the Busch Clash, where it was the first year that the non-points event was run on the track's road course layout instead of the oval. That race was followed by the Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying races, and the 63rd running of the Daytona 500, the first points race of the season. The regular season also ended at Daytona with the 2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400 on August 28, where Kyle Larson won the Regular Season Championship. Following the 2021 Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 31, Chevrolet claimed its 40th Manufacturer's Championship and its first since 2015. The NASCAR playoffs ended with the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on November 7 with Larson earning his first Cup Series championship after a 10-win season.
The 2022 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series and the 64th running of the event. The race was held on Sunday, February 20, 2022, in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) asphalt superspeedway. In a green-white-checker finish, rookie Austin Cindric, driving for Team Penske, led 21 of the final 45 laps and held off challenges from teammate Ryan Blaney, RFK Racing's Brad Keselowski and eventual second-place finisher Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing to win his first career NASCAR Cup Series race. Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing finished third. Team Penske dedicated their Daytona 500 win to legendary sportscaster Bob Jenkins after the race. Jenkins used to broadcast NASCAR Races on ESPN from 1981 to 2000.
The 2024 Daytona 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race and the 66th running of the event. It was held on Monday, February 19, 2024, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. It was the first race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. It was originally supposed to be run on February 18, but was postponed due to rain.
References
↑ "About". Falci Adaptive Motorsports. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
