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.
Busch Series Car No. 78 history Furniture Row Racing made its NASCAR debut in the Busch Series at Nashville Superspeedway in 2005 with Jerry Robertson driving, starting 24th and finishing 33rd. Robertson ran ten races with the team in 2005 and nine in 2006, with his best finish being a 22nd at California Speedway in 2005.
Car No. 78 results Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Pts 2005 Jerry Robertson 78 Chevy DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL NSH BRI TEX PHO TAL DAR RCH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR GTY IRP GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 50th 710 2006 DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL BRI TEX NSH PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA MAR GTY IRP GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 52nd 564
Cup Series Car No. 77/87 history
2008
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.
Car No. 87 results
Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts 2008 Kenny Wallace 87 Chevy DAY43 CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON NHA DAY CHI IND POC GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 58th 134
Erik Jones (2017)
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. 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.
Car No. 77 results Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts 2017 Erik Jones 77 Toyota DAY39 ATL14 LVS15 PHO8 CAL12 MAR12 TEX22 BRI17 RCH38 TAL33 KAN22 CLT7 DOV15 POC3 MCH13 SON25 DAY9 KEN6 NHA39 IND31 POC8 GLN10 MCH3 BRI2* DAR5 RCH6 CHI33 NHA6 DOV12 CLT17 TAL36 KAN35 MAR26 TEX10 PHO4 HOM21 19th 863
Car No. 78 history Early years (2005–2008)
In 2005, the team made two NEXTEL Cup appearances with Kenny Wallace debuting the team at Dover International Speedway, and Robertson running at Phoenix International Raceway.
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.
Regan Smith (2009–2012)
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. 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.
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.
Kurt Busch (2012–2013)
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.
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.
Martin Truex Jr. (2014–2018)
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. Other potential candidates being Jeff Burton and Bobby Labonte, veterans who had not yet secured rides for 2014. However, Montoya eventually announced that he would join Team Penske in the IndyCar Series. 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. The announcement also added that FRR had hired all of the crewmen from Truex's MWR team as well.
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.