Funiture Row Racing hires Martin Truex Jr. AND

his entire pit crew! It was a pretty poorly kept secret, that Truex Jr. would sign with Front Row. Perhaps this was the detail that needed to be worked out, so that the announcement could be made. The car ran strong, with Kurt Busch driving for the team, in contention to win, several times, but there was no secret, that there were problems in the pits and that those problems likely cost the team several wins. With Truex Jr.'s pit crew, coming over from MWR with him, that problem just might be resolved. Here are the links, from Jayski's:

Truex, Furniture Row still finalizing deal UPDATES: When is a deal with terms acceptable to all parties not quite a done deal? When the parties involved have accepted those terms, but haven't yet put pen to paper to confirm those acceptable terms. Other than that small detail, it's a done deal and in this case, everyone knows it. That's the situation at Furniture Row Racing, the home of Martin Truex Jr. after this NASCAR season. According to knowledgeable sources close to and inside the Denver, Colo.-based Sprint-Cup company, Truex and team owner Barney Visser have agreed to terms. They just haven't gotten around to signing the contract to make it official. Thus the delay in formally announcing what everyone knows is eventually coming. Broadcasters and bloggers have reported for weeks that Truex is going to Furniture Row and the announcement will be made & well, any day now. Last weekend, at Martinsville Speedway, team general manager Joe Garone said most of the details are done and acceptable to everyone. But he added that Truex has one small detail to clear up before moving forward. "I don't know where people are getting their information," Garone said. "Yes, we've agreed to terms, but we just haven't signed anything yet. The timing isn't a big priority because we know it's going to happen. It might even get done by the end of next week [when the tour is in Fort Worth]."(Autoweek)(10-29-2013)
UPDATE: Furniture Row Racing has scheduled a "major team announcement" Friday at 11:00am/et at Texas Motor Speedway.(10-31-2013)
UPDATE 2: Furniture Row Racing general manager Joe Garone announced that the Denver, Colo.-based organization has entered into a multiyear agreement with Martin Truex Jr. to drive the teams #78 Chevy, beginning with the 2014 Sprint Cup Series season. "We couldnt be happier to have landed one of the top drivers in NASCAR," said Garone. "Martins talents  both on and off the track -- have been well documented and everyone at Furniture Row Racing feels that he is an excellent fit to continue the success that we have enjoyed this season."
"Furniture Row Racing has been high on my radar," said Truex. "The team has done a great job this year. Its a talented organization and it has been impressive to see what theyve accomplished over the past few seasons. What influenced my decision is team owner Barney Visser and that the team really wants me as its driver. Everything else is important, but I really felt like Furniture Row Racing genuinely wanted me to drive for them."(Furniture Row Racing)
AND Michael Waltrip Racing congratulates Martin on his announcement today. "We are very happy to see him in a competitive ride next year and appreciate the professionalism everyone showed throughout this entire process."(MWR)(11-1-2013)

AND

Furniture Row hires Truex, Jr's pit crew as well: Joe Garone of Furniture Row said Friday that the team has hired Martin Truex, Jr's pit crew from Michael Waltrip Racing to pit the team in 2014:
IS THE RCR ALLIANCE A MULTI-YEAR THING OR AN INDIVIDUAL YEAR-BY-YEAR? THE TEAM ITSELF, YOU MADE SOME CHANGES AROUND DOVER, CREW MEMBERS, ETC. WHAT KINDS OF THINGS ARE YOU DOING TO STRENGTHEN THE TEAM FOR NEXT YEAR?
Joe Garone, General Manager of Furniture Row Racing: "It is a continual process. Our RCR deal is that we do them year-to-year, and that has been a strong program. Richard (Childress) made a commitment to make sure that that program ran as a complete open-book type of relationship, and they have stood by that. It is certainly something that we utilize. But, as Martin said earlier, one of the big advantages that we have as a single-car team with that type of alliance, is our ability to move quick. We are real agile, and focus out in Colorado is 100% is about what we are doing in that shop with a staff of about 60 people, and that makes it really strong. The RCR deal is real important. As far as personnel goes, we've had some struggles, it's not a secret, on pit road. We have been working hard to overcome that. Our pit crew didn't grow as fast as the performance of the car did last year. We've been able to secure Martin's pit crew; actually bring them on-board in full-time positions for 2014. I think that is going to really help that part of our program."(Chevy PR)(11-2-2013)

I hope NAPA makes a commitment to sponsor the team. The guy who did nothing wrong got the hosing in this deal when MWR threw him under the bus. I think Martin deserves a break and I hope he gets a big one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sparky1329

I hope NAPA makes a commitment to sponsor the team. The guy who did nothing wrong got the hosing in this deal when MWR threw him under the bus. I think Martin deserves a break and I hope he gets a big one.

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On Jayski's, yesterday, there was a small snippet, that said that NAPA might sponsor Truex Jr. at Funiture Row. That would be quite fitting, IMO. Hope it comes to pass! :)

I'm all for NAPA coming on board the #78 as well. I'm not a fan of Martin's, but agree he got the raw end of that egg!