As the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series comes to a close, so too will Furniture Row Racing. It was announced earlier this year that the team that won the 2017 MENCS Championship will close it’s doors following Sunday’s event at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Speaking on Friday, Furniture Row Racing president Joe Garone described the difficulty the team has seen in recent weeks.
“You can imagine how sick you feel when you see it coming to a close,” Garone said. “You deal with those emotions and look at what life’s next great adventure is going to be, and I think that’s where we’re at, but we want to close this out on top first if we can beat these guys.”
Driver Martin Truex and crew chief Cole Pearn will move over to Joe Gibbs Racing next season but many on the team still need jobs.
“Our last count, we’re about 22 from everybody having jobs,” Garone said. “Barney has a lot of companies, and there was a lot of positions that were open, and a lot of the guys filled those positions. And these are championship-caliber guys. They’ve been being entertained by a lot of teams. They’re good guys to have on your team for sure.”
Garrone, who is unsure of his plans going forward, has said he wants to stay involved in some form of racing. He also elaborated on the current status of the FRR shop.
“The shop is going to stay intact at the moment,” Garone said. “Barney is funny. At one moment, he wants to keep it like in a showroom condition with as many cars as we can keep so people can still come see and remember the history. And at other times he wants to change it into a different manufacturing plant.
“So I’m not exactly sure what our future is, but he has a real heart for this and wants to preserve for as long as he can, possibly for years with his kids, this moment in history that he’s gone through.”