Denver-based Furniture Row Racing didn’t get much television time during Sunday’s Pocono 500, and if you didn’t pick up the car number in the results, you probably weren’t aware of the driver change for the first-year team.
Kenny Wallace wasn’t behind the wheel of the No. 78 Chevrolet. It was fellow veteran Jimmy Spencer, who finished 32nd, two spots ahead of where he started.
“This was a planned deal from a couple months ago,” Furniture Row crew chief Joe Garone said Tuesday.
Wallace, who competed in the previous six races for Furniture Row, drives regularly in the Busch Series for another team, and he didn’t want to do the weekend doubleheader in Nashville, Tenn., and Pocono, Pa. After competing at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday, he flew to Pocono for Sunday’s race, but only for prerace obligations for the Speed network.
Wallace has similar conflicts this weekend. The Busch race is Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway, and the Nextel Cup event is Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. Garone said Spencer is scheduled to qualify the car, and if the team makes its fifth consecutive race, Wallace will be behind the wheel, albeit from the back of the field at the start, a penalty for switching drivers.
“Jimmy was a lot of fun to work with, and he’ll also drive for us in the second Pocono race (July 23),” Garone said.
At the beginning of the year Furniture Row announced Jerry Robertson of Arvada would be the eventual successor to Wallace, whose primary goal was to shorten the team’s learning curve. Robertson remains in the picture.
“But you won’t see Jerry in the Cup car, if at all this season, until the last two months,” Garone said. “Until we get a full slate of cars, we’re going to hold off on that.”
Garone said the team’s biggest goals are to “make races and finish them.” Using experienced Cup drivers gives it the best chance to do that.
The team’s morale is at an all-time high after qualifying for four consecutive races. Team owner Barney Visser of Cherry Hills is 42nd in the owner’s standings, seven spots within being guaranteed a starting position.
“We’re really pleased,” Garone said.
Lester entered
Bill Lester, who in March became the first black driver in a Cup race since Willy T. Ribbs in 1986, will compete with Furniture Row for one of the six or seven non-guaranteed starting positions this weekend at Michigan.
Lester also will compete in his usual ride in the Craftsman Truck Series. The support series event is Saturday afternoon.
“Hopefully, we got some of the hoopla out of the way during the Atlanta race, and this time around we can focus solely on the racing end of it,” Lester said in a release.
Lester started 19th in his Nextel Cup debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He finished 38th, six laps down.
Welcoming Toyota
Next year Toyota will become NASCAR’s fourth chassis and engine manufacturer, joining Chevy, Ford and Dodge. NASCAR president Mike Helton said Toyota’s presence would draw more fans and create closer competition.
“It’s an issue you need to take a great look at, and understand the impact Toyota has, business-wise, on the American citizen,” Helton said on Speed. “From the competition side, I think it’s always good when a new manufacturer enters the sport. … I also think it’s a little bit of a wake-up call for the other manufacturers to step up their level of participation.”
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-820-5453 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
