Today’s 50th Daytona 500 will mark the breakthrough race and biggest payday for Denver-based Furniture Row Racing and team owner Barney Visser.
Visser, a Cherry Hills resident, couldn’t find the words to describe the excitement he felt Thursday when Kenny Wallace joined Joe Nemechek in the 43-car lineup.
“I’m thrilled,” Visser said after a brief silence, “but we’ve got a shot at winning this thing. It’s for real, and that’s really exciting.”
Nemechek qualified the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet last Sunday, guaranteeing Visser’s Daytona debut, and Wallace got the No. 87 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet in the field during Thursday’s Gatorade Duels.
Besides looking at a combined payday of at least $500,000 — the lowest payout a year ago was $248,000 — Visser is ecstatic about seeing his team cause double trouble at Daytona and prove it can compete with stock-car racing’s elite.
Visser, who owns the Furniture Row chain, failed to qualify for the past two Daytona 500s in a single-car effort. His car made 19-of-36 Cup races last year and 21-of-36 in 2006.
This year, Nemechek was third among 53 cars in the time trials and finished 12th among 27 cars in Thursday’s first Duel. Wallace was 27th in time trials and eighth in the first Duel.
Team manager Joe Garone, a North High School graduate, said both cars are capable of racing for the checkered flag.
“It’s really possible,” Garone said. “Each step you take gets you in position to win. That’s the exciting part of where we are right now.”
Furniture Row racing dumped its engine program last year and is leasing its motors from Hendrick Motorsports, which fields cars for two-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, four-time champion Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears. About the same time Furniture Row signed on with Hendrick, it released Wallace and hired Nemechek.
“Our success here stems from a combination of things,” Garone said. “It really started with the change to Joe Nemechek, and then securing the Hendrick engine lease program. That allowed us to focus on the race car and personnel, getting the right people in places and to really concentrate on managing the car and our people. The results are here in Daytona.”
Wallace was rehired last month when Visser decided to go to Daytona with two cars.
“I feel just incredible,” Wallace said. “Last year Furniture Row, they didn’t know where to turn, what to do to make their team better. I don’t know what it was. I don’t know if they fired me or what, because they kept paying me and (I) kept all my stuff.
“And then they called me up in the wintertime and said, ‘We realize it wasn’t you. We want you to run the 500. . . . We realize how bad our motors were. This is our chance to pay you back.’ ”
Qualifying for the Daytona 500 is key to having a good season, because the top 35 cars from last year, based on owner points, are guaranteed starting spots in the first five races this year.
Visser, who has never entered a race with a guaranteed spot, had his entry finish 42nd in 2007, so he’s among the bevy of owners who are on the outside looking in.
After the fifth race this season, the top-35 rule changes to current points, and ultimately, maintaining a top-35 spot in the standings leads to a guaranteed spot in the next Daytona 500.
Wallace, however, is a one-race hire. He has a Nationwide Series (formerly Busch) commitment, and Visser said he wouldn’t continue a two-car effort unless the No. 87 obtains sponsorship.
But for today, “We have a drafting partner for sure,” Garone said. “We haven’t made any deals with Hendrick, but it’s kind of unspoken. We would do anything to help them, and if it came down to it, I think they would do the same for us.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
NASCAR Sprint Cup/Daytona 500
Site: Daytona Beach, Fla.
TV: Today (KDVR-31, pre-race noon; race 1:30 p.m.).
Track: Daytona International Speedway (tri-oval, 2.5 miles, 31 degrees banking in turns).
Race distance: 500 miles, 200 laps.
Last race: Dale Earnhardt Jr. used a late pass to snatch the exhibition Budweiser Shootout away from thetwo-time champion Tony Stewart. The victory ended a nearly two-year winless streak and returned Junior to the forefront of NASCAR’s best plate racers.
Last year: Kevin Harvick edged Mark Martin in a wild final lap, forcing the 48-year-old driver to settle for second place. Martin, looking to end 25 years of frustration in NASCAR’s premier event, led with two laps to go and looked like he would hold off Kyle Busch. But Busch started a multicar accident in the final turn that left Martin with no one to give him a push to the finish line. Harvick and Matt Kenseth teamed up on the outside, allowing Harvick to pull alongside Martin and edge him at the line by .020 seconds.
Fast facts: The event is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. . . . Jimmie Johnson, who is trying to match Cale Yarborough’s record three straight series championships, won his second Daytona 500 pole on Feb. 10, while Michael Waltrip claimed the outside pole. . . . The winner of the Shootout has gone on to win the Daytona 500 five times: Bobby Allison (1982), Bill Elliott (1987), Dale Jarrett (1996, 2000) and Jeff Gordon (1997). . . . Earnhardt Jr. won the 2004 event on the same track that claimed his father’s life three years earlier. The win came six years to the day Dale Earnhardt Sr. won his first — and only — Daytona 500 on his 20th try. . . . Richard Petty (1973-74), Yarborough (1983-84) and Sterling Marlin (1994-95) are the only drivers to win this race in consecutive years.
Next race: Auto Club 500, Feb. 24, Fontana, Calif.
On the net:
Today’s lineup
Pos. No. Driver Car type
1. 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet
2. 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota
3. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet
4. 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota
5. 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge
6. 20 Tony Stewart Toyota
7. 12 Ryan Newman Dodge
8. 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet
9. 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet
10. 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge
11. 99 Carl Edwards Ford
12. 8 Mark Martin Chevrolet
13. 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge
14. 6 David Ragan Ford
15. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Dodge
16. 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet
17. 87 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet
18. 16 Greg Biffle Ford
19. 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge
20. 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota
21. 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet
22. 34 John Andretti Chevrolet
23. 83 Brian Vickers Toyota
24. 18 Kyle Busch Toyota
25. 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet
26. 7 Robby Gordon Dodge
27. 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet
28. 17 Matt Kenseth Ford
29. 01 Regan Smith Chevrolet
30. 28 Travis Kvapil Ford
31. 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet
32. 38 David Gilliland Ford
33. 70 Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet
34. 22 Dave Blaney Toyota
35. 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge
36. 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet
37. 96 J.J. Yeley Toyota
38. 26 Jamie McMurray Ford
39. 45 Kyle Petty Dodge
40. 40 Dario Franchitti Dodge
41. 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet
42. 00 David Reutimann Toyota
43. 2 Kurt Busch Dodge
