The price to participate in NASCAR’s North Carolina-based sport has taken its toll on Furniture Row Racing. The upstart Sprint Cup team from Denver will attempt to qualify only in a limited number of races next year.
“This has nothing to do with our on-track performance,” team president Joe Garone said in a release. “This is simply a business decision by Furniture Row of balancing priorities in a tough economy.”
Furniture Row — Sprint Cup’s only Western-based team — will conclude its third season in NASCAR’s top series in this weekend’s 2008 finale at Homestead, Fla. Driver Joe Nemechek has led the team to its best campaign, qualifying for 31 of 35 races.
Nemechek had the third-fastest qualifying time in the season-opening Daytona 500 and won the pole in April at Talladega, Ala. His best result (11th) came Oct. 5 at Talladega. He is 37th in the standings with total team earnings of $2,618,360.
Furniture Row made 21 of 36 races in 2006 and 19 of 36 last year.
The team is based in Denver and fully funded by Cherry Hills resident Barney Visser, who also owns Furniture Row Companies, one of the country’s largest furniture retailers.
Most NASCAR owners have businesses outside the series and have corporate sponsors pay the majority of their racing bills. Visser has been doing both.
“While we’ve been faring significantly better than most in our category, it’s no secret that our business is tied to the health of the economy,” Tom Faulkner, president of Furniture Row Companies, said in a release.
Nemechek was one of two drivers to begin the season with Furniture Row, which also had Kenny Wallace in the 43-car field in the Daytona 500. Nemechek is under contract through 2009 but might consider joining another team.
“We’ve got some tough decisions to make, but we all know it will take fewer people and resources to run a limited versus full schedule,” Garone said. “But we’re also optimistic that our best days are still ahead of us.”
Visser was not available Tuesday.
France concerned.
NASCAR is all about fuel, travel and sponsorship, and in Tuesday’s national teleconference, NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France touched on the hardships of his sport brought on by the poor economy.
France said the biggest change for next season could be the elimination of mandatory testing, but the number and length of races would not change, and ticket prices are basically out of his control.
Regarding Furniture Row and other mid-major teams, France said team sponsorship problems will always be present with struggling teams.
“Teams that are running consistently better are doing consistently better at the sponsorship game,” he said. “That’s just how it works. By talking to each and every one of them who are having sponsorship difficulties, they acknowledge it’s two-front. It is definitely (partly) the economy. There are not as many companies who are putting big marketing bets down today as there were 12 months ago.”
