Several offseason moves — including a big one that seemingly borders on competitive theft — have positioned Denver-based Furniture Row Racing to become a fixture in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series.
During the past four years, Furniture Row would show up for qualifying with its one car and no guarantee of making the 43-car field.
This year things are looking up, however, starting with Sunday’s Daytona 500. Regan Smith was fifth in the first Duel 150 on Thursday, and his No. 78 car will start 11th, inside on the sixth row, in Sunday’s race. After this weekend, the team is guaranteed to make the next four races, and because of that, it stands a good chance of making the final 31.
“To know that we don’t have to go through the gut-wrenching qualifying process — especially at Daytona — is an incredible relief,” Smith said.
The qualifying change stems from an offseason “technical and engineering alliance” with Richard Childress Racing, one of the sport’s power teams based in North Carolina. Childress fielded four cars last year but recently cut ties with driver Casey Mears and sponsor Jack Daniel’s of the No. 07 team. Childress then transferred the No. 07’s owner points to Furniture Row’s Barney Visser, who owns the team and the national furniture chain.
Because the No. 07 finished 21st in owner points last year, it is among the 35 entries to automatically qualify for the first five races this year. After the fifth race, the top 35 cars in current owner points are guaranteed starting spots.
By producing solid finishes in at least some of the first five races, Smith can earn automatic spots in the ensuing lineups.
“In some ways, this makes us a fourth RCR team, but both guys (Childress and Visser) are classified as owners,” Furniture Row team manager Joe Garone said. “For some people it can be hard to understand, but it’s really simple. The points transfer is important, but we’ve been searching for a technical alliance for years to go along with our engine program with Hendrick Motorsports.”
Smith qualified for 18-of-20 races last year during a “go or go home” qualifying process. His best start was sixth in April at Talladega, and his top finish was 12th in the July race at Daytona.
Going into every race last year, Furniture Row would typically run only the limited practice sessions in qualifying setup. Now, the team can spend more time honing its race setup without fear of not qualifying.
“I’m really pumped up,” said the 26-year-old Smith, who was the 2008 rookie of the year. “We know we’re going to compete in every race, and more important than that, we’re going take the team to another level with the competition part of it. That’s what most exciting, to see the progression of the finishes.”
Smith helped Furniture Row collect $1.7 million in prize money last year. The hope is to double that figure, although some of the earnings will be split with Childress.
Hendrick Motorsports, which fields cars for four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr., will continue to provide Furniture Row with engine support. Hendrick, Childress and Furniture Row are powered by Chevrolet.
Also, Furniture Row has hired 20 additional employees, bringing its total to more than 60. Most of the employees will work out of the team’s shop in northwest Denver.
“The deal with Childress will give us full support from Chevy, which always takes care of its multicar, partner teams first,” Garone said. “It’s tough being a single-car team, but we don’t feel like that anymore.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
