Spire Motorsports is quickly taking steps to become a dominant force in NASCAR. From underneath its hood erupts a hollow echo that warns it of potent dangers on this path ahead. The shot of warning is from Furniture Row Motorsports – the team that owned the charter that is the No. 77 car today. The reason behind the tip-off is the story that fate crafted for this now-extinct team in the Cup Series.
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Barney Visser, the man behind the Furniture Row retail empire, laid the founding stone for Furniture Row Racing in 2005. An individualist in the true sense of the word, he chose to set up shop in Denver instead of North Carolina. Common sense shouted that a team located that far away from what was essentially the capital of NASCAR wouldn’t succeed.
But Visser was no fool. He began drafting plans for how stock car racing could grow across the country. His efforts resulted in the growth of a significant fandom in and around the Denver-Colorado region. The matte black finish on the team’s No. 78 car quickly became recognizable on race tracks. After a slow start to its journey in the sport, Furniture Row Racing secured its first victory in 2011.
In what was a shattering move, Visser then declined to join the Race Team Alliance – a group of team owners created to discuss and negotiate how the sport moved forward. He reasoned that the mid-five-figure annual fee that was demanded of him was too high a cost for a seat at the table. Instead, he partnered with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2016 through a technical alliance.
The 2017 Cup Series championship and eventual downfall
The association with Joe Gibbs Racing did wonders on the race track. Martin Truex Jr. blew his contenders out of the water in 2017 and secured the championship driving for Visser. The most unlikely team of all had reached a pinnacle others were struggling to. This created a storm of chaos that the benefactor got caught in. It all began with 5-Hour Energy, a key sponsor, withdrawing its contribution for beyond 2018.
The sponsor never provided a solid reason for leaving a $10 million gaping hole in the financial requirements. Visser tried his best to attract other sponsors but was left empty-handed. Bringing in the Furniture Row retail chain as a sponsor was a way out but not a wise use of resources. Just as he was exploring other fronts, Joe Gibbs Racing decided to pull out of the technical alliance.
The top dog demanded a four-time increase in partnership fee should Visser want to keep the show running. This was something unreasonably high. The timing of these issues is what played a big role in what was to happen next. By September 2018, Visser was unable to find solutions for the lengthening problems and allowed Truex Jr. and his employees to look for other employers for 2019.
He announced that the team would be shutting down at the end of the season. Every garage in the sport was abuzz with the way things had turned out. NASCAR President Steve Phelps refused to acknowledge that there was an irregularity in the team ownership model and attributed the team’s fate to “family issues etc.” The team’s charter was bought by Spire Motorsports + Entertainment for a record fee.
The tale of Furniture Row Racing serves as a harsh reminder of how going against the majority’s tide can leave a NASCAR team crestfallen. Team owners today are fighting against the sanctioning body for the very reason that Visser faced his downfall in the sport: A team ownership model that relied heavily on external sponsors. Now, only time can write the epilogue for his race team.
