Martin Truex Jr. retired from the NASCAR Cup Series at the end of the 2024 season after what was an iconic run of nearly two decades. Although he earned several accolades during this time, his 2017 championship with Furniture Row Racing remains the most memorable of them all. Years later, the key members of his crew now reminisce on what made it so special.
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Truex joined the Barney Visser-owned Furniture Row Racing in 2014 as a replacement for Kurt Busch. His first year in the role was as disappointing as a campaign could be. He finished 24th in the standings with an average finish rate of 20.2. This strikingly went against the expectations that the team had. But it wasn’t all to be blamed on him.
Matt Faulkner, the Director of Engineering for the team at the time, admitted Racer Magazine in a recent interview, “We gave (Truex) bad cars all year long.”
The situation demanded collective improvement from every individual in the team. Big changes were made in 2015 through the influx of talented individuals like Cole Pearn and Blake Harris.
The ability of the No. 78 improved as a result, and so did the results on the track. The team surprisingly made it into the Championship 4 that season, which led to a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2016. The 2016 Cup Series season is a chapter that cannot be forgotten in a discussion about the 2017 title run.
Truex Jr. hit the bullseye in 2017 after missing an opportunity in 2016
Truex reached victory lane four times in 2016. Faulkner remembers that year as the one in which his team began believing that a championship was a realistic goal. The pain of getting eliminated from the postseason after a blown engine in Talladega only fired the soul of the organization further.
Another key factor that they had working for them was location. Furniture Row Racing operated from Colorado instead of North Carolina as many teams did and still do. This seclusion worked in their favor greatly by creating a strong bond of camaraderie between the crews of Truex and Erik Jones, who was the second driver for the team.
Tommy DiBlasi, a tire specialist for the No. 78 crew said, “We did everything together. We ate every meal together, drank together. We hung out together. If we were home in Colorado, we only had each other.” As a positive outcome of it all, Truex became the driver to beat when he got to the Daytona International Speedway in February 2017.
He collected eight wins, led 2,253 laps, and secured 19 stage wins. DiBlasi quipped about the performance, “We were the fastest car no matter where we went. And we dominated races; we didn’t just win.” Following a close battle with Kyle Busch in the postseason, he won the finale in Homestead-Miami and lifted his Cup Series trophy.
Truex drove for Visser’s team for five seasons. It earned 17 wins and 91 top-10 finishes in this time. Following the 2018 season in which Truex reached the Championship 4 again, Furniture Row Racing decided to shut shop. The champion moved to Joe Gibbs Racing, where he ultimately retired.
