History was made in 2017 when Furniture Row Racing beat all the heavyweights of stock car racing to win the Cup Series championship. It was Martin Truex Jr.’s first and only championship win so far in his career. The veteran race car driver and his team members would have probably hoped for a long and successful future to come with FRR but fate had something else in store. The team shut down operations within a couple of years and the worst part is that everyone saw it coming.
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So how does a championship-winning team go to the point of ceasing operations within just two years? Well, the biggest factor was money. A sponsor’s role cannot be overstated in this sport, they’re what keep teams running. Unfortunately, Furniture Row did not have that. They had 5-hour Energy as one of their main sponsors. In the 2018 season, the team was in renewal talks with the company which had split sponsorship with Bass Pro Shops and Auto-Owners Insurance.
It's all coming up Truex this week.
2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion and 2x Xfinity Series champion Martin Truex Jr. is the newest addition on the NASCAR 75 Greatest Drivers list! @XfinityRacing @MartinTruex_Jr #NASCAR #XfinitySeries #NASCAR75 pic.twitter.com/GU6LWLBj55
— William Nagel (@William_Nagel_) May 2, 2023
After winning the title the year before, FRR believed that renewing sponsorship contracts and roping in new sponsors would not be much of a trouble. They did not anticipate 5-hour Energy backing out which is exactly what happened. This left a huge shortage of around $10 million in the team’s budget. What’s worse is that all of this came to pass in the middle of the 2018 NASCAR season. As per 5-hour Energy’s parent company Living Essentials, it was just a marketing decision.
Furniture Row focused on getting new sponsorships to replace it but it just did not happen. As the season’s end came near, it was common knowledge that the team would shut down. The other reason why this came to pass was Joe Gibbs Racing. FRR collaborated with the multi-time Cup Series winning team from the 2016 season. However, after they won the Cup Series championship with Truex the year after, things drastically changed.
The JGR deal required FRR to pay them around $3 million to $4 million every year depending on where they finish. After their Cup Series triumph, JGR believed that the value of the deal should be around $10 to $12 million annually. This was a big deal for Furniture Row especially since they had lost one of their biggest sponsors. Team owner Barney Visser had said at the time that the deal with JGR would not have been that big of an issue had 5-hour Energy not backed out.
As the team’s closure became evident, Truex was permitted to speak to other outfits and he chose JGR. The veteran race car driver took Bass Pro Shops with him as well. It’s truly unbelievable how fortunes can change so fast in the world of NASCAR. Without good financial backing, it is tough even for championship-winning teams to survive.
