Race Weekend Central

Martin Truex Jr. Calm, Cool and Collected as Furniture Row Racing Thrives

Martin Truex Jr. wants to win a championship, and he is determined to do so now that he has the support of a second team at Furniture Row Racing.

As Truex and FRR embark on the pairing’s three-year anniversary of their first win together come Sunday afternoon’s Pocono 400, the organization has changed distinctively.

Two wins through 13 races. No one within that organization believed that would be possible when Truex first signed on with FRR in 2014, a year featuring one lap led and a 24th-place finish in the standings.

But FRR, which is based out of Denver, Colorado, is in the midst of becoming one of NASCAR’s larger teams. Besides signing multiple sponsors in one season last year for the first time in team history, the team is taking advantage of its Toyota resources within Toyota Racing Development and Joe Gibbs Racing.

Truex now has a teammate in rookie Erik Jones, who is regarded as one of Toyota’s prized possessions. With funding flowing in from 5-Hour Energy, GameStop, SiriusXM and Sports Clips, the second car is flourishing. The additional revenue is creating an opportunity for Furniture Row Racing to not only have Truex compete for wins, but Jones as well.

“When they see the results of the effort they put in, it pushes them even harder,” Truex said during a press conference on Friday. “We have a great bunch from top to bottom, and they’re doing a great job. They’re enjoying themselves, too, so that’s a good thing.”

But as the team continues its transition with two cars, the expectations are increasing. Now, it is about bringing those expectations to fruition, and Truex believes they are doing just that.

While the approach of the No. 78 squad hasn’t changed, the environment at the shop is changing drastically. More people means more resources. More resources means a higher chance of success, which is a major step from the Furniture Row Racing that Truex originally signed on with.

“I don’t think there’s a whole lot of a difference in having two cars and that’s a good thing,” Truex said. “It hasn’t really changed a lot in the way we race or approach racing. We hired a lot of new people in the winter, so bringing over a second team is a big deal.

“We’ve done a good job of just working together. They’re approaching races using the same ideals we do. They are a good fit together, and for a really big change, it’s been good.”

About the author

Joseph started with Fronstretch in Aug. 2014 and worked his way up to become an editor in less than a year. A native of Whitestone, New York, Joseph writes for NASCAR Pole Position magazine as a weekly contributor, along with being a former intern at Newsday and the Times Beacon Record Newspapers, each on Long Island. With a focus on NASCAR, he runs our social media pages and writes the NASCAR Mailbox column, along with other features for the site.

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