Furniture Row Races To Switch Drivers

August 14, 2007  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on August 2007 Denver-based Furniture Row Racing, which has been struggling in its second year in the top series of stock car racing, announced Tuesday that it will bring in a new driver for its #78 Nascar Nextel Cup car.

In a statement, officials at the company, which operates more than 330 furniture stores in 31 states, said veteran driver Kenny Wallace is leaving the team. Furniture Row is one of the only companies in Nextel Cup that owns and operates the race team it sponsors. Wallace, who will remain with the team as a consultant, is mired in 43rd place in the Nextel Cup standings after failing to quality for a dozen of the 22 races that have been run so far this season. He may drive additional races for Furniture Row in the series that continues through October, but Tuesday’s announcement also freed him to drive for another team.

Furniture Row’s announcement signaled that the team wants to bring in an as-yet unnamed driver to gain experience ahead of next year’s Nextel Cup season. Joe Garone, the race team’s manager, said Wallace “has been the perfect driver for us as we have looked to his veteran experience during our first year and a half in the (Nextel) Cup series.”