With driver Erik Jones off to Joe Gibbs Racing, Furniture Row Racing sounds resigned to running Martin Truex Jr. as a single-car operation — again — in 2018.
Martin Truex Jr. is the 2017 regular season Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion and one of the top contenders to win it all in Homestead. Yet he may find himself without a teammate next season.
That’s not an unusual state of affairs for Truex, as he only got one this year in the form of rookie Erik Jones and the No. 77 Toyota. But Jones is headed to Joe Gibbs Racing for 2018, and speculation has run rampant as to who might take his place.
The answer? No one, apparently.
Kickin’ the Tires received word straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, in the form of Furniture Row Racing owner Barney Visser. He says that unless an 11th-hour sponsor comes through, Furniture Row will shutter the 77 team for the 2018 NASCAR season.
"“Right now, we don’t have a sponsor lined up for the 77. There is no way we can run it without sponsorship, so we’re going to have to put it down.“It’s tough, it’s tough to take. We had a lot of people move out to Colorado and they are either going to be happy when they are leaving or they are not leaving. We are either going to make them happy or they are not going to leave they are going to stay with us.”"
The sponsorship angle is especially interesting because 5-Hour Energy sponsored Jones for the majority of his races in the 77, and as a competitor to series title sponsor Monster Energy, it can’t go to another organization (like going with Jones to JGR, for instance). The assumption was that maybe the company would stick around and back whoever came in to replace Jones, but that clearly is not the case given Visser’s comments.
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If the 77 team closes, it also removes a prime landing spot for the likes of Matt Kenseth — who could have slid over in what would work out in essence as a driver swap for Jones — Kasey Kahne and Danica Patrick, all of whom are searching for a full-time seat for 2018.
The 77 never found its way to Victory Lane, but Jones was very competitive in his rookie campaign and seemed to be finding his groove as the regular season came to a close. Driven by another talented competitor, it could have formed a potent 1-2 punch with Truex’s 78 next year, but at least for now, that’s not something we’re going to see happen, which is kind of a shame.