It is tough to imagine a NASCAR team that was submerged in the underdog roll a little less than a decade ago is now running up front week after week. But, Furniture Row Racing is doing exactly that.
After finishing 24th in the points standings in 2014, Martin Truex Jr. has piloted his #78 Furniture Row Chevy to 12 top 10’s after 13 races this season. That has helped him to place 2nd in standings halfway through the regular season.
This remarkable turnaround has been gathered with the help of a new crew chief. After Todd Berrier captained the team rather unsuccessfully last season, Furniture Row turned to Cole Pearn, and the results came with.
“I think honestly everything is working. I think we just we are just on the same page. We get along great. We have similar personalities. We kind of approach things the same way and think about things the same way,” Truex said. “I guess he is like my Canadian brother and we just enjoy racing together. We are having a great time.”
Truex appears to have a fantastic working relationship with Pearn, much improved from his time with Berrier.
“We are really having fun. He works so hard. He is so into it and we are both all in. It’s just been fun to work with him,” Truex said. “I’ve learned a lot from him already and I feel like I’ve helped him some as well. It’s just been a good relationship that has provided a lot of success for both of us.”
The recent success has yielded media and fans to ask about a second car for the Furniture Row Racing squad. Would the team run full time or a partial schedule?
“Yeah, I don’t think it’s too early to start thinking about it. I think that Barney (Visser, team owner) and Joe (Garone, general manager) have been thinking about it for a while. It’s just a matter of when is the time right,” Truex said. “If the situation and everything works out the way they want it to, the way they want it to look I think it would be a good thing.”
However, a popular phrase said by one man a long while ago stated, “If it’s not broken, do not fix it.”
“I really like what we have right now. It’s working well and it’s hard to think about changing something,” Truex said. “I think it would be a good thing for the team and certainly they have the capabilities of making it work I believe.”
The only teams able to outrun the 78 car and prevent the team from their first win of the year has been the Hendrick Powered cars. That includes Kevin Harvick, who has a 44 point lead (nearly a whole race) over Truex.
“Well, I’m not sure exactly why (this happens.) We obviously get a lot of help from RCR. We share 100 percent of what we’re doing with them. I’m not sure. I think it’s just all the details, for us,” Truex said. “Last year we struggled with some things. This year, I think RCR really helped us last year just kind of get a consistent platform towards the end of the year and we were able to do that.”
The consistency has continued to drive the team.
“This year, we’ve just really been able to build on that and fine-tune on that. So, we haven’t done anything drastic to our cars this year, it’s just been a consistent platform that we’ve had to work off of. It’s something that our team understands and something that’s been consistent we’ve been able to fine-tune,” Truex said. “I don’t know. I hope that stays the same. I hope we can continue to run with those guys and continue to push them to work harder. But this sport changes so fast. It’s important for us to keep working hard on it and try to find more things and keep pushing the right buttons.”
The team moves onto Pocono this Sunday, where Truex sits on a 15.9 average finish and six top tens in 18 starts. The race will be televised by Fox Sports 1 and is scheduled to start at 1:00pm ET.
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