#78 Team Past News and Rumors
NOTE: many of the links in the past news will be old and may not work
decided it was not worth the time to go thru each one on all the Team Past News pages
2006 News
Furniture Row Racing adds crew chief, other enhancements: Furniture Row Racing’s Nextel Cup program continues to make enhancements to strengthen the competitive level of its organization. The #78 Chevy with veteran driver Kenny Wallace will run a full Cup schedule in 2007. New hires, new departments, new equipment, and Wallace’s complete focus on the team will expedite the growth and development of the program. Joe Garone has been juggling duel roles as both crew chief and manager for Furniture Row Racing for two years. He will now focus his efforts exclusively on general manager responsibilities. Reporting directly to team owner Barney Visser, Garone will oversee the team operations in the various departments, act as the liaison between Furniture Row Racing and its partners, and continue to support the growth and development of the entire program. Furniture Row Racing’s new additions to the organizations will be instrumental to realizing the team’s goals. The new hires include Jay Guy, Doug Holbrook, Gary Beveridge, and Claude Rouelle. Guy joins the team as the newly appointed crew chief. Guy’s prior stint was with the #47 Busch team. His resume includes crew chief positions with Johnny Benson in Cup, and Casey Atwood, Dave Blaney and David Stremme in the Busch Series.
Furniture Row Racing has also inked a deal with a new car chief, Doug Holbrook. Holbrook, formerly with Evernham Motorsports, brings a vast repertoire of knowledge and experience to the position. Gary Beveridge comes to the organization after heading up the superspeedway department for Robert Yates for the last four years. Beveridge has been brought on as the fabrication shop supervisor.
In addition, a big gun as been added to the engineering department of the program. Claude Rouelle has been named as the Director of Engineering. Rouelle is a renowned high-performance racecar research and development engineer. With 30 years of experience in designing, testing and engineering racecars in Europe, Japan and the USA, Furniture Row Racing will benefit from his extensive and specialized skill set. In 1997, Rouelle also created OptimumG, a consulting company that teaches racecar engineering and data acquisitions. Along with new equipment purchases in engine shop, the organization has acquired a seven-post rig (ride simulator). This equipment is extremely valuable in acquiring data due to the lack of actual track testing opportunities permitted by NASCAR during the season.(Business Wire)(12-21-2006)
Kenny Lee Wallace to carry JEGS Banner into NASCAR arena: JEGS Automotive, Inc is taking a big step into the NASCAR arena by signing colorful driver and television personality Kenny Wallace as a company spokesman. Wallace will carry the familiar yellow and black JEGS logo onto Speed TV's highly-rated NASCAR Raceday prerace and NASCAR Victory Lane shows, the JEGS colors will also be on the #78 Furniture Row Nextel Cup car and will brand his Late Model and Modified Stock Cars with prominent JEGS signage. Wallace will add a JEGS logo to all the items in his on-air wardrobe and will campaign a JEGS Mail Order Late Model Stock Car at approximately 30 races on the United Midwestern Promoters (UMP) tour. He will also promote JEGS with prominent signage on his St. Louis Cardinals-themed UMP Modified Stock Car racer.(JEGS PR)(11-22-2006)
Kenny Wallace plans to run full-time in Cup and Busch in 2007 UPDATE 2: From kennywallace.com: Note to Fans – “Howdy all, I would just like to let you all know that everything with Kenny Wallace is still great. I will drive the #78 car next year full time in Cup, the #22 next year full time in Busch and still do my normal SpeedTV duties. I will say the phone has been very busy today with offers of full time BGN [Busch] and Cup ride offers, but I am more then happy with my current teams and am glad I will be running a full season with each. Everything is good people! And thanks for everything, you are the best fans in racin. See you at the track!” AND "Andy O'Hara from PPC called me last night to inform me that AutoZone [Wallace's Busch Series sponsor] will not be returning next year on any race car full time. AutoZone felt that it was best if their advertising budget was best spent on commercial spots instead of on a race car."(kennywallace.com)(8-16-2006)
UPDATE: Wallace and crew chief Joe Garone announced on SPEED's NASCAR Live that Wallace has signed with the #78 Furniture Row team for two years to run full-time in Nextel Cup starting in 2007.(10-21-2006)
UPDATE 2: Furniture Row Racing announced that NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace will be driving for Furniture Row Racing’s Nextel Cup program for two consecutive seasons commencing in 2007. Wallace will fulfill his Busch series commitment with ppc Racing at the conclusion of the 2006 season. He will shift his focus to the Furniture Row Cup program to assist with growth and development for the next two years.(
businesswire.com)(10-22-2006)
Papis [not Said] testing the #78 at Kentucky: Before heading to Dover, the #78 Furniture Row team will test this week in Kentucky, with driver Max Papis filling in for regular driver Kenny Wallace.(Rocky Mountain News)(9-21-2006)
Papis to make Cup debut in #78 at Watkins Glen: Open-wheel veteran Max Papis will make his Nextel Cup debut at Watkins Glen for the #78 Furniture Row Motorsports team, driving the #78 Furniture Row Chevy. Kenny Wallace is the regular driver, and Jimmy Spencer has made a few attempts in the car.(Furniture Row Racing site)(7-29-2006)
Papis hopes to run races at Watkins Glen; during Speed Channel's coverage of the IROC race at Daytona,
Jeff Hammond mentioned that road racer Max Papis is looking to run the Busch North and Busch Series races at Watkins Glen and could be in the #78 Furniture Row Chevy that Kenny Wallace normally drives, in the Nextel Cup race at Watkins Glen in August.(6-30-2006)
Fellows in the #32 at Infineon Raceway, and Watkins Glen UPDATE: A brand new NASCAR Nextel Cup chassis built by world famous racing engineering firm Pratt and Miller should provide Ron Fellows with renewed hope to earn his first victory in stock car's top series next month in California. Fellows tested the much heralded chassis -- one he will use in his attempt to win the Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway June 25 in the #32 PPI Motorsports Chevy -- at Virginia International Raceway yesterday. Fellows has a long and hugely successful history with Pratt and Miller who have prepared his winning #3 Corvettes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 24 Hours at Daytona and for his three American Le Mans Series GT1 championships. Even though it was his first time in the new car yesterday, Fellows already was confident it will fare much better than the car he had in 2005 at Infineon when he earned a top-10 finish. A big part of Fellows' hopes for the #32 Chevrolet this time around is that Pratt and Miller purpose built the car with him in mind. But it was on the track where Fellows saw a huge improvement over many of his previous Cup cars. Nextel Cup points leader #48-Jimmy Johnson -- who Pratt and Miller also built a road course chassis for -- was at VIR yesterday with Fellows. "We compared very favourably with Jimmy's speeds," Fellows said. "That's really good to have that kind of benchmark." Fellows said the car still has some handling issues but he is confident the team will work them out before the Infineon race. "At Infineon you need a car that is really good in the turns," he said. "We are sure we will be able to get this car to unload near perfect next month." He said he was sharing information with the #48 team and in return was able to gauge his progress off of another Hendrick Motorsports team -- the #25 Chevrolet of Brian Vickers -- who was running an in-house chassis. Fellows hopes to get on another round of tests for team owner Cal Wells after the Infineon race to prepare for Nextel Cup's second road course event in August at Watkins Glen.(Toronto Sun), Travis Kavpil is the regular driver of the #32 PPI Motorsports Chevy. but the team is mired outside the top-35 in owners points.(5-17-2006)
UPDATE: PPI Motorsports (PPIM) announced today that road course expert Ron Fellows will once again drive the #32 Tide/Downy Chevy in the Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway on June 25. As for the team’s full-time driver Travis Kvapil, he will take over the reigns of the #78 Furniture Row Chevy for Kenny Wallace who has a Busch Series commitment. Both drivers will be racing identically prepared chassis built by Pratt and Miller Engineering and Fabrication … the same company responsible for the highly successful Corvette Racing program and its domination of the American Le Mans Series for which Fellows is a driver. So far, Kvapil and Fellows have participated in three days of testing at Virginia International Raceway (May 16, 30 & 31) with another test scheduled with Kvapil going solo since Fellows is in France participating in the 24 Hours of Le Mans festivities and race.(PPI Motorsports Site)(6-1-2006)
#61 Team Sold? UPDATE: hearing that #61 team owner, Jeff Stec has sold the #61 Peak Fitness Motorsports team that Kevin Lepage drivers for the Furniture Row Motorsports, the team that #78-Kenny Wallace drives for. Unclear if it will become a two-car team or merged into the current one car operation. The #61 runs Fords while the #78 runs Chevy's.
UPDATE: looks like my sources were a little confused as to what team, it is Front Row Motorsports [not Furniture Row Motorsports].......Front Row Motor Sports owner Bob Jenkins, and Jeff Stec have formed a limited partnership to campaign the #61 Ford Fusion for the remainder of the 2006 NASCAR season. Greg Conner and the balance of the #61 team members will be integrated into the Front Row Motorsports organization beginning this week with the running of the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega. Kevin Lepage will continue to drive the #61 car. “The #61 team has gotten off to a good start this year by making 6 of the first 8 races. By combining resources and sharing knowledge, we are confident that we can improve each of our teams,” states Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins. “We are looking to upgrade both our qualifying and race day efforts. We are excited about the opportunities this presents our team and the advantages we can gain by working together.”(Front Row Motorsports PR)(4-27-2006)
Kenny Wallace to Drive National Day of Prayer Car Talladega: Kenny Wallace is scheduled to drive the National Day of Prayer car #78 sponsored by Furniture Row for the Nextel Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway. The National Day of Prayer tradition predates the founding of the United States of America when the Continental Congress issued a proclamation setting aside a day of prayer in 1775. In 1952, Congress established an annual day of prayer and, in 1988, that law was amended, designating the National Day of Prayer as the first Thursday in May. For more information visit www.nationaldayofprayer.org. In commemoration of the day, which falls on Thursday, May 4th, the #78 Furniture Row Chevy Monte Carlo CUP car will feature a new red, white and blue paint scheme showcasing the National Day of Prayer logo for Talladega on April 30. For more information on the team, please visit furniturerowracing.com or for Wallace, see Kennywallace.com.(PR), see an image of the scheme on my #78 Team Schemes page.(4-26-2006)
Spencer to run #78 at Pocono: on Speed Channel's Victory Lane, Kenny Wallace said that Jimmy Spencer will drive the #78 Furniture Row Racing Chevy at Pocono and Michigan in June, as Wallace will be driving the Busch race in Nashville and Kentucky.(4-23-2006)
#78 gets help from the Benchwarmers: The Benchwarmers, the new comedy from Adam Sandler and Jack Giarraputo’s Happy Madison Productions and Revolution Studios, will serve as an associate sponsor of the #78 Furniture Row Chevy and driver Kenny Wallace at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which will feature the title of the film on the car’s hood. The Benchwarmers, which will be released nationwide by Columbia Pictures on April 7, tells the story of three underdogs (Rob Schneider, David Spade and Jon Heder), once benchwarmers themselves, who form a three-man baseball team to challenge a full squad of elementary school baseball bullies. Their success leads to a high-stakes, winner-take-all game with the best kids in the state where, if they win, they will become an inspiration for every kid who has ever been a benchwarmer. Kenny Wallace will have to speed his way into the Golden Corral 500 by being one of the fastest cars during Friday night’s Qualifying. Expressing the reasoning behind the sponsorship, producer Jack Giarraputo said, “It would be easy to come in and pick one of the top teams to advertise our movie, but that would go against everything the movie’s about. We wanted to show support for one of the underdogs.” The three stars of The Benchwarmers, Rob Schneider, David Spade and Jon Heder, will be on hand to lend their moral support to #78 to overcome the odds, as they will also serve as Grand Marshals of the Golden Corral 500.(Furniture Row Racing PR)(3-16-2006)
#32 and #78 to share resources: Nextel Cup's #78 Furniture Row Racing of Denver has joined forces with North Carolina-based PPI Motorsports. The single-car teams agreed to share resources and manpower, according to Furniture Row backup driver Jerry Robertson of Arvada [CO]. Robertson, who might replace veteran driver Kenny Wallace in the #78 Chevrolet later in the season, will become teammates with PPI driver Travis Kvapil, who drives the #32 Tide-sponsored Chevy.(Denver Post)(3-6-2006)
#78 team plans to run full schedule: #78 Furniture Row Racing, one of the few sponsor owned Nextel Cup teams, is scheduled to run 36 Nextel Cup races with Kenny Wallac and Jerry Robertson driving. Wallace is committed to run the first 5 Cup races of the season for Furniture Row Racing. Kenny Wallace states, "Furniture Row Racing has the resources, Joe Garone has the knowledge, and I'm very excited to help this new team get started." Robertson's explains, "To race in Cup is my ultimate dream. We've got a year under our belts in the Busch Series, and the team is working very hard to get competitive for Cup. Everybody's really excited." Owner Barney Visser says, “Our original 2005 NCS [Cup] plans were based on Kenny's NBS [Busch] sponsor commitment and scheduling. Our intention of running Kenny in 15 NCS races and the remainder with Jerry did not fully pan out, but it was a year of tremendous growth. Now, in 2006, Kenny has been approved to run as many races as possible, without interfering with his NBS commitment. This has put Jerry in a pinch hitter position for Cup. We are actively pursuing any top NBS teams that may be interested in having Jerry drive for them, with Furniture Row Racing supplying race engines, sponsorship, and technology. This will keep Jerry behind the wheel in the NBS while Kenny is racing in his select cup races.” Crew Chief is NASCAR vet Joe Garone. The Furniture Row Racing is Based in Denver, Colorado. Furniture Row operates more than 270 stores, in 30 states nationwide.(Furniture Row Racing site)(1-12-2006)
2005 News
Kenny Wallace to run some Cup races in 2006: Kenny Wallace says that he will run several Nextel Cup races in 2006. “I am going to run for sure the first five races of year in the #78 Furniture Row Racing Cup car. (Team owner) Joe Garone has asked me to run as many Cup races as I can this year. Furniture Row Racing had decided to quit running in the NASCAR Busch Series, and they will put all their effort into a Cup team. It is their decision to do this.”(Kenny Wallace site)(12-17-2005)
#78 Crew Chief Fined: NASCAR announced today that Joe Garone, crew chief for the No. 78 Chevrolet driven by Kenny Wallace in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, has been fined $1,000 for an infraction during last weekend’s event at Dover International Speedway. Garone was fined for an unapproved fuel cell recessed well, a violation of Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and Section 12-4-U (unapproved fuel cell container) of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series rule book. There were false panels inside the recessed well.(NASCAR PR)(9-27-2005)
Furniture Row Racing to make Cup debut at Dover: Furniture Row Racing will debut their #78 Chevy at the Dover International Speedway on September 25. T he newly formed stand-alone NEXTEL Cup team has signed veteran driver Kenny Wallace to a five-race deal headed up by team manger Joe Garone. "We’ll be testing before every race to make sure the car is competitive, so we do this CUP deal right,” explains Wallace. Based in Denver, Colorado Furniture Row Racing is the NEXTEL Cup Series newest team, formed and sponsored by Furniture Row Companies [furniturerow.com]. The company also sponsors the #78 car in the Busch Series driven by Jerry Robertson. Furniture Row Companies is the fourth largest family-owned specialty home furnishings and bedding retailer. The company is comprised of five specialty store brands including: Oak Express, Sofa Mart, Bedroom Expressions, Denver Mattress Company and Furniture Row Outlets. Furniture Row operates more than 250 stores nationwide; the company is among the "Top 15" national furniture retailers.(Furniture Row Racing site), no mention of Andy Petree being part of this team.(9-22-2005)
Kenny Wallace to a new team? MORE: during Speed Channel's Inside Nextel Cup show, Kenny Wallace mentioned he would be driving some races for Joe Garone and Furniture Row Racing in some Cup races this year, that is why Johnny Benson will drive Michael Waltrip's #00 State Fair Corn Dogs Chevy at Michigan this weekend. Furniture Row Racing is running a limited Busch Series schedule in 2005 with Jerry Robertson and is based in Colorado. Supposedly Wallace's first race with the team will be at Dover International Speedway in September. Also hearing championship crew chief and former winning team owner Andy Petree will be the crew chief for Wallace.(8-16-2005)
UPDATE: Kenny Wallace will not be driving the #00 MWR car in the Michigan Nextel Cup race. The Reason is the #00 for Michigan has been outsourced to BDR [Bill Davis Racing]. BDR will use it's complete #23 car team and driver (truck series driver Johnny Benson) to run the race. This does not effect the rest of the year or the relationship with MWR.(Kenny Wallace site)(8-17-2005)