The preparation to be one of the top 35 teams in points following the fifth race in 2010 continues for driver #78-Regan Smith and Furniture Row Racing this weekend in Fontana, Calif., site of the Pepsi 500 Sprint Cup event at Auto Club Speedway. Furniture Row Racing announced in August that it will run a full Sprint Cup schedule in 2010, compared to a part-time slate of 20 races this season. Teams, which are secured in the top 35 in points following the fifth race (Bristol) next year, will have the luxury of gaining an automatic qualifying berth, something the young Furniture Row organization has never experienced. “With California being the second race in 2010, we added it to our schedule recently so we can acquire data for our important return trip in February,” said team general manager Joe Garone. “We wanted to make sure that we’ll have a good data book for each of the first five races next year. Our goal is to be in the top 35 and not have to worry about qualifying for the main event.” Furniture Row’s original 2009 schedule included two of the first five races of the season — Daytona and Las Vegas. The organization added the other three sites — Atlanta, Bristol and Fontana — once the decision was made to run the 36-race Cup schedule next season.(Furniture Row Racing PR)(10-8-2009)
