How the west will win NASCAR: inside Furniture Row Racing

June 30, 7:18 AMDenver Motorsports ExaminerChristine Jerritts

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Look out Denver, your local NASCAR team is organizing an assault on the 2010 Sprint Cup Series. Furniture Row Racing, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is the only NASCAR team based west of the Mississippi.  Although the team is running just a half season in 2009, full throttle efforts are already focused on next year.  A combination of fresh driving talent, state of the art technology and an amazing team are coalescing into a serious success story.

2008 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year, Regan Smith, agreed to drive the number 78 car for Furniture Row this season.  Smith is an incredibly consistent racer and is wowing NASCAR this season with his streak of 50 – and potentially longer – races without a single DNF (“did not finish”).  Given the mechanical stress the cars are constantly under – not to mention the bumper car games other drivers play – this is no small feat.

General Manager Joe Garone recently treated me to an inside tour of the team’s state-of-the-art Denver facilities.  A space that once churned out Pillow Kingdom mattresses has been transformed into a complete cup car shop.  Each detail of every chassis is meticulously developed and manufactured on site, with the exception of the basic tubular frame and engine assembly.  Garone explained that NASCAR has kept the essential concept of the race cars simple, particularly so that young fans can build and race an amateur car that is conceptually similar to a pro machine.  That being said, teams have found whole new levels of complexity in chassis and shock tuning that separate the fast from the really fast.

Furniture Row Racing is no exception. From a pull down plate to a chassis twist fixture to a 7 post ride actuator the team leaves no technical challenge unattended.  The bodywork is mudded by hand for perfect curvature and decals are painted on using an ultra smooth technique for near ideal aerodynamics.  The 7 post machine is an engineering feat in and of itself – a car is bolted into a jig and sits on four hydraulically actuated plates that precisely simulate the ride and feedback a car experiences on an actual race track by replaying telemetry data collected from the car.  Taken to the extreme, say a driver running at Daytona complains of push. Engineers can experiment with shock settings on the machine using an identical car and send dynamic adjustments back to the hot pits 1,500 miles away in almost real time.

From left to right: General Manager Joe Garone, Driver Regan Smith, Crew Chief Jay Guy

This level of engineering would not be possible without the dedication and passion of a great team.  Furniture Row owner Barney Visser caught the racing bug himself running a car at our very own Colorado National Speedway and it was not long before his corporation was sponsoring a professional racing effort.  General Manager Joe Garone was Director of NASCAR’s Research and Development group before coming on board, giving him an exceptional insider perspective on the technology in the cars.  From top to bottom the team is packed with expertise and experience.

It appears the team is brewing a 2010 recipe for success.  Here’s calling all Denver NASCAR fans to help fuel the fire of our local team by showing your support and encouragement with a post on the Furniture Row Racing Forum.  The team has also been testing regularly at Pikes Peak International Raceway outside of Colorado Springs.  Spectators are often invited for a nominal $5 gate fee – keep an eye on this Denver Motorsports Examiner page and the PPIR website for opportunities.