5-hour Energy's $10M funding makes up about half of the annual cost to fund a top-level carFurniture Row Racing
Furniture Row Racing has denied rumblings in the NASCAR garage that it is considering shutting down prior to the '19 season if it cannot find proper sponsorship. The team will lose about $10M in funding next year with 5-hour Energy not returning as a sponsor of the No. 78 Toyota driven by Martin Truex Jr. That represents around half of what it costs to fund a top-level car annually in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Sources said that FRR Owner Barney Visser has been insistent that he does not want to use his own money to fund the team anymore after he was finally able to stop doing so this year. That has led to rumblings that the team -- which won last year’s Cup championship -- could shutter. The team addressed that in a statement that reads, “Furniture Row Racing continues to develop sponsorship opportunities for 2019 and beyond. We have aligned ourselves with great partners over the years and are very proud of the success our organization has achieved, especially the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series championship with Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing not fielding a team in 2019 is not an option and we have every intention of continuing to build on our success for years to come.” FRR has yet to announce renewals with Toyota, Truex or alliance team Joe Gibbs Racing for next season. Its other major sponsor is Bass Pro Shops.
