Furniture Row Racing’s talks to sell the team’s assets to GMS Racing have collapsed, according to reports and sources, clouding the future of FRR and driver Martin Truex Jr. once again. FRR Owner Barney Visser has been in talks with GMS to possibly sell his assets to the NASCAR Xfinity/Camping World Truck Series team. But FRR GM Joe Garone and GMS President Mike Beam told RacinBoys.com on Friday that while the sides met last week in Denver, discussions were not ultimately expected to lead to a deal. Sources had said that the GMS deal would have kept FRR’s ’17 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning team together for ’19, potentially just under a different name. FRR is looking for new sponsorship or other deals because it will lose $10M in annual sponsorship after this season from 5-hour Energy, and Visser is intent on not funding FRR out of his own pocket. Garone also told RacinBoys.com that FRR is still hopeful of finding new sponsorship and keeping the team together as is. With the GMS talks having apparently collapsed, sources said that another possible option for Truex that has now opened up is for him to go to Joe Gibbs Racing. That possibility could see Truex move into JGR’s No. 19 Toyota, while JGR could send rising Mexican star Daniel Suarez to Leavine Family Racing’s No. 95 Toyota. FRR, JGR and LFR had no comment on that possibility.
