Furniture Row may be forced to drop #77 (4th Update)

Erik Jones has moved on and took his sponsor with him

UPDATE The following statement is attributed to Barney Visser, Furniture Row Racing team owner

"As Furniture Row Racing looks ahead to the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Denver, Colo. based team is not planning to field the No. 77 Toyota as a second car entry. It is our organization's goal to operate a two-car team in the future and we will continue to seek sponsorship funding for the No. 77. Our 100 percent focus for next season will be on the No 78 Toyota Camry, which will be driven by Martin Truex Jr."

09/15/17 Furniture Row Racing has sold its charter for the #77 team for next year but is still looking for sponsorship to run the car in 2018.

Joe Garone, president of Furniture Row Racing, said the team sold the charter – he declined to name what team purchased it – because of lack of sponsorship for the #77 team next year. "We're still working on obtaining sponsorship,'' Garone said Friday at Chicagoland Speedway. "If something happens in the next few weeks, it's definitely not dead. We definitely want to keep the 77 running, but we're running out of time.'' Garone concedes the chances of the organization being a single-car team next year are "high.''

Garone acknowledged that if the team found sponsorship to run the car for the full season, there would be the opportunity to lease or buy a charter from another team.

Garone said that 5-hour Energy will remain with Furniture Row Racing and would move to the #78 of Martin Truex Jr. Garone said team owner Barney Visser is not interested in running a second car in a limited number of races next year.

09/13/17 Barring a miracle walk-on sponsor at the last minute, Barney Visser has confirmed to Kickin' the Tires that he will shutter the #77 in 2018.

"Right now, we don't have a sponsor lined up for the 77," Visser said. "There is no way we can run it without sponsorship, so we're going to have to put it down.

"It's tough, it's tough to take. We had a lot of people move out to Colorado and they are either going to be happy when they are leaving or they are not leaving. We are either going to make them happy or they are not going to leave they are going to stay with

Visser said any shutdown of the #77 car, currently driven by Erik Jones, would hopefully not be permanent and his goal would be to bring it back. He said strong crewmembers are hard to come by, especially body men and fabricators.

Visser downplayed losing Jones to Joe Gibbs Racing, who is moving prematurely after Matt Kenseth announced his pending separation from the #20 team earlier this year. The goal was to keep Jones for a few years and then have him transfer to JGR. However, when Carl Edwards announced his retirement earlier this year, it set off a chain of events that rippled across to Furniture Row Racing. Kickin' the Tires

08/09/17 Furniture Row Racing owner Barney Visser said the team is searching for sponsorship to continue running the #77 car next season but hasn't found any.

"We've got no sponsorship right now for the 77," Visser told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Wednesday. "So we've got to find something. We don't want to give up that car, but if we don't get sponsorship, we'll have to. We're doing everything we can to get that to come together."

The team added the #77 this year for rookie Erik Jones, who signed a one-year contract. Jones will go to Joe Gibbs Racing next season, replacing Matt Kenseth. That leaves an opening with the #77 car.

Asked on "The Morning Drive" about the health of the business side of the sport going into 2018, Visser said: "I'd certainly like to see it better. I'm sure if you can run up front you can deliver to the sponsors what you're promising them. I don't even know how to answer that question. It's a pretty tough business right now." NBC Sports

07/11/17 This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' now. "Regarding today's announcement that Erik Jones will drive in the NASCAR Cup Series for Joe Gibbs Racing starting in 2018, Furniture Row Racing's commitment to Jones and the No. 77 team remains the same for the remainder of the season. Our goal is for Jones to qualify for the playoffs, make a run for the championship and capture Rookie of the Year honors.

"We are working on our team plans for 2018 but don't have anything concrete to report at this time except that Martin Truex Jr. will continue to drive the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota." Furniture Row Racing PR

07/11/17 Furniture Row Racing could be one-and-done when it comes to fielding two entries in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

In the afterglow of Martin Truex Jr.'s win Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway, team owner Barney Visser said "we have nothing concrete pulled together right now" when it comes to the future prospects of its #77 Toyota. The car is currently driven by rookie Erik Jones.

It all comes down to money.

"We'd love to be able to do that, but I'm not sure the finances are going to allow it," Visser said. "We'll see what we're able to put together. There's nothing concrete right now for the second team." NBC Sports