Visser Seeking Sponsor, Manufacturer For 2016 Season

In the aftermath of Sunday’s victory at Pocono Raceway, Furniture Row Racing owner Barney Visser said he hopes to retain driver Martin Truex, Jr., beyond 2015, but could need a sponsor and a new manufacturer to do so.

Speaking Wednesday on SiriusXM Satellite Radio’s Sirius XM Speedway with Dave Moody, Visser said he is unhappy with the level of support his team receives from Chevrolet.

“There just doesn’t seem to be any money out of General Motors and probably never will be for us,” said Visser, who has fielded Chevrolets in NASCAR competition since chartering Furniture Row Racing a decade ago. “Something’s got to give. We’ll see where it goes.”

With Chevrolet lending a bulk of its support to the multi-car Hendrick, Childress and Stewart Haas Racing operations, FRR has been left of the loop, despite ranking second in championship points earned this season and qualifying for the 2015 Chase. Both Ford and Toyota have expressed interest in expanding their Sprint Cup rosters, and could lend manufacturer support to the Colorado-based team next season. A manufacturer change would mark the end of FRR’s current technological partnership with Richard Childress Racing.

  

Truex stands second in points

Visser said he is also seeking a major sponsor for the No. 78 Chevrolet, after backing the team through his Furniture Row and Denver Mattress brands since entering the sport in 2005.

“I’ll put a shameless plug in,” he said. “We need help with this car. (Sprint Cup racing) is is a little out of our budget, but we refuse to back down. We’re looking for sponsorship (and) hopefully, the right sponsors are going to step up. We need to get some of that in place to negotiate the kind of contract (for Truex) that we’d both like to see.”

He also admitted that he does not want contract negotiations to detract from the team’s current performance.

“When Kurt (Busch) made the announcement (that he would leave FRR for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014), everything fell apart and we wound up finishing 10th in points,” Visser said. “I just hate to screw around with anything right now (with) negotiations, or anything that might upset the apple cart.

“But we’ll get it done. We’ll get in and get started on this stuff. We’re locked on Martin. We’re as happy with him as he is with us, and we want to get something done.”

Truex said last week that he would like to remain with the team, adding, “I feel like this is the kind of situation I've looked for my whole career. The guys have done such a great job and they're so good at what they're doing. We have such a great group. I feel like this team is special."