Motorsports 101 Debate: Who Will Drive for Furniture Row Racing in 2014?

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Now that Kurt Busch has officially moved on from Furniture Row Racing to Stewart-Haas Racing the best ride still available for 2014 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series might just be the No. 78 of Furniture Row Racing. Motorsports 101 debates who will fill the seat vacated by Busch.

Regan Smith – By Clayton Caldwell

Kurt Busch and Furniture Row Racing made major strides in 2013. The question is who will drive for Furniture Row Racing in the 2014 season. There have been several possibilities thrown around for this team.
 
One possibility is the team moving to Toyota, although that seems to be on the back burner and keeping their alliance with Richard Childress Racing seems more likely.
With the team staying with Chevrolet there are few possibilities. One is the possibility of Mark Martin driving part time with the team and using Ty Dillon as the other driver filling in for Martin in the races Martin wouldn’t want to race in. While that is obviously a possibility the team will want to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Martin running part time cannot get them in the desired Chase.
 
That makes Regan Smith the most likely candidate for the ride. Smith is the current driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Previous to driving at JR Motorsports Smith drove for Furniture Row Racing from the 2009-2012 seasons and gave the organization its first and only win in the 2011 running of the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
 
Smith’s tenure at Furniture Row Racing did not feature the same technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing that Kurt Busch experienced all year in 2013. While Smith’s career with the organization seemed to be lackluster he has had a good year so far in the Nationwide Series with JR Motorsports. Could that be enough to bring back a relationship between the two? No bridges were burnt as the deal played out last season and it would be Smith’s best Sprint Cup Series ride to date.
 
While other drivers names will surely be in the mix including Ryan Newman, AJ Allmendinger and David Ragan, Smith is the front runner for the team. Newman is a sure possibility however he may be headed elsewhere in 2014.
 
Smith has proven in the 2013 Nationwide Series season that he can run with the likes of Brian Vickers, Austin Dillon, Justin Allgaier, and Kyle Larson all who are either confirmed or rumored to be in the Cup Series in 2014. Smith is the best available, if you exclude Newman, and that will land Smith back at Furniture Row Racing in 2014.
 
Ryan Newman – By Mark Eddinger

Furniture Row Racing has blossomed into a very competitive race team in 2013 with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion driver Kurt Busch behind the wheel. The truth is that the seeds were already in place for the team to have a very good 2013 season with the momentum the team started building during the 2011 and 2012 seasons with Regan Smith as the driver.

Smith has the team’s only win in the 2011 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. So will the team bring back Smith for 2014 after setting him aside to get the talented Busch into their car for a year? Would Smith even want to return to the team? The fit would be nice but usually a driver doesn’t end up back at a team he raced for previously in this business.

 

So who else could Furniture Row Racing go after? Ryan Newman certainly has to be the best free agent left on the market. He has 17 career Cup wins. Since reports are saying that Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing will promote Kyle Larson to fill the No. 42 Chevrolet’s seat Newman’s last spot at a competitive ride could be FRR. That is if Richard Childress Racing doesn’t go to a four team operation and then Newman would be the top candidate to fill that spot.

Other free agent drivers on the market are the Richard Petty Motorsports duo of Aric Almirola and Marcos Ambrose. Both drivers are most likely in line to stay with RPM though. Juan Pablo Montoya is available and could be on the No. 78 team’s radar. It almost seems more likely that Montoya will end up back in the IndyCar ranks though. David Ragan, a two-time race winner, is a free agent so the current Front Row Motorsports driver certainly has to be looking for an upgrade in the team he races for.

The 2000 series champion Bobby Labonte is also a free agent but it is doubtful Furniture Row will go after Labonte. AJ Allmendinger is an interesting name. He seems to be in line to take over full-time at JTG/Daugherty Racing after already stepping in an driving some of the races in 2013 for the team in place of Labonte. There is also the rumor that the No. 47 team could be switching to Chevy and aligning with Richard Childress racing much like Furniture Row Racing currently does.

After ironing it all out it seems as if the scenario that makes the most sense is that Ryan Newman ends up the driver of the No. 78 for Furniture Row Racing. RCR can keep their three-team in house operation with Jeff Burton, Paul Menard, and Austin Dillon and then have Newman and possibly Allmendinger driving on satellite teams.

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