Fresh off a solid test during the annual ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards open test at Daytona International Speedway last weekend, Mullins Racing has announced that veteran crew chief Tony Furr has joined the team.
Furr will serve as crew chief on the No. 3 Mullins Racing Ford driven by team owner and 2018 Daytona ARCA runner-up Willie Mullins during the season-opening Lucas Oil 200 Driven by General Tire on Feb. 9 at Daytona International Speedway.
“The main thing is the knowledge Tony brings,” said Mullins, who was 29th fastest overall during the Daytona ARCA test after focusing on single-car runs. “This man is such a large wealth of knowledge and we’re able to tap into that. He’s spent so much time in the wind tunnel with Hendrick before that we’re able to use a lot of that knowledge to find speed with our car.”
Furr made his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut as a crew chief in 1994 and over the years has worked with a number of NASCAR stars, including Bill Elliott, Joe Nemechek, John Andretti, Ward Burton, Jerry Nadeau and more.
He has two NASCAR Cup Series victories as a crew chief, one with Andretti at Daytona International Speedway in 1997 and another with Nadeau at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2000.
“He seems to be a pretty smart guy with a good head on his shoulders,” Furr said of Mullins. “I’ve worked with quite a few guys down there in Daytona with his level of experience and he’s a lot more levelheaded than a lot of up-and-comers and listens good. He’s a sponge. He was soaking up all the information I was trying to give him during the test.
“I think if we put all that together when we go back and with a little bit of luck I think we’ll have a shot at being a player all day long.”
Furr was with the Mullins Racing team during last weekend’s ARCA test at Daytona International Speedway. It was the first opportunity for Mullins and Furr to work together in advance of the season opener in February.
“We did only single-car runs and we believe that we were one of the top-five to top-eight fastest cars in single car runs,” Mullins said. “We’re very proud of that and very happy with the how the speed in the car has continued to get better.”
“I think we were definitely top-five in the single car runs during testing,” Furr added. “We didn’t get to draft much as we wanted to, but I think we’ll be fine. He got a lot of experience down there last year by doing what he did, so that’ll hopefully carry over.”
Mullins believes the addition of Furr could be the spark his family-owned team needs to break into victory lane at the World Center of Racing.
“There is a lot of excitement this year,” Mullins said. “Last year we had the unknown of the new body and this year we have the excitement of going back with a second-place finish and knowing we have a fast car now. Now we’ve got to turn that excitement into a result. We’re very much looking forward to going back and having a lot of our crew back with us this year and hopefully we can try and come out of there with a good result again.”
The No. 3 Mullins Racing Ford carries sponsorship support from County Waste, CW Metals, Crow Wing Recycling, Bugsy’s Auto, Snap On by Timmy Brann, Sherwin Williams Paint and Dinah Marie Photography.
Mullins Racing PR
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