Martin Truex Jr. has a new NASCAR home at Furniture Row Racing

   Team release:

   Furniture Row Racing general manager Joe Garone announced today that the Denver, Colo.-based organization has entered into a multiyear agreement with Martin Truex Jr. to drive the team’s No. 78 Chevrolet, beginning with the 2014 Sprint Cup Series season.

 

   Garone, sitting alongside Truex, made the announcement during a news conference at Texas Motor Speedway, site of Sunday's AAA Texas 500. 

 

   “We couldn’t be happier to have landed one of the top drivers in NASCAR,” said Garone. “Martin’s talents – both on and off the track -- have been well documented and everyone at Furniture Row Racing feels that he is an excellent fit to continue the success that we have enjoyed this season." 

 

   Truex, a 33-year-old native of Mayetta, N.J., is currently in his eighth season as a full time Sprint Cup competitor. He joined NASCAR’s premier series in 2006 after claiming back-to-back Nationwide Series season championships in 2004 and 2005.

 

   His Sprint Cup history includes four full seasons with Dale Earnhardt Inc and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing (2006-2009) and four with his current team Michael Waltrip Racing (2010-2013).

 

“Furniture Row Racing has been high on my radar,” said Truex. “The team has done a great job this year. It’s a talented organization and it has been impressive to see what they’ve accomplished over the past few seasons. What influenced my decision is team owner Barney Visser and that the team really wants me as its driver. Everything else is important, but I really felt like Furniture Row Racing genuinely wanted me to drive for them."

Austin Dillon on last weekend's Martinsville incident: 'I forgive Kevin'

 

   During his weekly SiriusXM Radio call in on "Tradin' Paint" on Wednesday afternoon, NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Austin Dillon was asked by Jim Noble and Chocolate Myers his opinion of the Ty Dillon/Kevin Harvick Martinsville Speedway incident from last weekend. 

 

   Here is a complete transcript of his response:

   “For me, I come from a fortunate situation growing up in a family that is in racing. My grandfather has given my brother and I both a great opportunity to go out and take advantage of those opportunities. If anybody out there doesn’t think that I should go after something that is in front of me, I don’t know what to say. I feel like this opportunity has been put in front of me and I am very blessed. I want to go out there and prove myself. I’ve given it everything I’ve had from the very beginning- from dirt racing, bandoleros to legend cars, knowing the whole time that if you don’t have a sponsor you can’t get to the race track the next week and that’s something my grandfather has taught me each and every week. Kevin Harvick is somebody in my family that is a hero. He was a hero and probably still will be. During a tough time when RCR needed someone to step up, Kevin Harvick did. He kept RCR up front in NASCAR for a long time. I’ve learned a lot from him over the years, both good and bad. He’s a great race car driver. No one can not say that he’s a great race car driver. He’s done a lot to teach me about different tracks that we’ve gone to. It definitely hurts to hear those things from him. I watched the race this weekend at Martinsville Speedway and I thought it was hard racing. I thought Ty had a good truck and I thought Harvick had a good truck. They got after it at a place like Martinsville and Ty was racing for points and thought like he needed to get to the next spot. Things are said in the heat of battle. I’ve learned that it’s better to forgive someone for what they’ve said. I’ve forgiven him already. It’s just tough. Going into this year I was thinking that Kevin Harvick was going to be a teammate of mine going into next year and that I was going to be able to learn from him. I wanted us to be able to work together so that we could win championships together at RCR. When we found out he was going to Stewart-Hass Racing, it hurt my feelings. I still knew, though, that we could do it at RCR. We’ve always been able to overcome things. I was going to go into this year, and still am, trying to learn as much as I could from him. I did and still thank him for everything he’s taught me and where I’m at today. My grandfather is the same way. He’s taught me a lot about the way to act and respect people. I forgive Kevin. It definitely hurts to hear some of those things that were said, but at the same time I wouldn’t have ever thought that those things would come out of his mouth because I’ve known him for a long time, played basketball with him, been over to his shop. I played basketball with him for 11 or 12 weeks and really got to know him. It sucks. It’s part of it. I feel like RCR has given Kevin Harvick everything they could to win a championship as far a team, as far as guys, the best pit crew we can put together. When he leaves he will know that we have given him every opportunity that we could as a company and as a family here at RCR to win. That’s all you can ask for as a driver. If he goes to Stewart-Hass Racing and finds what he needs I’ll be happy for him and we’ll move on. I think the biggest thing is to forgive him, move on and learn from it. I’m going on to the next week and trying to win this week at Texas and trying to win a NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship. I’m looking forward to the great things we have going on at RCR. We have a lot of positive things going on here. Right now I’m just happy as a person for everything that RCR has been able to give me and looking forward to trying to kick butt for years to come over here.”

 

   For a refresher on what happened at Martinsville, go here.

 

Statement from Christmas Abbott on her departure from MWR

   Christmas Abbott, who in February became the first woman hired by a Sprint Cup Series team as a full-time pit crew member, posted the following statement on her Facebook page on Wednesday. 

   The Observer reported Tuesday night Abbott had left the Michael Waltrip Racing organization and had yet to work during a race this season.

   "To all my fans ... Yes, I did leave MWR to attend to some personal items. While working through these items I kept the intent of returning to racing either with MWR or another team I could start the season with as a tire changer.

   "I am thankful for the time I had with MWR on the pit crew and the great development I had. I will say with conviction that this endeavor was never a publicity stunt for myself or MWR. I am a professional athlete that found pit crewing via the sport of CrossFit. I pursued this because of the challenge it brought and my intrigue to the sport collectively. 

   "Thank you all who have supported this and I continue to advocate women in the sport of NASCAR specifically as a tire changer. Love it or hate it but I will continue to live my life disregarding any limits others put on me and continue to push myself to the highest of my own potential." 

First female tire changer on Cup team leaves without changing a tire

 

   Christmas Abbott, who in February became the only woman employed in NASCAR as a full-time pit crew member, has left her Michael Waltrip Racing team without ever changing a tire in a race.

   Abbott's departure was confirmed on Tuesday night by a MWR spokesman. The team declined to release any other details regarding her departure.

   In February, Abbott, an elite-level fitness athlete whose journey to become a full-time pit crew member has been well-chronicled, was named to MWR's Sprint Cup organization's traveling pit support team.

   "I'm here to do whatever my coaches ask of me, and I don't want any handouts," Abbott said at the time of her hire. "I'm ready to work three races a weekend if that's what it takes to get me where I want to be.

   "I'm in it for thre long haul."

   Abbott, however, never made it into a race with the MWR organization and in recent months wasn't seen at the track on race day. 

   The most recent race Abbott appeared to work in a race was for a noncompetitive Truck series team during February Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/02/20/2695570/christmas-abbott-breaks-new-ground.html#storylink=cpyTo our knowledge, the last time Abbott changed a tire was on a non-competitive truck team during February’s Speedweeks in Daytona.

Kyle Petty: 'If the door is open ... it is easier to get here'

   Last Saturday's win by Darrell Wallace Jr. in the NASCAR Truck Series race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway was important for many reasons, but the most important may yet to be felt.

   Former driver and current Fox Sports 1 analyst Kyle Petty talks about the long-term ramifications of Wallace's victory - the first by an African-American driver in a NASCAR national series race in 50 years.

   "Saturday was a big step for NASCAR, its Drive for Diversity program and the sport in general. No matter how much we want to rewrite history and make it politically correct, NASCAR predominantly was a white, Southern sport for so many years. Only in the last 20 or 25 years has it become more of a national sport," Petty said.

   "The doors don’t seem to have opened as quickly or there haven’t been as many people coming through any open doors. But we’ve been seeing change with Danica Patrick, Johanna Long, Bubba Wallace, engineers and crew members all through the industry. The sport is well on its way to being just a microcosm of any other business.

   "The last barrier to break is the driver barrier. It’s incredibly tough to break that driver barrier because of the sheer numbers. There are 43 Cup drivers, 30 to 40 Nationwide drivers and 30 to 40 Truck drivers. You’re looking at no more than 100 or 125 people, so the numbers are against everyone - not just minorities. But if the door is open and the barrier has been broken, it is easier for people with talent, regardless of race, creed or color, to get here.”

Clint Bowyer: 'The future will be brighter'

   A cheating scandal, the loss of a major sponsor, the loss of a team for next season and most recently the loss of a driver for the remainder of this year. Michael Waltrip Racing has taken its share of hits over the last two months and Sprint Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer has been in the middle of much of it.

   On Monday, he was asked about the morale at MWR right now considering all of the things that have happened of late.

   Here was his response:

   "I guess the biggest thing is we have a good game plan. You've got to be able to come up with a goal, set goals, come up with a plan of where do we go from here? Certainly, man, it's been a day‑by‑day thing," Bowyer said. "No more than I felt like we were turning the corner of trying to get past what happened in Richmond, and Brian out of the blue comes up with his illness. It was like 'Oh, my God, not again. When does it stop?'

   "But, nonetheless, very proud, to be honest with you, of where we're at considering all the circumstances. I mean, we're sixth in points. With all the distractions, all of the melees that have been going on with our organization, it just seems like it would have been very easy to get your eye off the ball and lose focus and not even completely be a factor at all.

   "I'm pleasantly surprised of the dedication and the hard work and the drive of everybody involved.  We've worked hard to get where we're at and the hard work and dedication will get us through all of this. The future will be brighter ahead."

What Kevin Harvick had to say about Saturday's Truck race one day later

   Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick spoke to Fox Sports 1's "NASCAR RaceDay" hosts John Roberts, Kyle Petty and Larry McReynolds on Sunday morning about Saturday's incident with Ty Dillon in the NASCAR Truck race.

    What made you angry in yesterday’s incident?
   “I think there was just a lot of emotion involved. I hate it for everybody at RCR. You go back and look at the things that happened, and sometimes you regret the things that you say for sure. Yesterday was definitely one of them. I hate it for my guys, and everybody working on the cars. Obviously, when those emotional situations come about; you say things that you really don’t want to say. I just want to apologize to all of those guys, work hard today and try and do everything we can to win the race."

   Were these comments a result of the frustration and the pressure?
   “I think yesterday was just some frustration on how the race ended. You never want to be in a situation like were in, and obviously, the short-track racing and everything that happened, you try to do the right things, and yesterday I didn’t do the right thing. We just have to do what we have to do today to put ourselves in a position to be as successful as we can.”

   Have you had a conversation with Ty Dillon?
   “No. I think it’s best for all of us to just cool down and have a sensible conversation about things that are going. I wish that’s what I would have done yesterday. It’s one of those situations that you don’t want to be a part of, but I don’t have anybody else to blame but myself.”