Wallace opts to focus on Nextel Cup with No. 78 team
By Lee Montgomery
Saturday, October 21, 2006
MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Kenny Wallace announced a two-year contract with Furniture Row Racing that all but ends his participation in the Busch Series.
Furniture Row, owned by Barney Visser, has signed Wallace to an exclusive contract that allows Busch races only by permission.
"When somebody wants you and offers you a two-year deal and they say, 'But, we want you all to ourselves,' I say, 'OK.' " Wallace said. "I'm not saying no more Busch. I'm saying exclusive No. 78 Furniture Row. If somebody comes to me, I've got to clear it through [crew chief] Joe [Garone] and Barney."
No such offers are on the table, and ppc Racing, Wallace's current Busch team, had already begun the search for his replacement.
The team is based in Denver, Colo., the home of the Furniture Row company. Furniture Row builds its own engines but has signed a deal with Hendrick Motorsports for restrictor-plate engines next season. MB2 Motorsports provides chassis and bodies.
Crew chief Joe Garone said the team is building an "extensive engineering group" in Denver. A seven-post chassis machine to simulate track conditions is being built.
The team has failed to qualify for 15 events this year, including 12 with Wallace.
"I'm the first driver for Furniture Row," Wallace said. "This is a long program. It's taken me a year to understand what's going on here. They're for real. They don't come in here thinking we're going to win. Our goal is to make every damn race."
