As it continues to look for sponsorship for 2019, Furniture Row Racing has no intentions of shutting down, team owner Barney Visser said Wednesday.
With Visser already having put millions into his team and the organization not having announced an extension of its manufacturer deal with Toyota and its technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing, questions have surfaced in the NASCAR industry on whether the team would field a car next year.
Furniture Row Racing won the 2017 Cup championship with Martin Truex Jr..
Truex, currently third in the standings with four wins, has indicated he wants to return but remains unsigned as the team works on the Toyota and JGR deals as well as sponsorship.
"Furniture Row Racing continues to develop sponsorship opportunities for 2019 and beyond," Visser said in a statement. "We have aligned ourselves with great partners over the years and are very proud of the success our organization has achieved, especially the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series championship with Martin Truex Jr.
"Furniture Row Racing not fielding a team in 2019 is not an option and we have every intention of continuing to build on our success for years to come."
While Visser self-sponsored the team with his Furniture Row stores and Denver Mattress brands for the entire or part of several seasons since its first Cup race in 2005, he seemed relieved last year when he downsized from two cars to one fully sponsored car.
He wouldn't say how much money he put into the team in its successful quest to win a championship.
Sponsorships in NASCAR vary widely. Farmers Insurance was paying Hendrick Motorsports $8 million for a 12-race sponsorship in 2017, considered to be at the high end of the sponsorship scale.