LOUDON, N.H. -- Martin Truex Jr. has a sudden thirst for sponsorship cash.
Truex and his Furniture Row Racing team had about three weeks' notice that 5-hour Energy was set to leave the defending NASCAR champion as a primary sponsor at the end of the season.
After a 10-year relationship, the NASCAR buzz wore off for the energy brand, the latest big-bucks corporate defector from the sport. 5-hour's departure leaves Furniture Row scrambling for coveted sponsorship dollars for the No. 78 Toyota and one of the top drivers in the Cup Series.
"I wish it didn't take quite as long as it did," Truex said Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "It kind of puts us in a tough spot now. But I'm not really, really worried. I think something good can come out of this."
Furniture Row should be able to attract a top sponsor: Truex has 16 victories since 2016 and FRR has sponsorship funding from Bass Pro Shops and Auto-Owners Insurance, and is locked in with Toyota, the class of the manufacturers.
"I just can't imagine there isn't some partner out there that wouldn't want to be partnered with this whole group," FRR President Joe Garone said. "We've gotten a lot of interest just in the days since we've announced it."
But Truex's success wasn't enough for 5-hour to keep pumping the millions of dollars needed to help fund the 78 and the car isn't the only one on the market. Lowe's decided to cease its relationship with Hendrick Motorsports and Jimmie Johnson at the end of the season after winning seven NASCAR titles.
It's emblematic of the overall sponsor woes when the last two series champions, like other big names, can't even keep a long-term backer.
"A lot of things go into those decisions," Truex said. "I don't know a ton about their business and how it's doing or anything like that. Obviously, you'd think that with the success we've had and kind of how the last two years for us have went that, it's certain we delivered on our end of the deal."
Rise' Meguiar, president of sales for Living Essentials, parent company of 5-hour Energy, said this week the choice to leave the sport was a "business decision." The company declined further comment Friday.
5-hour was the primary sponsor for 14 races this season, Bass Pro was scheduled for 16 and Auto-Owners for six. Team owner Barney Visser had used his Furniture Row company as a sponsor in the past -- Truex wears an FRR firesuit next to Johnson in his Lowe's suit on the New Hampshire race program cover -- but it would be a last-gasp move to put FRR back on the hood.
Garone said the primary goal was to get the Toyota fully funded with outside partners.
5-hour had been a NASCAR primary sponsor for nearly a decade, including the last seven at the Cup Series level. The company joined Furniture Row Racing in 2017 as majority primary sponsor on the No. 77 Toyota and Rookie of the Year winner Erik Jones, as well as a season-long associate and two primaries on the No. 78 with Truex. It became a primary for Truex this season when Jones, who won two weeks ago at Daytona, went to Joe Gibbs Racing.
5-hour stuck with NASCAR in the aftermath of the worst cheating scandal in the sport's history. NAPA Auto Parts cut ties in 2013 when Michael Waltrip Racing manipulated a race to get Truex into the playoffs. But 5-hour stayed on when times were tough -- and cut bait when it was riding high as a victory lane regular.
"Some things don't make sense unless you're inside the inner workings and we're not there," Garone said. "I'm sure they've got a plan."
FRR and Truex said the sponsorship search would not derail their plans toward working on a contract extension. Truex won only two career races in eight full seasons before he joined Denver-based FRR in 2014 and his career soon skyrocketed toward a championship run.
Busch wins pole
LOUDON, N.H. -- Kurt Busch turned a lap of 133.591 mph in the No. 41 Ford on Friday to win the pole for the NASCAR race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend.
The 2004 series champion hasn't won a race since the 2017 Daytona 500 and has just three top-five finishes this season for Stewart-Haas Racing.
Martin Truex Jr., who won last week at Kentucky, will start second in Sunday's race and Kyle Busch third. Chevrolets and Fords took eight of the top-10 qualifying spots Friday.
Kevin Harvick starts 14th. Truex, Busch and Harvick have 14 of this season's 19 victories. Harvick and Busch each have five wins, Truex has four and the 16-spot playoff field is set to have more drivers qualify on points than through the automatic berths that come with a win.
New Hampshire lost its fall race this season to Las Vegas.
Sports on 07/21/2018