About Furniture Row Racing

Furniture Row Companies is the owner and exclusive sponsor of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team.

By owning and operating more than 330 stores in 31 states, Furniture Row has established itself as one of the largest family-owned specialty home furnishings and bedding retailers in the United States. Furniture Row is dedicated to donating to charitable organizations such as World Vision, The Salvation Army, the Tim Tebow Foundation and the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions.

The success of Furniture Row Companies has provided the opportunity to participate in the exciting, high-profile sport of NASCAR.

In 2005, Furniture Row Racing began its journey into NASCAR by participating in the Busch Series in addition to running two races in the elite Cup division.

In 2006, the team’s focus shifted to Cup. With veteran driver and motorsport personality, Kenny Wallace, the program competed against powerhouse, multicar teams. Despite the challenges, the No. 78 Denver, Colo.-based, stand-alone team successfully achieved its goals for the season.

In 2007, NASCAR implemented some dramatic changes, and in order to adjust to the evolving field, Furniture Row Racing made dynamic enhancements to its program in the off season by adding key new hires and purchasing additional new equipment.

In 2008, Furniture Row Racing had its best season to date in the NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series with Joe Nemechek handling the controls of the team’s No. 78 Chevrolet Impala. The team qualified for 32 of 36 Cup races, shattering its previous best mark of 21 starts. The team also recorded its best-career finish of 11th – at the fall Cup race in Talladega. The No. 78 team also captured its first career pole when Nemechek qualified No. 1 at the Talladega spring race.

Due to the national and global economic downturn in late 2008, Furniture Row Racing ran a limited schedule in 2009 with its new driver Regan Smith, the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year. Smith entered 20 races under the Furniture Row Racing banner and qualified in 18. He had two top-15 finishes – 12th at the July Daytona race and 15th at the April Talladega race.

Following the 2009 season, Furniture Row Racing made an even stronger commitment to the future of the program. The team announced that it would run the full 36-race Sprint Cup schedule in 2010 and also made key personnel moves with the hiring of Mark McArdle as managing director of competition and Pete Rondeau as car chief (who was later promoted to crew chief).

Smith and the Furniture Row Racing team continued its improvement in 2010, qualifying in all 36 Cup races for the first time in the franchise history. Smith came on strong during the second half of the season, scoring a number of top-20 finishes, including three top-13s in the final seven races.

The team commitment that Smith talked about when he signed with Furniture Row Racing in 2009 became even more evident during a breakthrough 2011 season which saw both Smith and Furniture Row Racing claim a number of career firsts.

Smith’s seventh-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500 was his and Furniture Row Racing’s first career top-10 result.

Two months after Daytona, Smith scored his first career victory on May 7 at the prestigious Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

In total, Smith drove his No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet in 2011 to one win, two top-fives and five top-10s. He scored a top-10 result in NASCAR’s four biggest races – Daytona 500 (7th), Southern 500 (1st), Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (8th) and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (3rd).

“Coming into the 2011 season we felt that our Furniture Row Racing team had progressed to a point that we were capable of capturing a victory and claiming top-10 finishes,” stated Smith. “It was a successful season and we’re proud of what we accomplished. But on the other hand, I felt we let some results slip away and did not fully capitalize on our potential. Our goal in 2012 is to be a bona-fide contender on a weekly basis.”

Joe Garone

Birthdate: July 17, 1960

Resides: Denver

Spouse: Leann

Children: Daughters - Ashlie, Jordan, Carey

Joe Garone, a native of Denver, Colo., has directed the Furniture Row Racing efforts since the team’s inception in late 2004.

Before moving from Colorado to North Carolina to be part of NASCAR’s elite Cup series, Garone spent six successful seasons (1989-1994) as crew chief for driver Rick Carelli in NASCAR’s Southwest and Winston West Tour circuits and the Craftsman Truck Series.

Garone’s tuning talents played a vital role in Carelli’s success, which totaled more than 100 victories during the six-year period.

Garone joined Bill Elliott Racing in 1995 as a suspension specialist and an over-the-wall front-tire changer. He later advanced to the crew chief role for the legendary Bill Elliott.

During his four years with Bill Elliott Racing (1995-1998) the team claimed 35 top-10 finishes, and in 1997 won the prestigious Union 76 World Pit Crew Competition.

Garone helped form a new NASCAR team in 1999 with PPI Motorsports. He worked as a program manager and crew chief for the team’s two-car Cup effort, which included the No. 32 Tide Ford and the No. 96 McDonald’s Ford.

From 2001 through 2003, Garone worked directly for NASCAR. He was responsible for developing and implementing a business-plan structure for the Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C. as well as hiring the staff and starting the initial safety programs. He was later named NASCAR’s director of officiating.

After spending a year as the director of competition for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2004, Garone returned to Colorado where he accepted the position as crew chief for the Denver-based Furniture Row Racing. He was promoted to general manager in 2007.

His many duties as general manager include overseeing team operations in the various departments, acting as the liaison between Furniture Row Racing and its partners and directing the growth and development of the entire program.

Garone grew up in a racing family, and at 3-years-old was playing with carburetors and automatic transmission valve bodies rather than wooden blocks and toys.

His parents raced at the local Colorado circuits. His dad (Joe Sr.) competed for years in the modified series, and his mom (Beverly) took home several powder puff championships.

Before a full-time career in professional motorsports, Garone also raced in Colorado for several years while managing his father’s automotive repair shop.

Pete Rondeau

Birthdate: Nov. 5, 1965

Hometown: Saco, Maine

Resides: Denver, Colo.

Spouse: Carrie

Children: Sons -- Seth, Alec

Pete Rondeau joined Furniture Row Racing following the 2009 season as the team’s car chief. He was promoted to crew chief in May of 2010, prior to the Coca-Cola 600 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

A native of New England, Rondeau grew up in Saco, Maine, approximately 90-miles north from New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

Prior to joining Furniture Row Racing, Rondeau worked at Evernham Motorsports where he served as the team's director of research and development from July 2005 to the end of the 2009 season.

He also worked at Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) from 2001 to May 2005 and Jasper Motorsports from 1998-2001. During his three-plus years at DEI, Rondeau's positions included the crew chief role for both Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Rondeau has also had experience behind the wheel of a race car. Before he traveled south to North Carolina in 1998 to work in NASCAR, he raced for many years on the New England short tracks, including super late model cars in the American Canadian Tour. He also drove in NASCAR’s Pro Series East and the Whelen Modified Tour Series.

Rondeau directed Furniture Row Racing and driver Regan Smith to career seasons in 2011, capturing one win, two top-fives and five top-10s. A strategic pit call by Rondeau during the prestigious Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in May lifted Smith and the Denver, Colo.-based team to their first NASCAR victory.

"Our foundation as a team got stronger in 2011 and we need to build on what we already have accomplished,” said Rondeau. “We won’t stand pat -- reaching the next level of competition will be our early goal in 2012.”