Smith, Furniture Row Now Focused On Winning 2nd Race
DENVER (CBS4) - Regan Smith and Furniture Row Racing have been getting better and coming closer to victory lane. They finished seventh at Daytona in the opening race of the season. But that first win eluded them until last week at Darlington where all the hard work finally paid off.
Smith and Furniture Row finally experienced the thrill of victory. It was everything Smith dreamed it would be -- thrilling, exhilarating, and an extreme relief.
"It's a weight off our shoulders; the whole team was pretty excited about that first win," Smith said. "You go your whole career and your whole life waiting for that first win. And certainly you don't want it to take 105 starts, but sometimes it does. If anything it definitely made me appreciate it a lot more."
Smith said being Denver's race team has meant a lot to them. Furniture Row is the first team based west of the Mississippi River to win a NASCAR race, but the team has been competitive for several years.
"Daytona certainly didn't hurt our confidence at all," Smith said. "The qualifying has helped our confidence too."
Winning his first race was a dream come true, but winning at Darlington made it extra special.
"If you look at the history and the tradition and the heritage of that race, it's one of the most important tracks in NASCAR from that standpoint," he said. "There are four races throughout the course of the year that you want to win. You want to win Daytona, you want to win Darlington, you want to win the Charlotte 600, and you want to win at the Brickyard."
Smith may finally be a winner, but the year is young and he and Furniture Row still have a lot of work to do.
"A second win will almost guarantee you a place in the chase."
Smith still technically lives in North Carolina, but he said this week he loves it so much out here, he's in the process of buying a house in Colorado.
