Imbedded Engineer

CONCORD, NC - JANUARY 22: Kurt Busch, driver for Furniture Row Racing, speaks to the media during the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Media Tour on January 22, 2013 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)

 

CONCORD, NC - JANUARY 22:  Kurt Busch, driver for Furniture Row Racing, speaks to the media during the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Media Tour on January 22, 2013 in Concord, North Carolina.  (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)
CONCORD, NC – JANUARY 22: Kurt Busch, driver for Furniture Row Racing, speaks to the media during the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Media Tour on January 22, 2013 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)

CONCORD, N.C. –Even before this season, Furniture Row Racing had a close relationship with Richard Childress Racing. After all, Furniture Row gets its engines and chassis from RCR.

The partnership was strengthened recently when Mark McArdle, managing director of competition at Furniture Row, took on a dual role as director of racing operations at RCR. With Furniture Row based in Denver, Colo., and RCR in Welcome, N.C., McAardle has a long commute.

The new opportunity for McArdle resulted from a standing offer by Furniture Row owner Barney Visser and general manager Joe Garone and hit critical mass when RCR hired Eric Warren as director of competition late in 2012. McArdle and Warren worked together at Evernham Motorsports.

“Joe and Barney offered up my services to RCR if they could use me in any way to help that situation that they have there,” McArdle told the NASCAR Wire Service. “Eric Warren and I had worked together for eight years at Evernham’s. When he heard about that offer, he took us up on it and has asked me to operate as director of racing operations.

“The Cup teams, the Nationwide teams and the truck teams all report up through me. I report to Eric.”

With three Cup teams at RCR and one at Furniture Row, McArdle is spending more time in North Carolina as the organizations develop the Gen-6 car.

“Right now, because of the intensity of the changeover process at RCR, we’re doing kind of a two thirds/one third,” McArdle said. “Two thirds of any given calendar month is being spent here in North Carolina, and about one third in Denver at this point.

“We hope that, as things become more stabilized and settled, that that will become more 50-50. Eventually the hope is to be able to train someone at RCR to step into that role.”

NUTS AND BOLTS

New Hampshire Motor Speedway announced Tuesday that Sylvania has extended its sponsorship of the fall race at the Magic Mile for five years, carrying that entitlement through 2017. This year’s Sylvania 300, the second race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, is scheduled for Sept. 22…

Bristol Motor Speedway will give away 10 new Ford Mustangs at the Mar. 17 Food City 500 at the world’s fastest half mile. To enter, just buy a ticket for the Cup race…

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.