You can only ignore the obvious for so long.
On Tuesday, Furniture Row Racing _ whose lone NASCAR driver is reigning Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. _ announced it would cease operations at the conclusion of the 2018 season.
Yes, that's the same Martin Truex Jr. who has won 16 races since 2016, including four this year. Oh yeah, and that whole championship thing last season.
Now, gone.
"We've been aggressively seeking sponsorship to replace 5-hour ENERGY and to offset the rising costs of continuing a team alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing but haven't had any success," team owner Barney Visser said in a statement. "This was obviously a painful decision to arrive at knowing how it will affect a number of quality and talented people.
"This is not good for anybody."
On the ground level, countless hard-working, passionate people learned Tuesday they would lose their jobs. Maybe not immediately, but soon enough. That's terrible news, and no matter what else we can glean from this, that shouldn't be forgotten.
But on a grander scale, the fact that the reigning Cup Series champion's team is shutting down _ yes, it takes writing out a second time to actually believe it _ sends a much larger statement. Or really, several of them.
