By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
It was an emotional weekend for Barney Visser as Furniture Row Racing was racing for one last time at the premier level of NASCAR.
Despite the weekend being emotional, Visser still had blast being in the Ford EcoBoost 400 contending for a second championship.
“I had a blast. I had fun. We were in contention there. We had the thing won until the caution came out. That is why we played. That is why we did it.”
With this being the final race, the emotions for Visser were all over the board, but he was glad that he was part of the sport for 14 years.
“They are all over the board still. We had it, then we lost it. That is racing. That is what we signed up to do 14 years ago. That has been fun. What a great group of people. It is a sport that is the greatest show on earth, I think. I really believe that. I am glad I got to be part of it for as long as I did,” he continued.
What will Visser miss the most about his time in NASCAR? He will miss the people who have supported him throughout the years.
“I will miss the guys and the people. We were able to put together a team that I think is just as good as anybody out there or maybe as good as anybody has been,” he continued.
“It’s been great. Toyota has been very supportive. Joe did everything they said they were going to do. I met a lot of honorable people here. This has been fun.”
Not only was the team emotional, but fans were emotional as well. The well wishes from the race fans is what tugged on his heart the most.
“Some of them were in tears so that was kind of emotional. It seems like we meant a lot to people just coming out of nowhere and being able to put together a team that did as well as we did. It says something about the sport. It says something about the level playing field out there. It makes it fun.”
Are there any regrets from these last 14 years? The easy answer is no.
“I have no regrets. If somebody told me that tomorrow I would start a venture like this, even though that it got a little more expensive than you wanted it to, and that you were going to get a championship and finish second on your last time out, I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
After eight drivers and 451 starts, Visser closes out his time as a NASCAR premier series owner with 18 wins, 75 top-fives, 132 top-10s and 15 poles.