KUSA – It was 2005.
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" was showing in theaters, as was "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith."
George W. Bush was president, Hurricane Katrina dominated the news and Lance Armstrong won his seventh straight Tour de France.
In Denver, it was also the year that Barney Visser decided to start a NASCAR team: Furniture Row Racing.
The self-professed adrenaline junkie had a lot to learn about NASCAR. Fielding a team 1,600 miles away from the hub of the sport became a weekly exercise in efficiency and logistical planning.
"In the beginning, it was challenging putting the systems in place to do what we do," General Manager Joe Garone said. "We fought a lot of people who would argue that you could even do it."
It hasn't been easy, but there have been rewards.
In 2011, Regan Smith gave the team its first victory – at the Southern 500 in Darlington.
"[And] once we were able to get our first win – and got another win after that – just recently, it just kept getting easier and easier and people became believers," Garone said, "and look at you and say, 'you know what? You can do what they're doing."
This season has been the best in Furniture Row's 10-year history.
Martin Truex Jr. has posted 14 wins in 16 races so far this season. It ties the record set by the King: Richard Petty in 1969.
"I'm fully committed to this team – I don't want to go anywhere else," Truex said. "I love it here. I love the team we have. I love what we're doing and I want to keep that going."
Qualifying for Sunday's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway was rained out, meaning that the field was set by practice times.
Truex, who crashed during practice, is in 20th position ahead of the race.
NBC will broadcast the Spring Cup races on Sunday, starting with the Coke Zero 400.
Live coverage will air on 9NEWS. The race starts at 5:45 p.m. MST.
(KUSA-TV © 2015)
