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NASCAR America: Don’t look for an immediate falloff from Martin Truex Jr.

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Even with the announcement that Furniture Row Racing will cease operations after this season, Martin Truex Jr. and Cole Pearn are not expected to fall in performance as long as key team members stay.

With Furniture Row Racing entering their final 11 races as a team, the question must be asked whether they will experience a falloff in competitiveness.

NASCAR America analysts Parker Kligerman and Nate Ryan don’t think so – unless they start to lose personnel or if they fail to advance in the playoffs.

“I do not expect (a falloff) immediately and I don’t expect it for the first couple of weeks,” Kligerman said on Thursday’s edition of NASCAR America. “But if there is cracks in the armor – if for whatever reason, this team finds a way to fall out of the playoffs in terms of getting knocked out of a round … then I’d start to see performance start to fall off.”

MORE: Furniture Row Racing to cease operations after 2018 season
MORE: Furniture Row Racing’s demise leaves lingering questions
MORE: Martin Truex Jr., Cole Pearn belong together

As long as the team is performing well, team members will have a common goal. But they also have to face the realization that next year is right around the corner.

“Later in the year, if key members are … cherry picked by other race teams and will have no choice but to leave midway through the playoffs,” Kligerman added.

“That’s the key: personnel losses. If people start leaving the team, it gets really difficult,” Nate Ryan added.

For more, watch the video above.

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