Kurt Busch signs with Furniture Row Racing

Kurt Busch will drive the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Chevy in the 2013 Sprint Cup Series. (Getty Images)

Furniture Row Racing will replace Regan Smith with Kurt Busch for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

“Though we have made strides as a resourceful single-car Sprint Cup team, we are not where we want to be, which led us to the difficult decision of making a driver change as we move forward,” Furniture Row Racing general manager Joe Garone said in a statement.

“Kurt's exceptional driving talent has the capacity to take a team to another level. We look forward to having Kurt join our Denver-based organization and feel his racing experience will play an important role as we plan ahead to 2013.”

About Smith, Garone said: “As our team driver the past four years, Regan has represented Furniture Row Racing with both class and competitiveness. His win at Darlington in 2011 -- the first for Furniture Row Racing -- will be a memory forever etched in our organization's history. He is a friend, and will always be a friend of Furniture Row Racing. We wish him all the best.”

Busch, 34, has been a full time driver in the Sprint Cup Series since 2001 and has 24 wins in 427 Cup starts. He qualified for the Chase six times in the past nine years and won the 2004 inaugural Chase season championship in only his third full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series.

“Furniture Row Racing has the commitment, talent and resources to compete at a high level in the Sprint Cup Series,” Busch said in a statement. "I have watched with admiration on how this team has grown over the years and that is why I am excited about the opportunity as I eagerly look forward to a new chapter in my racing career."

Busch has driven the No. 51 Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing this season. His previous two teams were Penske and Roush Fenway.

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