Denver's Furniture Row Racing, the lone Sprint Cup team headquartered west of the Mississippi, hopes less is more in the 2009 NASCAR season that starts Sunday with the Daytona 500.

Because of the slumping economy, FRR has trimmed its workforce, and the No. 78 Chevrolet will run only a 12-race schedule.

However, team president and general manager Joe Garone said the cutbacks might be a positive for the 3-year-old team.

Regan Smith, the 2008 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year, is the new driver, replacing Joe Nemechek, who was released from his contract and is planning to drive for his own NEMCO Motorsports team in the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series this season.

"We've downsized but it certainly isn't a complete negative," Garone said. "There are a lot of positives involved. Some of those are the way we scheduled the races. They are far enough out to give us time to be better prepared."

Still, he said, "the fire we have is we want to get back to running a full schedule."

Garone, Smith and the FRR team are in Daytona Beach, Fla., this week and will try to qualify for the Daytona 500 in the second of the Gatorade Duel 150-mile races Thursday.

"It was very hard to make the cuts we made," Garone said. "But we still have the real strength and core of our group in place. We feel very confident. We have a group of people contracted right now that came from Bill Davis Racing and mixed with some of the best guys we had on our pit crew. So we're excited about our pit crew. "

During Sunday's qualifying, Smith had the fourth-best time (48.148 seconds at 186.924 mph) among the 20 drivers not guaranteed a starting position in the 500. He needed to be in the top three.

So the best scenario for Smith and FRR to qualify for the 500 is for him to finish in the top two among the 10 cars seeking two transfer spots in the second 28-car qualifying race.

"This is a good team and we'll be ready to contend for those two spots," Smith said. "The wait is the biggest hurdle to contend with."

Smith, 25, who became the only Sprint Cup rookie to finish every race he started while driving last season for Dale Earnhardt Inc., is excited to be with his new team even though its home is far from North Carolina, where most NASCAR teams are based.

"In the Charlotte area, you get the mentality if you are going to race, you have to be right here," he said. "That's the only way you can get the technology to do it. I came out here and realized, 'Holy cow, you don't have to be from Charlotte because everything we have out there, they have it here, too."

Then there's the travel. The FRR team covers roughly 105,000 miles during a full season, compared to 54,000 miles for teams based in the Charlotte area.

Smith isn't deterred.

"It's a great opportunity for me to come out here and work with these guys," he said. "We all have the same goals. We want to get the car full time by next year."

Smith must secure a starting spot in each race the team enters this season because FRR was out of the top 35 in owner's points last season.

"It puts more pressure on you, definitely," he said. "From my standpoint, I tend to do better with the pressure."

The Daytona 500 is the first of 12 races for which Smith will try to qualify this season.

"We picked races primarily to fit our driver, where he felt he could do the best," Garone said. "Our superspeedway races have been our shining star."

Still, that didn't ease Smith's sleepless nights before Thursday's qualifying race.

"I don't care how we get into the big show, just so we get in," he said. "The good news is that the Furniture Row Chevy Impala SS is powered by Hendrick engines and the team has a strong history at superspeedways. When I wake up at night, I think of the positives and then go back to sleep."

FRR schedule

The 12 races Denver-based Furniture Row Racing is scheduled to run in the 2009 Sprint Cup season.

Sunday: Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway.

March 1: Shelby 427, Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

April 18: Subway Fresh Fit 500, Phoenix International Raceway.

April 26: Aaron's 499, Talladega Superspeedway.

May 31: Dover 400, Dover International Speedway.

June 21: Toyota/Savemart 350, Infineon Raceway.

July 4: Coke Zero 400, Daytona International Speedway.

Aug. 9: Centurion Boars, Glen at Watkins Glen.

Sept. 12: Chevy Rock & Roll 400, Richmond International Raceway.

Sept. 27: Dover 400, Dover International Speedway.

Nov. 1: Amp Energy 500, Talladega Superspeedway.

Nov. 15: Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500, Phoenix International Raceway.

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