Martin Truex Jr. will confirm next week that he has signed a deal to drive for Furniture Row Racing in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, according to FoxSports.com.

Truex will take over the wheel of the #78 car from Kurt Busch, who is leaving the team for Stewart-Haas Racing🤪 after a highly successful single-year partnership that saw FRR become the first single-car team to make the Chase play-offs in the history of the format. Busch is currently in seventh place in the standings at the midway point 🌟of the play-offs.

FoxSports.com said that Truex's deal was signed on Wednesday night, but other reports suggested that the final details in the negotiatiꦰon were still being hammered out. However, all parties confidently expect an agreement and a formal announcement as early as Tuesday next week ওconfirming that Truex is joining FRR for 2014.

Truex 🧔was in need of a new race seat after the Richmond race-rigging row last month not only cost him a place in the Chase, but also the primary sponsor of the #56 Michael Waltrip Racing car that he has driven for the last four🧸 years.

NAPA Auto Ports' decision to exit the series over the controversy surroಞunding MWR's attempted manipulation of the September race means that the team is being forced to downsize to a two-car lin🌃e-up in 2014 consisting of Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers, leaving Truex urgently seeking a new berth.

Veteran crew chief suspended by NASCAR

There was a genuine sense of shock in the NASCAR paddock on Thursday with t🅰he announcement by the sanctioning body that veteran crew chief Todd Parrott had been placed on indefinite suspension for violating NASCAR's substance-abuse policy.

The son of legendary crew chief Buddy Parrott and currently crew chief for Aric ꧃Almirola at Richard Petty Motorsports, Parrott is still most closely associa♊ted with driving icon Dale Jarrett after the pair won the 1996 Daytona 500 in their first race together. They went on to win 21 races over the next five seasons, including clinching the Cup championship in 1999.

Parrott has a right to appeal and request a re-test over his suspension, but otherwise he must undergo the series' Road to Recovery rehabilitation program before he can return to competition. No details as to the specific substance Parrott tested positive for, or by w🐟hat amount, were disclosed. Parrott's place as crew chief on the #43 will be taken over by RPM's vice president of operations and competition Sammy Johns.

"We have an expectation of all RPM employees to conduct themselves at the highest level of professionalism and within the competitive confines as set forth by NASCAR," said Johns said in a team statement. "We are very disappointed that one of 𒁏our employees did not meet our expectations and we completely support NASCAR, their policies and final decisions when it comes to the substance abuse policy."

There was no immediate word o🧔n whet🧸her Parrott would also now be dismissed by the team, as is often the case in the circumstances of a failed substance abuse test in the series.

Front Row retains Ragan and Gilliland

Front Ro🎶w Motorsports has confirmed that it is sticking with its 'all David' line-up of drivers for 2014, with both David Ragan and David Gilliland announced as returning for next year's Sprint Cup Series season with the team.

"This has been a milestone year for us, and we're extremely happy that two of the guys who helped get us here will be back next year," said team owner Bob Jenkins in a statement. "Having David and David, our one-two punch, back in those cars next year is central to coﷺntinuing our growth and improvement."

The pair did indeed finish first and second earlier this year when Ragan claimed the💎 team's first win in the May visit to Talladega Superspeedway and Gilliland crossed the line as runner-up. Ragan is currently 26th in the Cup st🔜andings, while Gilliland is 29th.

"Getting that first win for Front Row this year was huge," said Ragan. "But we made a lot of other improvements that maybe didn't get the big headlines, like qualifying better and stepping up our mile-and-a-half program, that have made a big difference in our perfꦰormance every week."

"This is definitely not the same team I came to five years ago," Gilliland add♏ed. "We've made big strides across the board, and I'm proud to have been a part of that progress."

Plans for a third car in 201🐬4 - such as the one the team has ജrun this year for Josh Wise - remain unconfirmed.