KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Furniture Row Racing crewmen had a somber feeling Sunday morning at Kansas Speedway after fabricator Jim Watson collapsed and died of a heart attack while on a go-kart outing Saturday night.
Prior to the race, they put "JW" stickers on the team's two cars in memory of the 55-year-old who had a long résumé in racing that included being a driver on the short tracks in Wisconsin.
They then went out and did what they have done several times this year, with Martin Truex Jr. winning the Hollywood Casino 400, the seventh victory for him this season.
"[There was a] somber feeling around the team, and just everybody feeling like they were dragging a little bit ... but it also was in a quiet, fired-up fashion, like, 'Let's go kick their butts for Jim. Let's do it for him,'" Truex said.
Truex said he didn't know Watson well, as Watson would work on both his car and the car of teammate Erik Jones. Truex crew chief Cole Pearn was not at the go-kart event, but he went to the hospital and was there until early in the morning.
"I know they were just sitting there, and he had a heart attack and kind of keeled over when they were done," Pearn said. "I know he just texted his wife not long before that telling her how good a time he was having.
"You take a little bit of solace in that, that he was happy in his last moments."
Watson joined the organization this year and previously worked at Roush Fenway Racing and HScott Motorsports.
"James was a friend to everybody and a good worker," team general manager Joe Garone said. "It's hard to talk about. He worked on both the [cars].
"His hands were on the 78 car [of Truex] going through inspection yesterday, preparing it. It's just amazing that we were able to win the race and win it to honor him and his family."
Truex knows about working through adversity. His longtime girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, is recovering from surgery this summer from a recurrence of ovarian cancer, and she was at the track Sunday, with her next chemotherapy treatment eight days away.
"Over the years, I've gotten better being able to get in the car no matter what's going on in the outside world or in my life, to get in there and focus, turn my focus to just what I have to do in the next couple of hours," Truex said.
"It was just another example of doing that and focusing on my job and just trying to block out all the noise."