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Michael McDowell Post-Race Report: Phoenix Raceway

11/3/2020

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Michael McDowell
No. 34 Love's Travel Stops | Luber-finer Ford Mustang

Started: 29th
Finished: 23rd

Stage One: 27th
Stage Two: 21st
Stage Three: 23rd

On Sunday afternoon, Michael McDowell and his No. 34 Love's Travel Stops | Luber-finer Ford Mustang took to the track at Phoenix Raceway for the final race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. McDowell took the green flag in 29th place and would advance his position to 26th by the Competition Caution on Lap 32. Under caution, he noted that his race car was "tight in the middle, loose off," prompting Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer to call McDowell to pit road for 4 tires, fuel, a wedge adjustment and added grille tape. McDowell continued to battle and would go on to take the Stage 1 green-and white-checkered flag from the 27th position. During the first Stage Break Caution, McDowell came to pit road for 4 tires, fuel, a wedge adjustment and a trackbar adjustment after mentioning that his No. 34 Love's Travel Stops | Luber-finer Ford Mustang was "a little free under braking ... Plowing tight middle."

The majority of Stage 2 ran caution-less, forcing teams to pit under green for tires and fuel. While the majority of his competitors had already pitted, McDowell remained on track to gain valuable track position. The No. 34 Love's Travel Stops | Luber-finer Ford Mustang ran as high as 3rd place at one point and would be running in 11th when the caution flag flew on Lap 88. Under caution, McDowell pitted for 4 tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment. Unfortunately, he would also pick up a speeding penalty during his trip to pit road and the No. 34 was forced to restart at the tail end of the field. McDowell would go on to finish Stage 2 in 21st. During the second Stage Break Caution, McDowell told his team that their No. 34 Love's Travel Stops | Luber-finer Ford Mustang was "still fighting (turn in) the center (of the corners) really bad" and would pit for 4 tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment.

In the Final Stage of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, McDowell continued to search for more speed in his No. 34 Love's Travel Stops | Luber-finer Ford Mustang. The stage would run caution-less from start to finish and teams would be forced to perform another round of green flag pit stops. On Lap 261, Blickensderfer would call the No. 34 Love's Travel Stops | Luber-finer Ford Mustang to pit road for 4 tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment after McDowell noted that his race car was "tight middle, free off." In the remaining 51 laps of the race, McDowell would overtake a handful of competitors and take the final checkered flag of the season from the 23rd position at Phoenix Raceway.

McDowell finished the season 23rd in the driver point standings and 25th in the owner point standings. He also recorded career-best season with four Top-10 and ten Top-15 finishes.

McDowell on Phoenix:

“Well that's a wrap on the 2020 season. It's been crazy and I'm so thankful for everybody at Front Row Motorsports. It's been a great year for us; we accomplished a couple of our goals that we set out to grab; didn't hit them all, but we finally got in the Top-25 in the owner points. It was a dogfight all the way to the end and I'm just so thankful for all of my guys, everybody at Front Row (Motorsports) and our partners: Love's Travel Stops, Speedco, Delo, Luber-finer, Prime Inc, MTS, Fr8Auctions, The Pete Store, Digital Ally with their Shield Cleansers and CarParts.com. We've had so many cool cars this year and I'm just thankful for how much improvement that we've had this year and I'm really excited about 2021."

-30-

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McDowell Returns Home to Phoenix for Season Finale with Love's Travel Stops

11/2/2020

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McDowell on Phoenix:

“The time of year is once again upon us; it's the final race of the season. Even with all of the craziness that 2020 has brought to our racing industry with the COVID-19 Pandemic and the lengthy pause on racing that it caused, it still feels like the Daytona 500 was only a few short weeks ago.

"And although it's a bittersweet feeling to know that this is the final race of the year, I'm still really excited because we're heading back to my hometown of Phoenix. Maybe I'm a little bit biased, but I've always felt like Phoenix would be a great venue to host our season finale at and I can't wait to see what the racing will produce on Sunday.

"This weekend we'll have Love's Travel Stops back on board our No. 34 Ford Mustang and they'll be joined by our friends at Luber-finer. We've had Luber-finer on the car with Love's [Travel Stops] for a handful of races over the last couple of years and I really appreciate their support.

"I think it's fitting that we have Love's back on our race car this weekend to close out the season as they've played such an instrumental role in Front Row Motorsports' growth and increased competitiveness throughout the years. They stuck by us when we were first building our program and not always having the best of finishes, and they've stuck by us this year, regardless of the financial uncertainties that most businesses have been faced with; and I know that all of us at Front Row [Motorsports] are extremely thankful for that.

"Obviously this weekend is the championship round for the Final Four, but when we take the green flag on Sunday, we'll still have a battle of our own as we're fighting to grab a spot in the Top-25 in Owner Points. The points race is tight between a few of us and I know that it's going to be a dog fight on Sunday."

About Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores

Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores is the nation's industry-leading travel stop network with 530 locations in 41 states. Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, the company remains family-owned and operated and employs more than 27,000 people. Love's provides professional truck drivers and motorists with 24-hour access to clean and safe places to purchase gasoline, diesel fuel, fresh coffee, restaurant offerings and more. Love's has more than 390 truck service centers, which include on-site and stand-alone Speedco and Love's Truck Tire Care locations. Love's and Speedco combined is the largest oil change, preventive maintenance and total truck care nationwide network. Love's is committed to providing customers with "Clean Places, Friendly Faces" at every stop. To learn more, visit loves.com.

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Michael McDowell Post-Race Report: Martinsville Speedway

11/1/2020

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Michael McDowell
No. 34 CarParts.com | Davico Mfg Ford Mustang

Started: 24th
Finished: 28th

Stage One: 37th
Stage Two: 33rd
Stage Three: 28th

The No. 34 CarParts.com | Davico Mfg Ford Mustang of Michael McDowell started Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway from the 24th position. Shortly after the green flag waved, McDowell cued the radio to say that he had a "big (left-rear tire) rub" and would be forced to pit under green for left-side tires and to clearance the fender, to which he would come out five laps down. At the Competition Caution on Lap 62, Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer instructed McDowell to stay on track in order to take a wave-around opportunity and would then be scored four laps down. McDowell would go on to take the first green- and white-checkered flag from the 37th position, four laps down. During the Stage 1 Caution, the No. 34 CarParts.com | Davico Mfg Ford Mustang came to pit road for 4 tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment after McDowell noted that the "right-rear (tire) wants to chatter a little bit."

Although being scored in the 36th position and four laps down, McDowell would continue to lay down fast lap times and show off the speed in his No. 34 CarParts.com | Davico Mfg Ford Mustang. The caution flag would fly on Lap 184 and McDowell would stay on track to take another wave-around opportunity and close the deficit to three laps. After a long stint on old tires, the caution flag would be displayed once again on Lap 217 and McDowell would pit for 4 tires and fuel; telling the team that his race car was "getting tight rolling the middle (of the corner)." He would go on to finish Stage 2 in 33rd place, three laps down. During the second Stage Break Caution, McDowell would stay on track to take advantage of another wave-around opportunity, closing the gap to two laps down.

The Final Stage of Sunday's 263-mile race at Martinsville Speedway would see a total of three cautions; the first coming on Lap 353 to which McDowell would pit for fuel and 4 fresh Goodyear tires after a lengthy 136-lap run on his previous set. The remaining two cautions would fall on Laps 401 and 442 and McDowell would stay on track during both to take two more wave-around opportunities, however he would still remain two laps down as he was passed by the leader just prior to both cautions occurring. McDowell and the No. 34 CarParts.com | Davico Mfg team continued to battle hard all race. Unfortunately the five lap deficit was too large to overcome and the No. 34 CarParts.com | Davico Mfg Ford Mustang would take the checkered flag at Martnsville Speedway from the 28th position, three laps down.

McDowell on Martinsville:

“I’m really disappointed with the way that our race unfolded today at Martinsville Speedway. We got hit hard in the left-rear quarter panel shortly after the green flag dropped, causing a bad tire rub and forced us to have to pit under green for left-side tires and damage repair. At Martinsville, you never want to come to pit road unless it's during a caution because a green flag pit stop pretty much guarantees that you’re going to lose a few laps. From that point on, our goal was to try and take advantage of as many wave-around and Lucky Dog opportunities as possible in order to get back on the Lead Lap. Unfortunately, with cautions falling at unfavorable times and having to race on old tires for long stints, it made it difficult for us to get all of our laps back. It’s unfortunate because our No. 34 CarParts.com / Davico Manufacturing Ford Mustang was so fast all race long. I can’t thank CarParts.com enough for all of their support this season and it was great to welcome their friends at Davico Manufacturing on board with us this weekend as well. We still have one more race in the season, so we’ll head home tonight and shift our focus to Phoenix and try to close out the 2020 season on a high note, next Sunday.”

-30-

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Michael McDowell Post-Race Report: Phoenix Raceway

McDowell Returns Home to Phoenix for Season Finale with Love's Travel Stops

Michael McDowell Post-Race Report: Martinsville Speedway

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