No. 34 Love's Travel Stops / Delo Ford Mustang Dark Horse:
Michael McDowell started Sunday's GEICO 500 on pole, his second in nine races. McDowell worked with Front Row Motorsports teammate, Todd Gilliland, and other Ford Performance drivers to navigate the front of the pack and the draft for the first two stages. Utilizing both stage breaks and caution periods, as a chance to top off fuel, Crew Chief Travis Peterson made the call to get to the front, dictate the pace of the race, and get valuable track position. After a caution on lap 134, the ensuing restart McDowell went from 18th to 1st in two laps leading a race-high 36 laps. Leading on the final lap, coming to the checkered flag, McDowell tried to protect the lead going into the tri-oval, but unfortunately was spun by Brad Keselowski, sending the No. 34 Love's Travel Stops / Delo Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the wall in a multi-car wreck, ending the day in 31st place.
Start: 1st
Stage One: 14th
Stage Two: 22nd
Race Result: 31st
DRIVER MICHAEL MCDOWELL:
"It's frustrating right now but motivated by our ability to run up there and manage the lanes and do all the things that we did. Our car drove really well and took a push well and had a lot of speed, so those are good things, but it’s wadded up in a pile of rubble right now. It’s just unfortunate. It’s been a tough stretch here, but we’ve had speed and we’ve run up front and if we keep doing that, we’ll win a race."
No. 38 gener8tor Ford Mustang Dark Horse:
Todd Gilliland qualified 3rd in the gener8tor Ford Mustang Dark Horse, a career-best qualifying effort in the NASCAR Cup Series. Coming to pit road to top off on fuel, Gilliland worked his way back into the top-15 to finish Stage 1 in the 13th position. Coming to pit road for four tires and fuel, Gilliland went back to work, utilizing the draft with teammate Michael McDowell and other Fords. Playing it safe, Gilliland held back and finished Stage 2 in 24th. Starting the final stage on fresh tires and topped off on fuel, Gilliland weaved his way to the top-10, avoiding the chaos that ensued. Despite being caught up in the last lap incident, Gilliland brought home an 8th place finish, his first top-10 of the 2024 season.
Start: 3rd
Stage One: 13th
Stage Two: 24th
Race Result: 8th
DRIVER TODD GILLILAND:
"We had a really fast gener8tor Ford Mustang Dark Horse. It’s just part of the racing. I didn’t do a great job on the last pit stop. It’s always really hectic and the 17 was kind of coming around me and I waited just a split second and we lost a bunch of spots there, but that’s part of it. We got in that big wreck and were able to stay straight and keep going. Hat’s off to Ford, to Front Row Motorsports for bringing us two cars that were really capable of winning today."