Front Row Motorsports Heads to the Phoenix Desert

Shriners Children's 500 Competition Notes

---

TEAM AND RACE NOTES:

Front Row Motorsports heads to the Phoenix Raceway to close out the West Coast Swing. Todd Gilliland and Michael McDowell look to bounce back from 24th and 25th place finishes, respectively at the Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.

For McDowell, this will be the Glendale, AZ native's 27th start at the track, as he looks to improve on his 9th-place finish last November, his best at Phoenix. The iconic Horizon Hobby colors return for the first time in 2024. The last time they were on the 34 car was in victory lane at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway last August when McDowell claimed his second-career victory on the 2.439-mile road course and a spot in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Gilliland will be driving the No. 38 gener8tor Ford Mustang Dark Horse as he looks to improve his average finish at the 1-mile oval, a place where he won his first ARCA Menards Series West victory in 2015. This weekend will also include the debut of the NASCAR Cup Series new short track-road course package which will feature a new underbody, diffuser along with a slightly bigger spoiler.

Track activity will begin with practice on Friday, March 8th at 5:00 p.m. ET. Qualifying for Sunday will take place Saturday, March 9th at 2:00 p.m. ET. The 312-lap event will take place Sunday, March 10th at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be televised live on FOX. Fans can also listen in on the action live from Sirius XM and the Motor Racing Network.

COMPETITION NOTES:

No. 34 Horizon Hobby Ford Mustang Dark Horse:

DRIVER MICHAEL MCDOWELL: 

"Phoenix is always a special race for me because I get to race in front of so many friends and family members, and the cheers are usually a little bit louder during driver intros, too. I’m hopeful that this new package will help fill that gap for us in that we hit it just right to put our Horizon Hobby Ford Mustang Dark Horse up front."

CREW CHIEF TRAVIS PETERSON:

"I'm looking forward to getting to Phoenix this weekend, we had some good races there last year and it is going to be interesting to see how the new short track package plays out. Hopefully we can find more speed and get a good result."

No. 38 gener8tor Ford Mustang Dark Horse:

DRIVER TODD GILLILAND:

"Going into Phoenix, we won't really know where we stack up against everyone else until practice because of the new short track package. I know Ryan (Bergenty) and the team have been hard at work getting me the stuff I need to be successful, it just comes down to me executing."

CREW CHIEF RYAN BERGENTY:

"Practice is going to be extra important this weekend with the new package. We're going to have to test out a couple different setups and make sure we get the most data available from the session. Vegas didn't go as planned, but it's a new week to be better and work on our craft."