Front Row Motorsports Prepares to Turn Right and Left in Wine Country

Sonoma Raceway Competition Notes

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TEAM AND RACE NOTES:

Road course season is back for Front Row Motorsports as the No. 34 and 38 teams head to sunny California and the Sonoma Valley to take on the twists and turns of the Sonoma Raceway.

Michael McDowell and the No. 34 team return with high expectations of a strong run on the NASCAR Cup Series' second road course of the season. The past few races at Sonoma have been very good for the 34 crew, with back-to-back Top-5 qualifying efforts (fourth and third, respectively) and two-straight Top-10 finishes, including a seventh-place result last year.

PEAK Performance returns to the Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse to promote their exclusive line of PEAK products available at the over 600 Love’s Travel Stops across the country. PEAK is a leader in automotive and heavy-duty products ranging from PEAK Global Antifreeze, Final Charge, PEAK Windshield Wash, and BlueDEF Diesel Exhaust Fluid. All products can be found at Love’s Travel Stops.

This will be NASCAR's first trip to Sonoma after the repave, the first repave in over 23 years, with work finishing up in February. Todd Gilliland will carry the fan-favorite Frontline Enterprises scheme, the Canadian automotive dealership's first primary race of 2024. This will be Gilliland's third start at Sonoma with a career best finish of 24th at the track.

The Cup Series will have practice on Friday, June 7th at 5:00 p.m. ET and qualifying on Saturday, June 8th at 6:00 p.m. ET, both televised live on FS1. The 110-lap race will be Sunday, June 9th at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX. Fans can also listen in on the action live from Sirius XM and the Performance Racing Network.

CUP SERIES COMPETITION NOTES:

No. 34 Love's / Peak Ford Mustang Dark Horse:

DRIVER MICHAEL MCDOWELL: 

"I can’t wait for Sonoma. We want to get back into the top-five and get a good result. Travis and the team are working hard to prepare the car. Sonoma is going to be tough, especially with the repave, but I think last year we really hit on it. I really like racing this new car on road courses. I’m really comfortable in it and it has helped us."

CREW CHIEF TRAVIS PETERSON:

"Everything we have seen says Sonoma is going to be faster, which is going to be interesting. Sonoma has always been a 'manage your stuff, tire fall off' road course, so it will be interesting to see how it changes the game. I believe in Michael’s road course abilities, so I think when you do something new it gives us a leg up on competition. Sonoma hit’s a wheelhouse of races that are good for Michael and good for us that we have good notes on. Hopefully we can execute well and get a win."

No. 38 Frontline Enterprises Ford Mustang Dark Horse:

DRIVER TODD GILLILAND:

"Sonoma is a fun track. I have a lot of family out there so it's nice to visit with them and bring them to the track. I haven't had the best results there, but I have a feeling that will change this weekend. We have speed, we just have to be better on the qualifying front in order to get the results we want. There's a little uncertainty with how the track will change with the repave, but it will definitely be faster and have a little more grip, so it will make for a good race."

CREW CHIEF RYAN BERGENTY:

"This weekend is going to be a lot of fun. Todd (Gilliland) has proved that he can compete in the Top-15 and Top-10 on these road courses, it just comes down to qualifying up front and staying there. I think the repave will be a huge advantage for us, a lot of the teams don't know how the track will change in race conditions, so if we maximize our practice time and gather the most data possible, I think that will set us up for a solid result on Sunday."