Gilliland and McDowell Fight to Finish After Lap 25 Accident

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In front of an impressive crowd and a sold out infield at the Michigan International Speedway, Front Row Motorsports (FRM) showed off an impressive start to Sunday's 400 mile NASCAR Cup Series event. Michael McDowell had raced to ninth and never left the top-10 before a Lap 20 Competition Caution and Todd Gilliland was moving up from his starting position.

But as soon as the field restarted, a nine-car accident left McDowell with significant front nose damage and Gilliland with a broken suspension piece. Both teams worked all race to keep both cars as competitive as possible.

Gilliland and the No. 38 First Phase Ford team finished 27th while McDowell and his MTS/Love's Travel Stops Ford team finished 28th.

A week after his first top-five finish, Todd Gilliland and the No. 38 First Phase Ford team felt confident heading into Michigan. The team struggled in practice and qualifying with a tight car, but felt they had made the proper adjustments needed for Sunday's race.

Rain delayed the start of the 200-lapper, but once the green flew Gilliland was on the move. A Lap 20 Competition Caution allowed the team to loosen up the car. Gilliland had a good restart before being collected in the wreck on Lap 25. A broken toe link had the team working on the car on pit road. Later in the race Gilliland lost power steering, but the team still raced to the end. Through the adversity, the First Phase team finished 27th while many others had wrecked out of the race.

"I want to thank the team for working so hard today," said Gilliland. "We didn't have a good Saturday, but we were ready to see how the changes were going to help. I just got clipped and it broke the toe link. The day was really about staying positive and focused on getting the positions we could. We actually gained some points today after others wrecked out. It's not the day we wanted, but I appreciate the effort of this First Phase team."

Michael McDowell and the No. 34 MTS/Love's Travel Stops Ford Mustang team were contenders for another top-10 on Sunday. Early in the race, McDowell jumped from 14th to ninth in the first 10 laps. The car felt good and McDowell looked good running up front.

As seen in the picture above, the day changed dramatically after the Lap 25 caution that sent McDowell into the wall. The nose of the car took the hit and buckled the hood. The team made repairs to keep McDowell at speed. He finished the day 28th.

"We keep unloading fast Ford Mustangs," said McDowell. "This weekend was no different. Our MTS/Love's Travel Stops Ford was fast in qualifying and we took the car straight to the top-10. I think we could have stayed there all day.

"We came down pit road for fuel, get a restart with another car that fell back quickly, and we were in a big traffic jam. We got turned into the wall. The guys just kept digging and we salvaged the day. You can't be disappointed in the effort, but we are with the circumstances. We just keep trying and we'll keep bringing fast cars to the track. We want to get a win."

FRM will travel to the Richmond Raceway this weekend looking to rebound.

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ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and Camping World Truck Series and the 2021 Daytona 500 champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 34 and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 38 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team– from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @team_frm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.

-30- TEAM CONTACTS: Michael McDowell John Dragonetti E-mail: jdragonetti@frontrowmotorsports.com Mobile: 704-578-9937 Todd Gilliland and Zane Smith Chris Murdock Mobile: 740-861-4534 E-Mail: cmurdock@frontrowmotorsports.com