McDowell Blows Tire Early and Finishes 35th
Smith Taken Out in Wreck and Finishes 37th
Front Row Motorsports (FRM) entered Talladega this past weekend with three strong entries. Michael McDowell in the No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, Todd Gilliland in the No. 36 gener8tor Skills Ford and Zane Smith in the No. 38 Wellcare Ford Mustang. Gilliland led the team charge finishing 10th. Smith was wrecked on Lap 143 and did not finish. He was credited with 37th. McDowell cut a tire on Lap 3, resulting in a 35th-place finish.
Gilliland played it safe through the first two stages of the race. Beginning to work his way up through the pack within 20 laps remaining, the gener8tor Skills Ford driver drove through a last lap incident to finish 10th.
Smith in the Wellcare Ford Mustang team raced inside the top-10 at times on Sunday. The team used pit strategy to let Smith run up front. An accident with the leaders slowed the field, but the car behind Smith drove into him and sent the car into the wall.
McDowell in the Love's Travel Stops Ford Mustang ran into trouble early. A cut tire and ensuing spin put the team multiple laps down. Continuing to work on the toe of the car throughout the race, and staying out of trouble, the team capitalized on the misfortune of others to finish the race in 35th.
Todd Gilliland, Driver No. 36 gener8tor Skills Ford Mustang:
"It was a long race for us out there. We never had any good track position. We were constantly fighting all day for one or two spots at a time. At the end, they wrecked, and we just drove through it.
"I have to thank gener8tor Skills for helping us run this race. It's awesome to get another top-10."
Zane Smith, Driver No. 38 Wellcare Ford Mustang:
“I saw the leader wrecking. I checked up and got run over. That ended our race. I'll look forward to returning to the Cup car at the Coca-Cola 600 in May."
Michael McDowell, Driver No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford Mustang:
“It wasn't the day we wanted. When we had that tire go down early it messed up the toe pretty badly. It made for a long day."
FRM races at the Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway this upcoming weekend. The NASCAR Cup Series race is scheduled for Sunday at 2:00 p.m. ET on FS1.
ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS
Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The team is the 2021 Daytona 500 and 2022 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series 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 CRAFTSMAN 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.
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CONTACTS:
Michael McDowell
Mac MacLeod
Email: mac.macleod@fastlanemediainc.com
Mobile: 704-578-9937
Todd Gilliland
Alex Minton
Email: aminton@frontrowmotorsports.com
Mobile: 704-560-6343
Zane Smith
Jeff Dennison
Email: jdennison@frontrowmotorsports.com
Mobile: 704-252-3356