Second Place Finish for Smith and Speedco
McDowell and Love's Travel Stops Team Finish 13th
Gilliland Takes Boot Barn Backed Team to 24th
Front Row Motorsports left its mark on Music City and the Nashville Superspeedway this past weekend. Zane Smith and the No. 38 Speedco team finished second on Friday evening to take the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular season championship points lead.
Michael McDowell and the No. 34 Love's Travel Stops team raced as high as seventh before finishing 13th in a race that was delayed by rain and went into the night.
Todd Gilliland hosted guests from the popular Boot Barn on Broadway on Sunday and showed them a 24th-place showing.
It was another impressive race for Smith and the FRM No. 38 Speedco team. For the third consecutive weekend, Smith finished in the top three. On Friday night, Smith finished second after an attempt to pass for the win on the last lap was cut off by the winner, Ryan Preece.
Smith started second and took the lead in Stage One. He won the stage and then finished second in Stage Two. Leading 70 laps, Smith and the Speedco team were one of the best all race.
The No. 17 truck, which had won the previous week with Todd Gilliland behind the wheel, was just too strong for Smith to make a pass on the last lap. Smith finished second, but did take a 21 point lead in the championship points after the night was over. Smith knew he was close to winning.
"I went for the win, but Preece made a good move to stop my run," said Smith. "I lost the air on my truck and lost my momentum. He moved down to block. It was smart. For us, it's another great race. The Speedco Ford F-150 was fast. We took the points lead and now we need to close that out. I am proud of the team over the past eight weeks."
In a city known for its stars, Gilliland was made to feel like one on Sunday. Gilliland was surrounded by employees and leadership of the Boot Barn located on Broadway in downtown Nashville. Gilliland showed his supporters and guests a solid 24th-place run.
Throughout the long day that turned into the night of racing, Gilliland steadily improved. The Boot Barn team had lost one lap to the leaders, but the car gained speed and the team positioned themselves back on the Lead Lap for the final stage.
Gilliland improved his position and finished 24th at the end of the night.
"I think we kept getting better all day and into the night," said Gilliland. "That's tough for everyone to have a long delay. But, the guys worked hard and we were faster at night. I wish we had even more speed, but we kept working on it.
"It was a big weekend for Boot Barn with us being near Nashville. I had fun meeting everyone and that made yesterday better, too."
McDowell just missed another top-10 result on Sunday. McDowell was inside the top-10 for most of the race and in the closing laps was running eighth before a caution waved. The team took four tires while some others stayed out.
The field was split on tire wear and the restart was wild as predicted. McDowell avoided contact and on the last lap jumped two positions to finish 13th. It's a little bit of a bitter finish after being higher just moments earlier, but McDowell knows he's in contention.
"We took four tires at the end and that gave us a chance to go race those guys," said McDowell. "That's the right call for me. The Love's Travel Stops Ford Mustang was great on Sunday. It was fast and we keep bringing fast cars, having good strategy, and we're racing in the top-10. It didn't pan out perfect yesterday, but we're fighting for top-10 and top-five finishes consistently. I'm having fun with this team and we're digging in this summer."
The Front Row Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series teams now prepare for Road America- the scenic road course located in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
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.
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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