Smith and Fr8Auctions.com Earn Top-Five on SaturdayMcDowell and Fr8Auctions.com Finish 24th
Gilliland and Georgia Peanuts Suffer Accident to Finish 27th
All three Front Row Motorsports (FRM) teams had their eyes on the newly-configured Atlanta Motor Speedway this past weekend. The racing was intense under sunny skies both Saturday and Sunday.
Zane Smith and the Fr8Auctions.com NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team were solid on Saturday. They finished fifth.
In Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series event, it was Michael McDowell taking the Fr8Auctions.com colors to a 24th-place finish after coming back from an incident.
Todd Gilliland and the No. 38 Georgia Peanuts team suffered a spin late in the race. The team finished 27th.
SMITH SLICES THROUGH THE FIELD FOR A TOP-FIVE
The FRM Ford F-150 team was back in action after a weekend off. Smith brought the sharp looking Fr8Auctions.com truck to Atlanta in hopes of his second win of 2022.
Running through the field early, Smith was able to finish just outside the top-10 in Stage 1. A fast Fr8Auctions.com Ford, the team knew with adjustments they could be contenders to win the race. With changes made on pit road, Smith was racing back to the front before being involved in a multi-truck accident. Damage to the left front of the truck had the team making quick repairs. A great rebound, Smith was 11th at the end of Stage 2.
The final stage, Smith restarted third. The Fr8Auctions.com Ford F-150 was fast, but the damage kept Smith from leading. He held on for another top-five result.
SMITH ON ATLANTA:
“A top-five at Atlanta is good considering the damage. We're bringing fast trucks, we are in contention, but we need to avoid damage during the races. That was unfortunate.
"I really can’t thank Fr8auctions.com, the Brave Like Wyatt Foundation, and everyone on the teams that makes these trucks fast. It's still a lot of fun to compete for wins."
McDOWELL REBOUNDS FROM MID-RACE ADVERSITY
Early in the weekend, Michael McDowell and his Fr8Auctions.com Ford showed speed- being one of the top-10 fastest in Saturday's practice session. The speed translated to Sunday.
Starting 29th, McDowell was able to race inside the top-20 and knew he had a fast Fr8Auctions.com Ford for later in the race. He wanted to be patient and let the race come to him.
While already having avoided multiple incidents, a Lap 145 caution sent McDowell spinning to the infield grass. As has been the case with the new car, flat tires on the infield grass does not allow any traction to get the car back to pit road. With only minimal damage to the car, McDowell was three laps down when the race restarted.
A new strategy, and capitalizing on the misfortune of others, the team was able to fight all the way back to 24th- proving the speed of the Fr8Auctions.com Ford.
MCDOWELL ON ATLANTA:
"We had a lot to fight through today, but I'm so happy that we were able to bounce back and salvage a 24th-place finish.
"We can control what we can and capitalize when we can. I think we did that. I'm excited with the speed that we're showing, but ready to get better results for it. I think COTA may be our best opportunity yet."
GEORGIA PEANUTS TEAM FIGHTS HARD AT ATLANTA:
For Todd Gilliland and the No. 38 Georgia Peanuts Ford Mustang team, Sunday's race felt like a 12 round heavyweight battle.
Starting from the 25th position, the goal was to race inside the top-20 and take advantage of every opportunity. A loose handling car early, Gilliland was still able to race up into the top-25. Gilliland was then caught in the Lap 145 caution and the result was a broken toe link. After repairs on pit road, Gilliland was five laps down.
The Georgia Peanuts team showed a lot of pride and kept digging for positions. In the closing laps, Gilliland got up into the wall and spun. The accident ended their race.
GILLILAND ON ATLANTA:
“That was very unfortunate. I went high and we kind of split the field. Something for us to learn from and we didn’t want that to happen. Our Georgia Peanuts Ford was loose to start and then we broke a toe link. We fixed it, but we were laps down. We were racing it out and then got into the fence.”
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