West Coast Swing Begins for Front Row Motorsports

Pennzoil 400 Competition Notes

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TEAM AND RACE NOTES:

The West Coast swing begins for Front Row Motorsports and the NASCAR Cup Series at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Showing much improvement with the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse, both Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland proved they are a force to be reckoned and look to tackle the 1.5-mile track.

Gilliland comes into Vegas after showing a strong performance at the Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway, leading not only the race-high, but a career-high 58 laps. It is the most laps a Front Row Motorsports car has led in 1,304 starts at the Cup level. Gilliland also leads the Cup Series in laps led with 74. Gilliland will be making his fifth start at Las Vegas, looking to improve on his average finish of 26.5 at the track.

McDowell heads west after an impressive showing at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, capturing his first career pole and finishing 8th-place. His 1.5 average starting position is currently tied for first with Joey Logano and he will be making his 220th start with Front Row Motorsports, the most Cup starts in team history. Both Gilliland and McDowell are ranked in the top-10 of most laps led this season, with a combine 107.

Track activity will begin with practice and qualifying on Saturday, March 2nd at 2:00 p.m. ET. The 400-mile event will take place Sunday, March 3rd at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be televised live on FOX. Fans can also listen in on the action live from Sirius XM and the Performance Racing Network.

COMPETITION NOTES:

No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse:

DRIVER MICHAEL MCDOWELL: 

“Looking ahead to this weekend at Las Vegas and with this group, I’m confident that we can get a top-10 at this track and keep building momentum. We had a really fast car at Atlanta, and we feel that our Ford Mustang Dark Horse has been solid. There isn’t doubt that we’re going to have speed and make the best race calls. So, yeah, I feel good heading into Las Vegas and getting another solid result."

CREW CHIEF TRAVIS PETERSON:

"This weekend at Las Vegas will be a real test for how our season is going to look. Coming off back-to-back speedway style races we’ve had a lot of speed and hopefully that translates to this weekend. I’m excited to get the new Dark Horse Mustang on a mile and half track and see what we can do, hoping for big gains from how we ran on intermediate tracks last year."

"Vegas is a fast and fairly rough race track so hopefully we have hit the setup right and can allow Michael to search around the track and find the speed and grip we need for another day running up front."

No. 38 gener8tor Ford Mustang Dark Horse:

DRIVER TODD GILLILAND:

"Atlanta definitely seems like a missed opportunity, but it's in the past. I'm confident Ryan (Bergenty) and the team will bring me a fast gener8tor Ford Mustang Dark Horse. We've shown that we have the speed, but just have to execute. Vegas in my eyes is the first true race where at Daytona and Atlanta, is just such a gamble with drafting and the usual superspeedway chaos."

CREW CHIEF RYAN BERGENTY:

"It's frustrating we weren't there at the end at Atlanta, but we still came out of the race with some stage points and respect. Todd (Gilliland) wasn't up front out of coincidence, he controlled the race and showed that he belongs up there. I'm proud of him and this team and I'm confident that we will leave Vegas with a solid result."