Tag: Front Row Motorsports

Michael McDowell, Todd Gilliland returning to Front Row Motorsports in 2024

Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland will return to Front Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2024.

Front Row Motorsports was the center of NASCAR silly season but the organization has firmly established its driver lineup in the Cup Series for 2024.

[autotag]Michael McDowell[/autotag] and [autotag]Todd Gilliland[/autotag] are returning to Front Row Motorsports in the Cup Series next year. The two drivers are in their second season together and have greatly improved with the NextGen car.

McDowell was a heavy favorite for Stewart-Haas Racing if Aric Almirola decided to retire from the Cup Series at the end of 2023. Gilliland was also mentioned as a candidate but their current organization had decided to move forward with their contracts.

On the other hand, Zane Smith, the organization’s driver in the NASCAR Truck Series, is now left without a spot in the Cup Series program. Smith has also been linked to Stewart-Haas Racing in case Almirola retires from the sport. The organization hasn’t ruled out keeping the defending Truck Series champion in the program.

Front Row Motorsports has significantly grown after McDowell’s victory in the 2021 Daytona 500. The driver of the No. 34 car has been competitive and could make the 2023 NASCAR playoffs on points with three races remaining.

The organization’s future in the Cup Series is very bright and keeping both of its drivers will be a good step toward more success. It will be interesting to see how McDowell and Gilliland perform with another season at Front Row Motorsports.

McDowell leads Loudon practice with show of FRM short track pace

Michael McDowell had the fastest overall lap in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice session at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, topping the charts at 126.416mph (30.129s). He ran 26 laps. “For a guy that normally sucks at New Hampshire, that’s a …

Michael McDowell had the fastest overall lap in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice session at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, topping the charts at 126.416mph (30.129s). He ran 26 laps.

“For a guy that normally sucks at New Hampshire, that’s a really good practice,” McDowell said. “I’m really proud of (crew chief) Travis Peterson and everybody at Front Row (Motorsports). Short tracks were our struggle, and we’ve turned it around this year. Richmond was good. Phoenix was good.

“We had our fingers crossed that we could nail it at New Hampshire and so far we have. The Pete Store Ford Mustang was good. We have to go out there and do it in qualifying now, but unloaded where we needed to be.”

Martin Truex Jr. was second fastest at 126.408mph. Truex dominated at New Hampshire last season for 172 laps led before finishing fourth.

The No. 19 was also fastest in the best five and 10-lap consecutive average.

Ross Chastain was third fastest overall at 126.077mph, Tyler Reddick fourth at 125.907mph, Bubba Wallace fifth at 125.815mph, Justin Haley sixth at 125.678mph and Kyle Busch seventh at 125.599mph.

Busch had a slide off Turn 2 and slapped the wall with the right rear and then the right front of his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. While it required attention from his crew, Busch did get back on track for additional laps before the session ended.

Brad Keselowski was eighth fastest at 125.587mph and teammate Chris Buescher was ninth at 125.310mph. Christopher Bell completed the top 10 at 125.257mph.

Bell is the defending race winner in New Hampshire. He was fastest in the best 15 consecutive lap average.

There are 36 drivers entered in the Crayon 301. Cole Custer is making his second start with Rick Ware Racing in the No. 51 Ford, and was 27th fastest in practice.

Ryan Newman is also back with Rick Ware Racing this weekend, driving the No. 51 Ford, and was 34th.

Zane Smith cheered by career-best Cup Series run at CMS

Zane Smith climbed from his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang with smiles fitting of a top-10 finish in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 10th-place finish was a career-best run for Smith. Monday’s postponed race was his …

Zane Smith climbed from his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang with smiles fitting of a top-10 finish in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The 10th-place finish was a career-best run for Smith. Monday’s postponed race was his sixth career start in the NASCAR Cup Series and fifth with Front Row.

“I am so, so happy, as happy as could be,” Smith said. “I was worried when we didn’t take tires there, and we were running really good and had a really good day. It just worked out, so just a great job by this whole 38 Boot Barn FRM team.

“We got our Mustang better and better every single stop and that’s so cool. We run on half the budget, if that, then a lot of these guys, so to finish top 10 in our sixth start at the Coke 600 is really cool.”

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Smith’s previous best finish in the series was 13th in the Daytona 500. A year ago, Smith finished 17th in St. Louis in his series debut when he filled in for Chris Buescher, sidelined by COVID-19.

In his first Coca-Cola 600, Smith also led the first laps of his career when crew chief Ryan Bergenty kept him on track when the caution flew with 43 laps to go. Smith, who had a solid top-20 car throughout the race, inherited the lead but quickly fell backward when the race restarted.

Smith pitted for the last time to take tires when the final caution flew with 26 laps to go. It didn’t take him long to use those to his advantage to drive to 10th place.

One of the first things Smith said to the team as they greeted him at the car was the run was bad (expletive).

“It’s been a rough three weeks for me and the Cup Series is a different level,” Smith said. “Obviously, I’m trying to prove I belong here, and it’s just an outstanding run. Ryan does an outstanding job, and it’s so cool, to one, finish this race, but better yet, with a top 10.”

Monday was the longest race Smith had ever run. Having enjoyed the experience and finished well, Smith was ready for more afterward.

“I got to about halfway, and I had heard that story coming into this of how long this race feels, and I did a lot of preparation for the past month of just trying to prepare myself for this one,” Smith said. “I feel like I could go another 100 (miles) more, so did a good job there.

“But I’m just so proud of everyone at FRM and on this 38 car. It’s an outstanding job, I thought.”

Pocono 350 odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Sunday’s Pocono 350 at Pocono Raceway sports betting odds and lines, with NASCAR analysis, picks and tips.

The NASCAR Cup Series is back at the Pocono Raceway for the Pocono 350. The green flag drops Sunday at 4:20 p.m. ET with the race televised on FOX. Below, we analyze the Pocono 350 odds and betting lines, with NASCAR picks and tips with odds from BetMGM sportsbook.

Pocono 350: What you need to know

Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Sunday at 5 a.m. ET.

The NASCAR boys just ran on the track Saturday in the first doubleheader weekend in Cup Series history. Stewart Haas driver Kevin Harvick streaked to victory, holding off Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin by a few car lengths.

  • Leavine Family Racing driver Christopher Bell and Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell showed Saturday that the little guys can compete, especially in these shorter-length races. The rookie Bell had a tremendous Cup debut at the “Tricky Triangle,” racing his way to fourth place, while McDowell finished eighth.
  • Toyota’s streak of five consecutive Pocono victories was snapped Saturday with Harvick’s win. Ford now has three wins in the past eighth Pocono runs, while Chevrolet hasn’t been to victory in Long Pond since the Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 in the Spring 2016 race.
  • Lucky Nine? Harvick started in the ninth position Saturday and raced to the win, while Hamlin won from the ninth starting spot last July at Pocono. Penske Racing’s Ryan Blaney (+1200 for Sunday’s race) starts ninth in the 350.
  • Aric Almirola (+1600) recorded a third-place finish Saturday, his highest finish in a Cup car during a Pocono start. His previous best was seventh, set during the Spring ’18 run.

Who is going to win the Pocono 350?

HAMLIN (+500) was my top pick for Saturday’s race, and he was just edged out by Harvick. Hamlin could have used some lapped traffic to disrupt Happy’s flow, but it just never came into fruition and the No. 11 had to settle for runner-up.

Hamlin is 12th or better in seven of his past eight Pocono starts, including a win last July, and the runner-up showing on Saturday. He was the top finishing Toyota in Saturday’s race.

KYLE BUSCH (+550) was unable to pick up the checkered flag Saturday, but still has three wins in his past six Pocono starts. He ended up in fifth place Saturday, which isn’t too shabby. In fact, Rowdy has placed inside the top 10 in eight consecutive starts at the “Tricky Triangle” since a disastrous 31st-place showing in the Spring ’16 start.

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MARTIN TRUEX JR. (+1000) made his presence felt with a solid sixth-place run, giving JGR three cars – joining Hamlin and Kyle Busch – in the top six positions. Truex was third in last season’s summer race, and has been sixth or better in five of his past seven Pocono starts. At this price (+1000), TRUEX IS A VERY GOOD VALUE.

Pocono Raceway long-shot bets

BELL (+6500) turned in a fourth-place showing in his Pocono Cup debut Saturday, so he has to be on the radar of bettors at this price as we eagerly wait to see what he can do for an encore. Even if he falls a few positions, you can scoop him up and RING THAT BELL AT +310 FOR A TOP-10 FINISH.

WILLIAM BYRON (+2200) had a solid 14th-place showing Saturday, setting him up to start from the seventh spot in Sunday’s grid. He has a solid 10.2 Average-Finish Position (AFP) in five career Cup starts at the Pennsylvania tri-oval, so keep an eye on the No. 24 car. If you’re not feeling him for checkers, but perhaps to place inside the top 10, he is just about even-money at +105.

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