For Some Drivers NASCAR’s Next Gen Car Truly Has Been A Game Changer
Among the many things NASCAR’s Next Gen car was supposed to bring to NASCAR’s top tier Cup series was parity. A more level playing field; one that would allow those teams who typically run outside the top 10 to have better performance than in years past.
While some may argue that’s still a work in progress there are some drivers who have been able to step up their game since 2022, the first year of the Next Gen debut.
Chief among them is Front Row motorsports’ Michael McDowell. The Arizona native has raced in the Cup series since 2008. He’s never been with a big budget team, though he did enter a few NASCAR Xfinity races with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2012.
McDowell found a home with Front Row Motorsports starting in 2018. The team, founded in 2004, fields two cars full-time in the Cup series, along with a part time entry and another full-time effort in the NASCAR truck series.
It was with Front Row that McDowell scored his first Cup series win in 2021 emerging from chaos on the last lap to win the Daytona 500. While that win was the highlight of his career to that point, his overall performance wasn’t something that shined. By the end of 2021 McDowell had 17 top 10 finishes in 390 starts.
But since the Next Gen car debuted, he’s had 22 top 10s in just 79 starts. He’s also led 164 laps, far more than the 114 he’d led in his entire career prior to 2022.
McDowell himself concedes that the Next Gen car has been a factor in allowing his team to become more competitive.
“You're always raising the bar, so to speak on expectations and goals,” he said. “But at the same time, you’ve got to set realistic goals.”
To McDowell, the Next Gen car has in some ways been somewhat of a game changer. He says it allows the team to be much more competitive than in years past.
“That definitely moved the needle,” he said. “To, okay, how do we run top 10 more consistently? Alright, now how do we have top five speeds so we can challenge for wins? …those expectations have yet slowly increased every year over the last three years.
“I feel like for us now we're at a spot at Front Row where we expect to win a race a year. We expect to point our way into the playoffs. And anything less than that would be a disappointment.”
Indeed, the team accomplished that ‘one win a season’ in 2023 when McDowell scored his second career victory in a dominating finish on the road course at Indy. He also made the Playoffs and finished a career high 15th in the drivers’ championship.
In seven races so far this season he has had an admirable start. He won his first career pole at Atlanta and followed that up with an 8th place finish. Once known as a contender at just a few types of tracks, mainly road courses, with the Next Gen car, McDowell has the confidence knowing he has a chance to win each and every week. No longer does he just look towards the superspeedways or road courses for his next best shot at winning.
“It used to be just a handful of races,” he said. “You know, I'd tell you Daytona and Talladega would really be our only shot. And then you add in now all the road courses, I think (now) we have a legitimate shot (everywhere).
“We've had good short track speed here lately…qualified well at Phoenix ran well (he finished 8th) at Phoenix. I feel like we are contenders at a lot of places. So yeah, I don't just have a few tracks circled anymore that are possibilities of a win. I think we have a lot of tracks that we can win at now.”
One thing McDowell has never had to struggle with at Front Row is sponsorship. McDowell receives sponsorship from Love’s truck stops and took them to victory lane at Daytona in 2021. As his on-track stats improved with the Next Gen car however, other sponsors began to take notice. In 2023 Famous Toastery, a restaurant chain, came into NASCAR signing a personal services agreement with McDowell. The chain, based in the Charlotte area, seemed a perfect fit for McDowell who lives in the area.
“It's a place where my family and I, we've been customers for a long time,” he said. “It was a cool natural fit.
“Their brand is expanding, and as they're opening up new restaurants and they're looking for new franchisees and new restaurant owners, I’m helping them in that process and they're helping me build my brand in the process.”
The company recently signed an extension with McDowell through 2025.
"Since beginning our partnership with Michael, we have seen incredible success and have achieved our initial goal of broadening our audience to build awareness of our brand across the country," said Mike Sebazco, president of Famous Toastery. "I think this success can be attributed to partnering with someone who aligns so incredibly well with our brand's values, and we look forward to seeing what more we can accomplish in the next year working with Michael.”
While the level playing field that the Next Gen car was supposed to bring to the table might still be a work in progress for drivers like Michael McDowell it’s very nearly there. With better performance on the track and new sponsorships, the Next Gen car has been a game change for him. He no longer looks to contend only at certain tracks but feels he can win each and every race on the NASCAR Cup schedule.
“I think we're better now than we've ever been,” McDowell said. “We just got to keep that momentum rolling."
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