Blog Layout

Michael McDowell's process paying off with Front Row Motorsports' hot start to 2024

Steven Taranto • Mar 20, 2024

In Year 6 with his race team, McDowell spoke to CBS Sports about FRM's growth and speed to start the year

Getty Images

When Front Row Motorsports hired Michael McDowell to drive their No. 34 car in 2018, the idea was the then-journeyman driver would play a significant role in making the organization something it, to that point, had never been before.


Up to that point in its history, Front Row Motorsports grew gradually and modestly, but on very few occasions could claim to be a team capable of running at the front consistently or winning races -- save for happy occasions in 2013 and 2016, when they scored their first two wins in major upsets. At times in their first years together, it seemed difficult to see exactly how or if the growth they envisioned would ever happen -- particularly with McDowell, who had never truly been in a position to succeed in a Cup car.



But that growth has now happened, and it's happened in spades. Front Row Motorsports has won the Daytona 500 and they've won at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with McDowell at the wheel. Those wins have made McDowell a playoff driver in two out of the last three seasons, with 26 of McDowell's 38 career top 10s coming since 2021 began. And that's not even accounting for the team's start to 2024, which included McDowell's first career pole at Atlanta, the outside pole for the Daytona 500, and poise at the front of the pack unlike what the team has ever shown before through becoming a Tier 1 team at Ford Performance and forming a technical alliance with Team Penske.

That poses a fairly straightforward question for McDowell: Is this what he, team owner Bob Jenkins, and general manager Jerry Freeze envisioned when they joined forces some six years ago?


"I hope so," McDowell laughed when posed that question by CBS Sports. "My thought moving to Front Row and the opportunity that I had was even though I'd been in the sport a long time and had a decent amount of experience, it wasn't in cars that were capable of winning races. And so for us, it was all about how do we build the team and the program to the point where we have what we need to go out there and contend and be a legitimate frontrunner. 



"And it was a slow growth and a slow process, but we were doing it at the rate that we could sustain from a business standpoint. ... And then be able to actually put processes in place and work things slowly and try to get to where we wanted to be. I think if you ask Bob and Jerry, it's taken us longer than we've wanted. But the goal was always the same. The goal was always to put ourselves in position to be a frontrunner and to win races and to challenge for wins."


In an era of NASCAR where team-building feels like less of a fanciful idea and more of a distinct possibility -- particularly as disruptors like Trackhouse Racing and 23XI Racing have quickly become challengers to the established order of Hendrick, Penske and Gibbs -- Front Row's performance to start the year has both proven revealing by itself and reinforced what the team has become over the past several seasons. Atlanta marked a banner weekend for the team in particular with McDowell winning the pole and their two cars leading 85 of 260 laps -- an all-time single-race mark for the team, which included Todd Gilliland leading a race-high 58 laps -- and McDowell finishing ninth.

Front Row cars running well is no longer a surprise, and wins by McDowell are no longer upsets -- he was dominant in his win at Indianapolis last year, starting fourth and leading 54 of 82 laps on his way to victory. Getting the team to that point has not necessarily been an easy process, nor has it been quick. However, it has made goals that were completely grandiose at many points in company history now seem perfectly possible.


"I think the last few years has definitely helped us, internally with the team, and all the people that work at Front Row from top to bottom realize that we're pretty close," McDowell said. "We're getting there. And if we keep the foot down and we keep working on all the things that we know we can still work on. And there's a lot of areas for growth for us, and we still know that, and we covered some of those gaps this offseason, and we're starting to get some of the tools and the equipment in that we need to really make those final steps.


"The expectations are high, but the expectations I also feel like are not unrealistic. I mean, the fact of the matter is that it's super challenging to win in the Cup Series. The races are so long, the competition's so great that you have to not just have fast cars, but you also have to execute perfectly in order to do it. And so it's not an easy thing to just throw out there that, 'Oh, we're gonna win races this year, we're gonna get both cars into the playoffs.' It's tough. You see a lot of great organizations that have struggled to do that. But we feel like we have the people and we have everything in place to do that if we go out there and do our jobs well."


In McDowell's estimation -- and though he cautioned that the team isn't quite where it needs to be yet -- Front Row Motorsports has the potential to become a championship contender. The team's expanded partnership with Ford and new technical alliance with Penske should help greatly to that end, as should the sponsorships McDowell and his team have acquired -- including with Famous Toastery, a Charlotte-based breakfast chain that recently extended its partnership with the 2021 Daytona 500 champion.



"For me, it's more of a family partnership because we've been customers for a long time there and really enjoy going to Famous Toastery, and we have as a family for a long time," McDowell said. "It's a cool partnership because it came together very organically just being around and being in the restaurant often and just getting to know everybody. And as they're growing and expanding their brand and trying to branch out with new franchisees and new markets, it was a great way for us to work together and build that brand together. And they're helping build my brand too, which is great."

Given their start to the season, McDowell said the goal for Front Row Motorsports was to keep up its momentum and speed from the first two weeks of the season into the two-week stretch of races on the West Coast. That got off to an uneven start last week at Las Vegas, when McDowell led four laps on strategy but ultimately finished 25th, just behind teammate Gilliland in 24th. However, the team now has a trip to Phoenix to look forward to after a ninth-place finish by McDowell in last year's season-finale, a notable feat given where the Phoenix native has been in his career and the point he has now reached.


In McDowell's days of driving start-and-park cars, and even later on when he was running from start to finish in back-marker cars, his homecoming trips to Phoenix offered little opportunity to put on a good performance for family and local fans, and the very notion of running well or even winning was an outright impossibility. Now, there is far more of a sliver of hope for McDowell that he can be competitive at Phoenix, which has greatly changed the way he anticipates and approaches race weekend at his home track.



"10 years ago, winning at Phoenix was never a dream. I couldn't even see that being a possibility. And now it truly is a possibility," McDowell said. "It's fun to be able to go there and have high expectations and run well and see the fans pumped for you. We have such great fans in Phoenix -- I think everybody says that, but when you look at the campground and you look at the stands, it is a packed house. To be a local driver and represent The Valley is something that is fun and it's an honor. Now that we're running good, it's even better.


"Winning races and running well always helps everything. We've just got to keep that going."

Related Posts

17 Apr, 2024
These elevated chains are ready to redefine the future of full-service dining.
10 Apr, 2024
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.” 
By Asher Fair 20 Mar, 2024
After forming a partnership in October, NASCAR Cup Series driver Michael McDowell and Famous Toastery recently announced an extension that runs through January 2025.
By Shane Connuck 20 Mar, 2024
A Charlotte-based chain will have its name on the Queen City’s latest bowl game. ESPN Events announced Tuesday morning that Famous Toastery will be the title sponsor of the upcoming bowl game in Charlotte. The Famous Toastery Bowl is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 18, at Jerry Richardson Stadium.
a hamburger and french fries on a plate on a table .
06 Mar, 2024
Whether you want to enjoy a classic burger or one that comes with unique ingredients, there are many places where you can get all kinds of delicious burgers in Greensboro.
More Posts
Share by: