Front Row Motorsports

NASCAR: Michael McDowell follows up win with strong comeback

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McDowell’s Daytona defense got off to a brutal start, but he recovered to set a new landmark in his NASCAR Cup Series career.

The phrase “what have you done for me lately” makes the professional sports world go round. The greatest achievements can be quickly disregarded with poor follow-ups.

NASCAR’s Daytona 500 seems to situate its winner in a compromising position. Eternal motorsports glory accompanies the Harley J. Earl Trophy, but the race’s status as the opener to the NASCAR season put pressure on the winner to keep the good vibes going. Some winners never regain that swagger. A decade ago, for example, Trevor Bayne became the youngest winner of the event at 20 years and a day…he never visited victory lane again and last ran a full Cup Series season in 2017.

Michael McDowell is the latest winner of the prestigious race, executing a last-lap pass for the lead as a fiery pile-up erupted behind him in the wee hours of last Monday morning. The victory likely propelled his mid-budget Front Row Motorsports team into a playoff spot and McDowell spent the past week on a victory tour, appearing on nationally-aired talk shows like Fox & Friends and Live with Kelly and Ryan.

There quietly seemed to be a foreboding sense of waiting for the other shoe to drop for McDowell and the No. 34 Ford. After all, McDowell had been winless in the 357 races prior to last week’s win. Only Michael Waltrip, the winner of the star-crossed Daytona opener in 2001, had raced longer before visiting victory lane for the first time. His FRM equipment has never been able to consistently run with the circuit’s larger names. Save for a brief playoff appearance by Chris Buescher in the 2016 playoffs (earned through a rain-shortened win at Pocono), McDowell’s 23rd-place posting in 2020 was the best standings finish for an FRM vehicle.

Sure enough, McDowell’s day appeared to be headed south right from the get-go when NASCAR returned to Daytona on Sunday to the Cup Series’ O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 on the facility’s road course. Living up to his team name, McDowell’s performance from last weekend on the oval afforded him a starting position in the front row next to defending circuit champion Chase Elliott. But issues during the pace laps cost McDowell his steering, causing chaos in the first turn of the race that ate at his tires. The tire later fell off of the No. 34 entirely, bringing out the first caution flag of the day.

“We had a flat tire there coming to the green. I knew something was wrong,” McDowell said in recalling the incident, per quotes provided by Ford Racing Performance. “I should have just pitted, so I screwed that up and that hurt us a little bit.”

But, over the course of the 70-lap event, McDowell would go on to live up to the name many of his respectful competitors bestowed upon him after his Daytona victory: a grinder.

After all, McDowell has maintained consistent work in the Cup Series despite working with less-than-stellar equipment throughout his career. It’s led to some dubious history, including the record for the most last-place finishes in Cup Series history. But McDowell, a man of strong faith, continued to work with the hands dealt to him. It paid off over two events at Daytona.

“He’s been grinding his whole career and he finally won one and it’s the biggest race ever,” Joey Logan, a fellow Ford driver and road course race runner-up said of McDowell. “I’m ecstatic for him and he should be over the moon (about the win).”

Over the rest of the road course race, McDowell avoided trouble and used some strong strategy in conjunction with crew chief Drew Blickensderfer to create something out of nothing. As several contenders faded, McDowell worked his way back into the top ten and eventually brought the No. 34 Ford home in eighth-place. It marks the first time that McDowell has earned consecutive top ten finishes in his Cup career, which began with Waltrip’s race team in 2008.

McDowell’s name also appears alongside some elite company, and not just through his victory last week. He is one of three drivers to earn top ten finishes in each of the first two 2021 races (joining Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, and Ryan Preece) and is one of only three to finish in the top ten at each of the two races held at Daytona’s road course (Hamlin and Logano).

“Pretty much everything that could go wrong went wrong today, but this is what our team is all about. Front Row Motorsports, we grind it out and we fought hard,” McDowell said. “We just kept the fight in it and ended up with another top 10, so it’s pretty crazy how that all went down.”

“It was another great run.  I’m really excited to keep this momentum going.  We’ve got to clean it up a little bit, but not a bad night altogether.”

McDowell and the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series returns to action next Sunday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, Fox).

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

NASCAR: Front Row Motorsports announces 2021 lineup

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Michael McDowell returns to the No. 34, while Connecticut native Anthony Alfredo joins after a standout debut in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Front Row Motorsports announced its plans for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season on Wednesday. The low-budget team will retain veteran Michael McDowell for its No. 34 Ford, while Connecticut native Anthony Alfredo will take over its No. 38 machine. FRM will also run a third car, the No. 36, at the Daytona 500, which will be piloted by David Ragan.

Alfredo, 21, joins the team after a strong debut on the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Richard Childress Racing. John Hunter Nemechek drove the car last season, earning three top-ten finishes. Nemechek and FRM parted ways shortly after the 2020 season and will return to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to drive a Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Sharing the No. 21 Chevrolet with Myatt Snyder and Kaz Grala, Alfredo made 19 starts, finishing in the top 20 in all but four of them. He would save the best for last with a third-place finish at October’s Texas event, one of two postings in the top-five (the other being a fourth-place at Homestead in June). Despite running a part-time schedule, Alfredo finished 18th in last season’s Xfinity standings, second-best amongst those who did not a full-time slate (behind only Daniel Hemric one spot ahead). Alfredo also has experience with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports, finishing in the runner-up slot on the CARS Late Model Tour in 2017.

“This is really an unbelievable moment,” Alfredo said in a statement on NASCAR.com. “When you start out racing karts as a kid, you dream of making it to the sport’s top level. I want to thank Bob Jenkins and everyone at Front Row Motorsports for making this dream a reality. I know the challenges ahead, but I’m here to work hard and prove myself.”

Alfredo will compete for the Cup Series’ Rookie of the Year Award. He’s currently set to battle fellow 2020 Xfinity competitor Chase Briscoe and the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team for the title.

McDowell, 36, will return for his fourth season with FRM. Last season, he posted the best numbers of his Cup Series, earning a team-record four top-ten finishes and placing 23rd in the standings. Drew Blickensderfer will return for his third season as the No. 34’s crew chief.

“Michael has really solidified his place as our veteran leader,” team Bob Jenkins said in the statement. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that has helped us continue to grow our program.”

Ragan retired from full-time racing after the 2019 campaign but will run the season-opening Daytona 500 in an FRM machine for the second straight season. The 35-year-old brought home FRM’s first Cup Series victory in 2013 at Talladega and placed fourth in last season’s opener.

Debuting in 2005 and opening up full-time racing four years later, FRM has gained a reputation as one of NASCAR’s stronger low-budget teams. The team made a surprising appearance in the 2016 Cup Series playoffs, earning a spot when Chris Buescher won a rain-shortened race at Pocono.

In addition to their Cup Series reveals, FRM also announced that Todd Gilliland would return to his role in the team’s Truck Series entry. Gilliland, 20, earned four top-five finishes en route to a playoff appearance in the No. 38 truck last season. His father drove for Jenkins and FRM at the Cup level for six full seasons, notably sitting on the pole for the July 2014 race at Daytona and finishing second behind Ragan at the aforementioned Talladega triumph.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags