By AMANDA VINCENT
Front Row Motorsports is scaling back from three teams to two for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season and adding John Hunter Nemechek to its driver roster as a teammate to the returning Michael McDowell. David Ragan and Matt Tifft drove FRM entries in 2019, but Ragan retired at the end of the season, and Tifft is stepping away from racing because of a medical issue.
“We are looking to the future with a young talent like John Hunter Nemechek,” FRM owner Bob Jenkins said. “John Hunter impressed us at the end of last season, he comes from a racing family, and he’s a winning driver. We believe that we can grow with him in the years to come. Michael is a veteran leader who is determined to win in the Cup Series. He gives our organization the experience we need to continue to get better. Most importantly, both Michael and John Hunter also fit our team values and are tremendous assets to our partners on-and-off the track.”
McDowell will continue as the driver of the No. 34 Ford, the car he has driven the last two seasons. He posted two top-five finishes in 2019 and finished 27th in the driver points standings. In all, McDowell has three top-fives and eight top-10 finishes in 321-career starts, dating back to 2008.
“As an organization, we have made a lot of strides with the help of all our partners of our program,” McDowell said. “I’m ready to build on that momentum with Drew (Blickensderfer, crew chief) and the rest of our team. We’ve always had steady growth and I think we’re going to continue to see that next season.”
Nemechek will be Rookie-of-the-Year candidate in 2020, joining a Cup Series rookie class that also will include two-time reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Cole Custer and Brennan Poole. Nemechek contested the last three Cup Series races in 2019 as a substitute for the sidelined Tifft at FRM. He scored a best finish of 21st in his Cup Series debut at Texas Motor Speedway near Fort Worth.
“I’m thrilled for the opportunity to drive for Bob Jenkins and Front Row Motorsports,” Nemechek said. “Having driven the last three races with this team in 2019, I feel like we already have a foundation to start the 2020 season. I’m looking forward to continuing to build FRM.”
Nemechek will drive the No. 38 Ford for FRM in 2020, the car vacated by Ragan’s retirement. Front Row Motorsports is discontinuing its No. 36 driven by Tifft in 2019. Seth Barbour will be Nemechek’s crew chief.
Nemechek raced full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2019, finishing seventh in the driver standings after six top-fives and 19 top-10 finishes. He has one-career Xfinity Series win at Kansas Speedway near Kansas City in 2018 for Chip Ganassi Racing. Nemechek also has significant NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series experience including six wins in 99-career starts.
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