FANTASY NASCAR Racin

BOB JENKINS - 11/4/1947 -
Front Row Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team began running part-time in 2004 as Means-Jenkins Motorsports under a partnership with Jimmy Means and restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, with Jenkins becoming the full team owner in 2005. Front Row has become known as one of the more prominent small-budget teams in the Cup Series, operating with around 60 employees on a fraction of the budget of larger teams, and with equipment often coming second-hand from other Ford teams such as Roush-Fenway Racing. The team has struggled on most intermediate tracks, however since 2011, the team has become noted for its performance at superspeedways and to a lesser extent short tracks, which rely less on aerodynamic performance. This reputation has grown since the signing of noted restrictor plate racer David Ragan in 2012, who won the team's first race at Talladega the next year with the help of another skilled plate racer David Gilliland. The team has received equipment from Roush Fenway Racing since 2010, and began a technical alliance with Roush in 2016. The team also began receiving technical support from Ford starting in 2016, after receiving limited data from Ford since 2010. Robert "Bob" Jenkins, the full owner of the team since 2005, resides in Dandridge, Tennessee, and is known for his involvement with in the Yum! Brands family of restaurants. Jenkins currently owns around 150 franchises, including many Taco Bell, Long John Silver's, and A&W locations. The Yum! Brands, most notably Taco Bell and Long John Silver's, as well as MDS often appear on the

Front Row cars when the team does not have an outside sponsor, with funds coming from Jenkins himself. In 2005 when Jenkins took full ownership of the team they raced part time using a variety of drivers; and through 2008 the team only raced in selected events they thought they might run well in. Over that spans they used such drivers as Bobby Hamilton Jr, Hermie Sadler, Tony Raines, Kevin LePage, Mike Skinner, and John Andretti among others. In 2009 Front Row Motorsports decided it was time to hire a full time driver and run the full season. John Andretti was tabbed to be that driver and he posted three finishes inside the Top 20. In 2010 FRM expanded to a three car operation with Kevin Conway, David Gilliland and Travis Kvapil. None of the drivers were able to post a top ten finish; while Conway posted a team best finish of 14th at

Daytona in July. Gilliland and Kvapil were brought back to drive in 2011 and Conway was released. Gilliland gave Front Row their first top five finish when he finished third in the Daytona 500. Slowly but surely the team was improving and making gains against the 'big boys'. David Ragan came in to replace Kvapil in 2012 and the two worked well as a team. Ragan posted a fourth place finish that season as both of the drivers results continued to improve. In 2013 magic happened. Gilliland and Ragan had always been regarded as good restrictor plate racers; and the two managed to pull off the upset at Talladega. The duo had run well all day and stayed up front with the leaders. On the final lap with Gilliland pushing Ragan, the pair hooked up together and blew past the cars in front of them passing leader Carl Edwards going into turn number

three. Gilliland stuck behind Ragan across the finish line to give Front Row Motorsports their first ever win. The win was a big assets for the small underfunded team. It got them notoriety; put them on NASCAR's winners Circle program which gave them extra funds to race on and after showing they could run up front and win; other teams were more willing to work with them to improve their race program. FRM fielded the same two drivers again in 2014 but without the success of the previous year. In fact the two teams only combined for one top ten finish; Ragan finished tenth at Martinsville. In 2015 FRM Ragan was

replaced by Cole Whitt. FRM also brought in new driver Brett Moffitt to race much of the season in a third car. None of the drivers managed to post a top ten finish and it seemed the team had taken a big step backwards. 2015 Xfinity Champion Chris Buescher was brought in to run for Rookie of the Year honors. He assumed the driving duties of the #34 car. Landon Cassill was also brought in to drive the second team car. Cassill had a rough season posting a best finish of 11th at Talladega and posted six top 21 finishes. Buescher posted eight top 21 finishes; including two top fives and a win. At Pocono the race rained out on Sunday and had to be pushed back until Monday. The

weather was only marginally better Monday but at least it was dry and the cars could race. Just past half way Joey Logano and Chase Elliott tangled and it put both out of the race. It should be noted that at this time Buescher was a lap down and got the "Lucky Dog" to get back on the lead lap. The green hankie flew on lap 110 and there was a fierce battle. Many of the cars had pitted on lap 100 and were marginal on fuel. Teams started peeling off to get tires and fuel; but Buescher's team chose to stay out. On lap 133 the yellow flew because a thick fog bank rolled into the track, Buescher limped around the track, hoping he wouldn't run out of gas, as the fog hung around. It got so thick the control tower couldn't see the back straight so

they had to red flag the event. After waiting for over an hour for the fog to life, NASCAR finally gave up and called the race official declaring Buescher the winner. Buescher became the first driver since Joey Logano to win a race while running for Rookie of the Year. Buescher will be going to JTG Daugherty Racing for the 2017 season. With Buescher's departure David Ragan was brought in to replace him. Ragan would post three top ten finishes in 2017; all at restrictor plate tracks. Front Row Racing's owner Bob Jenkins released driver Landon Cassill at the end of the 2017. In his place he hired Michael McDowell to drive the #34 car. David Ragan remained to wheel the #38. The small underfunded team had the same struggles

they have had in previous years. With very little support from any other team, they were on an island by themselves, always being behind in technology and the latest equipment. McDowell posted a season best of ninth at Daytona in the 500; while Ragan had a best finish of sixth at Talladega. This was the only two Top 10 results for the entire season. Ragan would finish 25th in the points, while McDowell would end up 26th. Still, Jenkins is trying to grow and become more competitive. When Ron Devine and his BK Racing team filed for bankruptcy and was eventually sold; Jenkins was the one who won the bidding purchasing BK Racings Charter for 1.6 million Dollars. For 2019 Ragan and McDowell remained with the team while Matt Tifft moved up from the Xfinity series where he drove

the #2 car for RCR, to pilot a third entry for Front Row Motorsports. Front Row Motorsports bought the charter of defunct BK Racing when it shut down to allow Tifft to drive the #36 in 2019. He had a best finish of ninth in the July Daytona race. Before the season's end he would have health issues and miss the final four races of the season. He has said he will miss the 2020 season trying to figure out what is the issue with his health and therefor could not commit to driving full time. John Hunter Nemechek made his first career Cup start in his place; and finished 21st in his initial outing. Michael McDowell wheeled the #34 Ford and had a few good runs. He started with a fifth place finish in the Daytona 500 and had another fifth place finish

later in the season at Talladega. David Ragan had a rough season in 2019. His best finish for the season was 11th at Martinsville. Toward the end of the year Ragan announced that he would retire from full time racing at the end of 2019 to spend more time with his family. For 2020, McDowell was back in the #34; while John Hunter Nemechek came in to drive the #38. McDowell had four Top 10 finishes with a best finish of seventh at Indianapolis. Nemechek had a best finish of eighth. It came on two occasions; both times at Talladega. At the end of 2020 Nemechek announced he would not be back with Front Row Motorsports; and was hired by Kyle Busch Motorsports to drive full time in the Truck series. The #36 car wasn't fielded by Front Row in 2020; but they did race a truck in the Truck Series for the first time. Todd Gilliland

drove the #38 Ford to a best finish of fourth on four occasions. He finished tenth in season points. 2021 saw Front Row Motorsports continue to field two Cup teams and one Truck team. He once again fielded a car for Michael McDowell; and Anthony Alfredo was brought on board to drive the #34. He also supplied a car for David Ragan to run one race. That being his final career race, in the Daytona 500. McDowell pulled off the upset at Daytona when he was in the right place at the right time. The two leaders crashed in front of him entering the final corner of the race. He shot through the brief opening and into the lead and grabbed the win. The first of his career, and third ever for FRM. Young rookie Alfredo struggled all

season, as he only managed one Top 10; coming at Talladega. He was only able to muster five finishes inside the Top 20. Due to his poor performance, FRM will get with another rookie in the #38 in 2022. Young Todd Gilliland will attempt to make the move directly from the Truck Series. Gilliland was the driver in FRM Truck Series in 2021. He started slow but finished strong. After the season’s fourth race; he only had three finishes outside the Top 10. He picked up a win at the road course in Austin TX. In the Chase, stiff competition kept him from advancing out of round two; even though he had finishes of fourth, fifth and tenth. So this appears to be a good “in

house” move to move him up to the Cup Series. Since Gilliland was moving to the Cup Series in 2022, Zane Smith was tabbed to pilot the #38 in the Truck series. Front Row had a fairly decent season considering they didn't get a win. Obviously for a two car team; with a limited supply of resources the team navigated the move to the Next-Gen car well. The 2021 Daytona triumph remains McDowell’s only victory in 429 starts, but every other aspect of the just-completed season showed he did well. Not only did he finished sixth and seventh at Darlington, maybe the most torturous oval in NASCAR, but he also was also running near the front on superspeedways and road courses. After a career-best five top-10 finishes in 2021, McDowell blew that away with 12 results in the top 10. He also set a career high by finishing on the lead lap 24

times. Meanwhile; third generation driver Todd Gilliland was making a big leap from his father’s team in the truck series to replacing Anthony Alfredo in the #38 Ford. The Front Row Racing brass didn’t get radically different results by swapping one rookie for another, but there was enough of a difference to rate the move as a positive. Gilliland largely stayed out of trouble throughout his first season in the top series, which is all you can ask from a newcomer. Gilliland also added to his past by dropping down to the truck series to win the Clean Harbors 150 at Knoxville Raceway on June 18 while the Cup Series had a rare week off. Gilliland and McDowell were back full time with Front Row in 2023; and as expected Smith made seven Cup

starts. Gilliland didn’t have any top five finishes, but did increase his top ten results from two up to four. His best finish was eighth on the dirt at Bristol. McDowell got FRM back in victory lane when he scored the victory at Indy on the road course. The team ran well on many different tracks and showed they were becoming more and more of a force. In the last three seasons with FRM, McDowell has two wins, six top five and 25 top tens. Even Zane Smith showed he could run well in FRM equipment

when he finishes tenth in the Coke 600. In the Truck series, Smith kicked off the season with a win at Daytona. Three weeks later he won again at COTA. He ran great all season but in the Round of 8 in the playoffs, things went all wrong. He was 24th at Bristol, and followed that with a 32nd at Talladega and 34th at Homestead. At Phoenix Smith led 35 laps and was leading with two laps to go when the yellow flew. From there it was a series of crashes and Smith eventually got caught up in one and ended his night. For 2024, McDowell and Gilliland will be back in the Cup series, while Smith will move up to the Cup series full time racing for Spire Motorsports in a collaboration with Track House Racing.