Front Row Motorsports Announces 2020 Driver and Team Lineup

Michael McDowell

Front Row Motorsports (FRM) will see a familiar face return while a new, young, and winning driver will join the organization in 2020. Michael McDowell will once again pilot the No. 34 Ford Mustang and John Hunter Nemechek will join the impressive 2020 Sunoco Rookie-of-the-Year class in his first full season in the NASCAR Cup Series. Nemechek will race the No. 38 Ford Mustang as FRM returns to a two-car operation.

Nemechek, who finished seventh in the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship in 2019, comes to FRM with an impressive resume that includes six NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series wins and one NASCAR Xfinity Series win. He also has two poles in the Truck Series and one pole in the Xfinity Series. Nemechek made three starts for FRM at the end of the 2019 season and was impressive in his Cup debut at Texas Motor Speedway. He will work with crew chief Seth Barbour.

"I'm thrilled for the opportunity to drive for Bob Jenkins and Front Row Motorsports," said Nemechek. "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."

McDowell will return for his third full season with Front Row Motorsports and again team with crew chief Drew Blickensderfer. The 12-year Cup series driver once again helped FRM grow in 2019. McDowell earned several all-time team-best marks last season – including giving FRM its best qualifying position at seven tracks and team-best finish at two. McDowell also gave FRM two Top-Five finishes in 2019, including finishing fifth in the Daytona 500.

John Hunter Nemechek

"As an organization, we have made a lot of strides with the help of all our partners of our program," said McDowell. "I'm ready to build on that momentum with Drew 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."

Front Row Motorsports has competed full-time in NASCAR's premier series since 2009. The 2020 season will mark Front Row Motorsports' eleventh with Ford Performance, the team's manufacturing partner since expanding to a multi-car organization in 2010.

"We are looking to the future with a young talent like John Hunter Nemechek," said Owner, Bob Jenkins. "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," continued Jenkins. "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."

FRM will announce team partners at later dates.