Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland both returning to Front Row Motorsports in 2023
Front Row will return the same driver lineup for 2023, with Gilliland getting a new crew chief in Ryan Bergenty
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Front Row Motorsports confirmed Thursday that it will continue to field the same driver lineup in 2023, with Michael McDowell driving the No. 34 Ford and Todd Gilliland driving the No. 38 Ford. McDowell returns for his sixth season with the team, while Gilliland comes back for his second after competing for Rookie of the Year honors in 2022.
Both drivers will have new crew chiefs leading their teams next season. After it was previously announced that Travis Peterson would take over as crew chief for McDowell's team, Front Row announced that Ryan Bergenty will become Todd Gilliland's crew chief for 2023. Bergenty, who served as the car chief for McDowell's team over the past two seasons, takes over for Seth Barbour after his promotion to team technical director. Bergenty was also recently named team performance director.
After winning the 2021 Daytona 500 with McDowell, 2022 proved to be the most successful season in Front Row's nearly 20 year history. McDowell enjoyed the best season of his career, earning career-highs in top 10 finishes (12) as well as average finish (16.7), laps led (67) and lead lap finishes (24). McDowell's best finish was a third on two occasions at Sonoma in June and Talladega in October.
Meanwhile, Gilliland flashed some of the talent that his father David Gilliland did when he once drove for Front Row. Gilliland earned two top-10 finishes in his first Cup season, including a fourth-place run at Indianapolis in July. Front Row Motorsports win its first ever championship in 2022, with Zane Smith capturing the Camping World Truck Series title.
"Michael and Todd are an intricate part of continuing our NASCAR Cup Series success in 2023," read a statement by team general manager Jerry Freeze. "Michael and the No. 34 team are coming off a record year, and we believe with Travis Peterson, they will only build on that success and have an even better season.
"Todd showed us growth in his rookie campaign. The addition of Ryan as the crew chief, and the promotion of Seth, we believe we're making changes to give Todd what he needs to improve."
McDowell and Gilliland will be joined on a part-time basis by Smith, who will run select Cup races in 2023 starting with the Daytona 500.
