A driver moving on from a race team is a lot like graduating from school. At the year’s end, loaned items need returning and lockers cleaned out. At some point, the open-door policy ends and the keycard access denied.
Front Row Motorsports and Michael McDowell are going through that transition. McDowell spent seven seasons driving for team owner Bob Jenkins and general manager Jerry Freeze, piloting the organizationโs flagship No. 34 Loveโs Ford Mustang. But he signed with Spire Motorsports for the 2025 season.
On Friday after the finale at Phoenix, McDowell was making the rounds at the Mooresville, North Carolina shop. There were still some hats and clothes to take from his locker in the hauler. And even a large canvas painting hanging on the wall.
โOh, this is going to be real bad taking this off,โ McDowell cracked.
The relationship between Front Row and McDowell remains as strong as ever. Both sides needed each other when they came together in 2018. Front Row needed a driver to help stabilize the program featuring their biggest sponsor. McDowell was at a crossroads in his career after being replaced by Kasey Kahne at Leavine Family Racing.
โWhen he came along, it was really good timing,โ Freeze tells RACER. โWe were trying to build our program up. He was looking for a home. I knew we were getting more than just a driver when he walked in the door. He wanted to be involved in everything we had going on, which was good. It was nice instead of having the drivers cruise through every Tuesday saying hey to everybody, and then you see them at the racetrack.
โMichael was more engaged than others. He really helped raise the bar at Front Row across the board and really challenged us to improve our processes and get better people when they were available. He really helped push things along.โ
The team won the Daytona 500 in 2021. It was the first triumph for both the driver and the team in the sportโs biggest race, the third win for the organization, and the second time earning a postseason berth. McDowell then had a career year in 2022 with single-season high marks in top-10 finishes (12).
The 2023 season brought a victory on the Indianapolis road course and a career-high 15th-place finish in the championship standings โ a career-high for both McDowell and the organization.
Meanwhile, Todd Gilliland grew into his place in the other Front Row car. Gilliland has earned eight top-10 finishes over the last two seasons and finished 22nd in the championship standings.
โIโll always appreciate what he brought to the table,โ Freeze says of McDowell.
Front Row has known McDowell would be leaving since early spring. Soon after, the same could be said for McDowellโs crew chief, Travis Peterson. The balance became wanting the team to succeed the remainder of the year but not have the two walk out the door โwith every secretโ Front Row has.
Freeze admitted it was challenging. It was business as usual through the summer, but the last part of the season saw isolation start for those who would not return to the organization next year. The meetings about future directions, technologies and partners were off-limits.
On the marketing side, Front Row wanted to be out front with their partners, such as Loveโs, about the future. Loveโs has materials with McDowellโs likeness that need to be adjusted.
How about fan mail? It turns out that never stops showing up to the race shop, even if a driver leaves. Freeze expects at least 12 to 18 months or longer of collecting McDowell pieces that must be forwarded along.
โWeโll get race fans who send stuff for drivers who havenโt driven here in over 10 years,โ Freeze says. โWeโll get one or two pieces every year of stuff for Jimmy Means, who Bob was partners with at the very incarnation of Front Row Motorsports in 2005. But Iโve got Jimmyโs address, and Iโll send them to him. David Ragan still comes by once or twice a year because weโll have a lot of David Ragan stuff to sign, and he knows people are sending it here.โ
Itโs a split between what Front Row owns and will get back from McDowell and what the driver brought. McDowell owns his racing seats and will take those with him. Front Row, however, paid for the seat inserts. But as they have no use for them, theyโll be given to McDowell.
Front Row will get back a tablet or laptop, which drivers use for SMT or other data-driven work and study. The Ford program vehicle has already been returned.
But there are no deadlines set on McDowell to get things done.
โItโs so familial (with us) that he was telling me when he was going to bring stuff back, so itโs like heโs still a part of the team,โ Freeze says. โWeโre not too heavy-handed. If we need something back, weโll holler.
โI have had to chase down program vehicles and send a repo team to a driverโs house to get it because we needed it for somebody else and they hadnโt had a chance to get it back to us. I guess if youโre really mad at someone, youโd want everything back the Monday after Phoenix, but I donโt think weโve come across that situation yet.โ
The vehicle return was something Freeze and McDowell laughed about.
โHe said, โI thought about when I picked up the program vehicle you guys first gave me and the (previous) driver had left some trash bags in the back with some dirty diapers,โโ Freeze chuckles. โSo, he said he did a better job returning the vehicle than how he got it.โ
McDowell has since updated his social media profiles and has appeared in Spire Motorsports videos. But heโs not done with Front Row Motorsports just yet. Although heโs erased his existence from the place, McDowell is expected to attend the organizationโs Christmas celebration and address the team one last time.
โItโs been an amazing journey, and even though this chapter is coming to an end, this is family to me,โ McDowell says. โIt always will be.โ
