Front Row Motorsports Surprise Leader Finally Gains the Due Respect From Other Drivers

The newly unveiled Mustang Dark Horse is fast, and Front Row Motorsports is proving it right. The 2023 season proved to be a breakout for the underdog team after Michael McDowell seized a clinical victory in the Brickyard. Staying relentless in pursuing success, the Ford team delivered a performance to be savored by the team in the coming days at Atlanta Motor Speedway, especially their young prodigy Todd Gilliland.

The NASCAR community was left spellbound after the third-generation driver unleashed his racing prowess in the second race of the season. Although, the points table so far into the season doesn’t reflect the performance of Gilliland portrayed in the Ambetter Health 400. The driver led a career-high 74 laps on the 1.5-mile track of Atlanta. Enthralling the racing paddock, Gilliland, in a candid conversation with Sirius XM, revealed what was the outcome of leading the race six times on Sunday.

Front Row Motorsports prodigy finally gets a foothold in the Cup Series

It might be too early to posit Front Row Motorsports as a championship-contending team, but there is no denying the fact that the two-driver team is a force to be reckoned with in the 2024 Cup Series. While the team’s veteran secured the second-starting position in the Daytona 500 and his first career pole in Atlanta, his teammate is treading on the same road. 

Although Todd Gilliland was unable to notch a satisfactory finish and clinch a victory after getting involved in a late-race wreck, that led to a frustrating finish. However, the young prodigy was more than thrilled to have raced abreast with the former Cup Series champions like Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. As a result of his awe-striking racing, the driver feels he has finally been able to earn the respect in the garage area.

Speaking to Sirius XM, Gilliland expressed, “Our strategy was really good our car was really fast, pit-crew did a good job, so it really takes everything to be able to take the lead and maintain it.”

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“For a period of time you have gained the lead again during the race, all kinds of stuff, it really takes everyone. There’s all really cool, feels really good to be upfront. I think this is my third year in the Cup Series, honestly, I haven’t had as many opportunities in these as I’d hope to race around the best of the best, just gain their respect every week in and week out.”

“So feels really nice to take advantage of kinds of opportunities. All cards are dealt in our favor. Yeah, it’s definitely nice to race against the best of the best pretty much all day,” Gilliland concluded.

This monumental performance by the Front Row Motorsports drivers within two consecutive race weekends comes days after the team announced its contract extension with Ford Performance and forged a technical alliance with Team Penske. With two partners secured for the 2024 season, FRM is already highlighting its prowess early in the season.

Will Front Row Motorsports prove 2024 to be a turnaround year for them?

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Todd Gilliand is optimistic about the fact that this favorable performance is nothing but a good omen. Speaking to the media post-race, the Ford driver stated, “In my heart, I definitely believe that I can do it with those guys week-in and week-out. Our car was really fast. I was making really aggressive moves, but really in control the whole time.”

“That’s what it takes is my confidence gets more and more, and hopefully those guys’ confidence around me gets better with every lap also. We’ve just got to keep doing that and hopefully the better runs will come more consistently and race up front with those guys more and more.”

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Already captivating the audience in the first two weeks of the season, it will be interesting to see how the two-driver team fares in the upcoming race at Las Vegas.