Front Row Motorsports will have a new driver for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.
John Hunter Nemechek will pilot FRM’s No. 38 Ford Mustang full-time in 2020, per a Dec. 12 team announcement. Nemechek will be joined by teammate Michael McDowell, who returns to the seat of his No. 34 Ford Mustang for a third season.
After fielding three entries in 2019, the Mooresville, North Carolina team will scale back their operations to two full-time cars.
“We are looking to the future with a young talent like John Hunter Nemechek,” FRM owner Bob Jenkins, said. “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.”
Subbing for Matt Tifft, Nemechek made his Cup debut at Texas Motor Speedway last month for FRM. Nemechek also made Cup starts at ISM Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Nemechek’s best finish was a 21st-place result at Texas. The 22-year-old joins a growing list of drivers who will compete for Rookie of the Year in 2020.
“I’m thrilled for the opportunity to drive for Bob Jenkins and Front Row Motorsports,” Nemechek said. “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, who lost teammate and close friend David Ragan to retirement at the end of the 2019 season, looks to improve upon his 27th-place points finish in 2019. The 34-year-old notched two top-10 finishes and 10 top 20s last season.
“Michael is a veteran leader who is determined to win in the Cup Series,” Jenkins said. “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.”
Sponsorship details and crew chief assignments were not disclosed in the team’s press release.
About the author
Never at a loss for words, Zach Gillispie is a young, talented marketing professional from North Carolina who talks and writes on the side about his first love: racing! Since joining Frontstretch in 2018, Zach has served in numerous roles where he currently pens the NASCAR 101 column, a weekly piece delving into the basic nuts and bolts of the sport. Additionally, his unabashedly bold takes meshed with that trademarked dry wit of his have made Zach a fan favorite on the weekly Friday Faceoff panel. In his free time, he can be found in the great outdoors, actively involved in his church, cheering on his beloved Atlanta Braves or ruthlessly pestering his colleagues with completely useless statistics about Delma Cowart.
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Oh, great, guess RWR gets the 36’s charter. Yikes!
I wonder if TRD would help Gaunt Brothers lease the #36 charter so they could run the whole schedule?
I wonder if StarCom might lease it for Landon Cassill to use.