Zastava_101

Front Row Motorsports will run under the Ford Motorsports banner in 2010 with Travis Kvapil driving the #34 with Steven Lane as his crew chief. Kevin Conway will pilot the #37 Ford with a crew chief to be named. Conway, 31, ran 12 races with the Extenze sponsorship in the Nationwide Series last season for three different owners -- Joe Nemechek, Robert Richardson and Dusty Whitney. His best finish was 15th at Kentucky in the #87 Chevy. The short list for Conway's crew chief candidates include Peter Sospenzo, who worked with Tony Raines on the #37 last season, as well as Larry Carter and Derrick Findley.(FoxSports), so looks like with Conway running, he will run for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award, the only driver, so far, eligible.(1-1-2010)

jacostang

Thats a good sign, how do you think they will do??

Zastava_101

If they use Roush-Yates engines, Kvapil might be Top 20 driver.

Conway ... I'll be happy if he qualify for all 36 races.

I would rather see Colin Braun or Eric Darnell in that #37 Ford.

Evil_Capri

Good news. I hope Travis has a decent season.

red pony

1+ on everything you said! I hope Ford "upsets the apple-cart" for the competition this season! The Roush teams were WAY off their Championship caliper ways last season! At least Ford doesn't have to win on Sunday to sell good on Monday!

Zastava_101

Front Row Motorsports Announces 2010 Plans: Front Row Motorsports announced it will continue its growth by adding an additional full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup program in 2010. The teams will be the newest members of Ford Racing and receive engines from Roush/Yates Racing Engines and technical support from Ford Racing. "We're pleased to have Front Row Motorsports switching to Ford for the 2010 season," said Jamie Allison, director, Ford North America Motorsports. "We have said all along that we wanted to add additional teams to our program, and are pleased Front Row will transition to Ford cars, engines and technology support in 2010. We welcome Front Row to the Ford family and will do all we can to assist them, and look forward to a long and mutually-beneficial relationship."
The team also confirmed that Travis Kvapil will pilot the Long John Silver's Ford [supposedly #34] and Kevin Conway, who will compete for Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors, will drive a second full-time entry in the Sprint Cup Series with sponsorship [supposedly #37 Extenze] to be announced in the coming weeks. Both teams will make their debut at the Daytona 500 in February. "Obviously this is the next step for our guys and the organization," said Bob Jenkins, team owner. "To have support from Ford, along with the quality engines from Roush/Yates, this is a big leap forward for us. Travis is a champion and a veteran of this series. We expect him to take us to the next level and at the same time be a great mentor to Kevin who is competing for rookie of the year. I have confidence that they can help us get to the next level."
Kvapil, 33, returns to the Sprint Cup Series after a successful 2008 season at Yates Racing where he finished 23 in driver in points with four top-10 finishes. He has a total of six top-10 finishes and one pole on his Sprint Cup resume. Kvapil is also the 2003 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion. "It's great to be back racing on the Sprint Cup tour again with Front Row Motorsports and Ford Racing," said Kvapil. "This is a team that created a real solid base last year. They have a lot of talented guys at the shop and the addition of Ford and their support will only allow the guys to get better. I have experience with Ford and Roush/Yates Racing Engines and I feel good about what we can do on the track this season."
Conway, 30, will make his Sprint Cup Series debut with Front Row Motorsports this season. He has experience at various levels of NASCAR racing including numerous starts in the Nationwide Series in 2009. His goal is to compete for Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors in 2010. "This is a great opportunity to compete at the highest levels of NASCAR," said Conway. "The goal is to gain experience as quickly as possible with the cars and compete for solid finishes as the season goes along. Having Travis as a teammate and being backed by Ford and Roush/Yates Racing Engines gives me a lot of confidence that we can perform up to the highest standards."(FRM/Breaking Limits)(1-6-2010)

jacostang

Thats great to see, a by product maybe of Ford's financial rebound!!

97svtgoin05gt

I have high hopes, but then again I had them last year as well. Clearly the Chevy teams have some advantage with the COT program. Since that car debuted, Chevy probably has more wins than all other manufacturers combined. That clearly says something to me. Lets hope with the new blood at Ford, more teams and the FR9 under the hoods, we have a much better showing than '09.

Zastava_101

Ford's biggest issue last year was that they had only 1 major team. Still, Ford placed 2 drivers in the Chase, same as Toyota who has almost 3 times larger budget for NASCAR.

2010 season should be better with addition of Richard Petty Motorsports. Kahne might win few races and I hope Edwards is his old self. Kenseth and Biffle are both Chase drivers and Allmendinger showed last year that he's a Top 15 driver. I have high hopes for Ragan too.

Realistically, Edwards, Biffle, Kenseth and Kahne should be in the Chase, and Ragan, Kvapil and Allmendinger and possibly Sadler should be Top 20 drivers.

Zastava_101

Front Row Motorsports Adds Third Sprint Cup Entry: Front Row Motorsports announced during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour that they will enter a third full-time Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The team will enter the #38 Ford for drivers David Gilliland and Robert Richardson Jr. Gilliland will drive the Ford Fusion for the majority of the season with Taco Bell colors. A crew chief for the car will be named soon. Richardson Jr. will race the #38 Mahindra USA Tractors Ford in the Daytona 500, the Aaron's 499 in April at Talladega Superspeedway and the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway in July. Richardson Jr. will be making his second start at the Sprint Cup level, but first at Daytona. In October 2009, the 27-year-old native of McKinney, Texas, finished 18th in his NSCS debut at Talladega Superspeedway. He has more than 45 Nationwide Series starts and 20 Camping World Truck Series starts to his credit as well. Gilliland comes to the team with four years of Sprint Cup experience having raced at Yates Racing, TRG Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. This is the first season Front Row Motorsports, based in Statesville, N.C., will field three full-time programs. The teams will be supported by Ford Racing and Roush/Yates Engines. "This is the result of a lot of hard work during the off-season," said Bob Jenkins, team owner. "We feel really good about building our program with veteran leadership and some young talent, too. The final piece is to find additional major sponsorship. We feel we've built a strong base and this season we're looking to continue our momentum with a solid program."(Front Row Motorsports/Breaking Limits)(1-19-2010)

Zastava_101

Zastava_101

John Andretti will drive the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford as one of three entries from the newly expanded team in the 2010 Daytona 500.
Andretti will also race in the Budweiser Shootout. Andretti's eligible for the season-opening special event due to winning Daytona's 1997 mid-summer Cup race, the Pepsi 400.


Travis Kvapil, who's signed to wheel the No. 34 the rest of the season, will drive FRM's No. 37 at Daytona in place of rookie Kevin Conway, who NASCAR wouldn't approve to race on the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
Robert Richardson Jr. will drive the team's third full-time car, the No. 38. A Nationwide Series regular, Richardson will drive the season's first three restrictor-plate races for FRM.
Kvapil will switch to the No. 34 at Fontana the second week of the season; Conway will drive the No. 37; and David Gilliland will step into the No. 38, which he'll drive in the majority of this season's races.

Zastava_101

Front Row Motorsports Announces Partnership with Doug Yates UPDATE: Solidifying an ownership alliance with Doug Yates and Yates Racing, Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins announces a name change to the organization. With the addition of Yates, the team will now officially be titled Front Row Motorsports with Yates Racing. Doug Yates will be the listed owner of the #37 and #38 Ford Fusions, with Bob Jenkins remaining the listed owner of the #34 Ford Fusion. The team will remain headquartered in Statesville, N.C. The alliance secures all three entries into the top 35 in owner points heading into the opening weekend of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. It also reunites Yates with his former drivers David Gilliland and Travis Kvapil. "There has been a lot of movement this past off-season inside the sport," said Yates. "The opportunity came up with Bob (Jenkins) and to continue in the ownership role. I didn't have to think long about making this decision. Bob is really putting together a strong team this season and has done so over the past few seasons. He's been smart and making all the right moves as an owner. He's capitalized on the changes in the sports landscape and has built a solid team with great factory support and drivers. That's what excited me about making this move. I had already learned a lot about Bob and the Front Row team over the past two months with their involvement with Ford Racing and leasing engines from Roush/Yates Engines. They are a fast-improving team and this move allows me to carry on the Yates Racing legacy created by my father over 20 years ago."
"There has been so much that has happened for us in the past two months," said Jenkins. "But, having Doug come on board is a big piece of our puzzle coming together heading into this season. He brings such a family tradition of winning and a lot of confidence to everyone here. His relationships with Ford Racing, Roush/Yates Engines, David and Travis immediately make us a stronger team."(Front Row Motorsports/Breaking Limits), the #98 RPM Ford team of Paul Menard would use the #44 Owners Points from 2009, which ranked 24th. See the way it looks right now on my 2010 Owners Points Stadings for 1st Five races page to see how things are shaking out.(2-1-2010)

jacostang

Lets hope that this creates some strong Ford Teams this year!