DARLINGTON, S.C.: Front Row Motorsports driver Todd Gilliland said he was surprised about teammate Michael McDowell’s decision to depart the Mooresville, N.C.-based team following the conclusion of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.
On the flip side, Gilliland said his success would surely open up opportunities for the future.
Earlier this week, Spire Motorsports made a significant announcement in the hiring of McDowell. The move ensures his future stability and paves the way for what the team believes is a promising future together.
“There are definitely two sides to that.” Gilliland offered Saturday morning at Darlington Raceway. “Part of me is surprised that he’s leaving, just because the same as what you guys see – he’s been there for a long time and really built the organization up to where it is today, in my opinion. He’s been a huge part of that, so, yes, I am surprised he’s leaving, but at the same time, he’s been doing so well you would have to think there are gonna be opportunities.”
Gilliland said McDowell’s success on the track and his leadership made him a great teammate.
“I’m definitely sad to see him go, for sure, just based off how much he does, his leadership within the team,” added Gilliland. “The day he told us was kind of the day they announced it that morning to our whole shop. We were talking about it after that. I did some interview or I said that hopefully one day I can take the torch of the leadership deal and I joked with him that I didn’t want it to be this soon – ‘you didn’t need to leave this early.’
“But he’s been such a great teammate to me. I feel like he’s just been an open notebook when he doesn’t need to be. I really have nothing but great things to say about what he’s meant to me and meant to our race team.”
Gilliland offered McDowell further praise for being instrumental in his Cup career.
“I think a few moments that really stick out to me, I think at one of my first Next Gen tests, like from the very beginning, I think we were testing Phoenix and he had tested the whole first day,” recalled Gilliland. “I hopped in the second day, and we were relatively fast, and we were laying down some really good laps, but then I spun, and I nudged it into the wall.
“I was obviously super disappointed, but he’s just a guy. He’s been such a good role model and just kind of put his arm around me and said, ‘It’s gonna be alright. It’s not the end of anything.’ It’s just super nice to have somebody like that.”
Whether Gilliland will be handed the baton at the end of the year and become the lead driver at Front Row Motorsports remains to be seen, but over the next six months, he will take all the advice he can with McDowell under the umbrella.
“I obviously have a great support system with my dad and my whole family, but I feel like Michael is kind of that same figure, but almost like within the race team. He’s just way more involved in the day-to-day stuff, so I would really compare it to how I talk to my dad or how he talks to me. It’s maybe not a good comparison for him, but it’s definitely the kind of relationship that I feel.”
While Gilliland has shown more speed in his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford than in the past, the Sherrills Ford, N.C. native is optimistic about his second top-10 finish of the season ahead of Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington.
“I would definitely say that’s how we feel running-wise, but at the end of the day, you only have results to go off of, and they don’t look good, for sure,” added Gilliland. “I definitely do feel like we’ve been running better. We’ve been starting the weekends much closer, faster in practice, all those things that are helping us set up better. On the plus side, we’re faster, but on the downside I feel like we had such a long ways to go at some of these mile-and-a-halves.
“We still have a long ways to go, but we’re in the race now, where before we had probably on average just three-tenths to get to the back of the racing pack. I feel like we’re there. We can race hard.
“I feel like Kansas was one of our best mile-and-a-halves yet, and it was nice to be able to get out of there with a good finish, whether it’s strategy, restarts, or whatever. Our car was still pretty fast, so that was definitely a big confidence booster.”
Still trying to gauge his season, Gilliland’s placement with Front Row Motorsports is not yet secure for 2025, but the third-generation driver doesn’t seem too worried.
“I wish it was all done, but we’re working on it and I’m definitely excited for the future,” he said.
“I definitely feel at home at Front Row Motorsports and they’ve been nothing but good to me, so we’ll see, but that’s definitely my plan.”
Follow Chris Knight on X (Twitter) @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
