Front Row Motorsports Responds to Crew Chief Loss

Hendrick Motorsports announced on October 14 that the team had hired Blake Harris to take over on the No. 48 pit box. Now Front Row Motorsports has responded to the loss of the Cup Series crew chief.

“We wish Blake nothing but the best in the future,” team owner Bob Jenkins said in a statement. “He helped our organization become better and we’re committed to ensuring that all our teams continue to improve.

“We have made considerable strides forward on and off the track in recent years and our goal is to continue to increase our performance. We’ve already begun the process of building for next season in a lot of different areas. This includes finding our next leader of the No. 34 Ford team.”

Harris took over as Michael McDowell’s crew chief at the start of the 2022 season. He guided the former Daytona 500 winner to a career-high 12 top-10 finishes, which is more than double McDowell’s previous best. This includes a pair of third-place finishes at Sonoma Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway.

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McDowell Will Join Forces With a New Crew Chief

McDowell has made 425 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, and he has been a full-time driver for Front Row Motorsports since the 2018 season when he took over the No. 34 Ford and posted one top-10 finish.

McDowell has worked with a variety of crew chiefs during his tenure with the team. He had Derrick Finley atop the pit box in 2018 and then he joined forces with Drew Blickensderfer in 2019.

McDowell and Blickensderfer remained together through the end of the 2021 season, which featured the veteran driver’s first career win. Their partnership ended after the year with the crew chief heading over to Stewart-Haas Racing to partner with Aric Almirola.

With Blickensderfer departing for SHR, Front Row Motorsports went in a different direction. The team wooed Harris away from Joe Gibbs Racing and brought him on to become a full-time crew chief for the first time in his career.

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McDowell & Harris Will Close Out the Remaining Races

Harris will depart Front Row Motorsports after the 2022 season ends, and he will join forces with Alex Bowman over at Hendrick Motorsports. Before that happens, however, he will close out his remaining schedule.

Harris and McDowell have four races remaining together. They will first head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the South Point 400 on October 16 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC). The schedule will then continue with trips to Homestead-Miami Speedway (October 23), Martinsville Speedway (October 30), and Phoenix Raceway (November 6).

Of the remaining tracks, McDowell has been the most successful at Homestead-Miami Speedway, statistically speaking. He has made 12 starts at the Florida track during his Cup Series career, and he has posted two top-10 finishes. This includes a 10th-place run in the 2016 season finale and a sixth-place run early in the 2021 season.

Once the season comes to an end, Harris will prepare for the 2023 Busch Light Clash at the LA Memorial Coliseum, which will be his first race with Bowman. McDowell will prepare to join forces with a new crew chief as he moves toward a season that will take him over 450 Cup Series starts.

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