After scoring their first top 10 in Sprint Cup Series competition last year at Talladega Superspeedway, Leavine Family Racing hopes to continue to grow. To help with the effort they have hired Michael McDowell to drive the No. 95 car for 20 races this coming season.
McDowell said discussions between himself and Bob Leavine started five months ago after McDowell ran the Sprint All-Star Showdown for the organization while Scott Speed attended to other commitments.
“Really didn’t think it was going to lead to anything but obviously Scott Speed is exploring other opportunities in Global Rally Cross so I got the opportunity to work with LFR,” McDowell commented. “You know what really attracted me to Bob is the quality of person he is and the character and a lot of the same morals and beliefs that I have. So that’s important aspect for me is to be able to live out my faith and have people who are like minded.”
On top of that, LFR announced during the Sprint Media tour that the team will receive sponsorship support from K-Love.
“Typically when you look for sponsorship partnerships, you’re going to look for an organization that is like-minded with what you’re trying to accomplish and we found that this year,” Ed Lenane, the director of National Events for K-Love, said. “We had a chance to work with Michael last year. Michael is also a K-Love listener, which is always a good thing. But extremely excited about working with Levine and Michael this year.”
K-Love is an contemporary Christian music radio program operated by the Education Media Foundation. The contnet is broadcasted over 440 FM Stations nationwide, reaching 12 million listeners each week.
Jeremy Lange, the VP of Marketing and Partnerships at Leavine Family Racing, said that having K-Love as a sponsor helps the team going forward.
“They’re helping us get publicity to those 12 million listeners across radio, as well as those streaming radio,” Lange commented. “They also provide avenues to help us land other partners.”
With the sponsorship and commitment by all parties, there is one difference this year about the team – they will not be doing any start and park races. The 20 races that they choose to do, the team will compete fully in.
“We came up with a strategy in November and let’s just do quality races – let’s just figure out what we can do,” McDowell explained. “We figured 20 was a good number. It allows us to run a few races, take a few races off, run a few races – just allows us to manage our program. More than anything, it gives us the opportunity to put out quality equipment and run well.
“I would love to be at all the races, but more importantly, I want just want the opportunity to compete and be able to showcase what the team and what we can do.”
McDowell added that they will not entertain the idea of expanding on the schedule as they feel this is the right balance for their equipment and personnel.
“When you run every single weekend, the personalities and the equipment have to go up too. It doesn’t just go up a little,” he commented. “Right now, we can manage five to seven racecars – with full schedule, you have to have 15 cars and 30 people back at the shop. 20 races is right where we need to be this year.”
