Duck Commander 500
Texas Motor Speedway, Ft. Worth, Texas
Chris Buescher | No. 34 Dockside Logistics Ford
“It’s always fun going to your home track. My parents and sisters are going to drive up from the Austin area. I’ve got a lot of friends and people I haven’t seen in a while coming out, so that will be fun. I usually stay for the Cup race and go watch from the grandstands with Mom and Dad, so it will be a little bit different this time around, but I’m not complaining about that.
“Texas Motor Speedway is a place where I’ve had ups and downs. This year, the tracks we go to with worn-out asphalt and a lot of tire fall-off, those are the places we seem to be a little bit better and more consistent. So, that bodes well for us as we head to Texas.”
JUST THE FACTS: Saturday night’s Duck Commander 500 will be Buescher’s first Sprint Cup start at Texas Motor Speedway … He is a native of nearby Prosper, Texas … The race will be the 22-year-old’s third race with Front Row Motorsports, filling in while David Ragan subs for the injured Kyle Busch in the No. 18 car … Buescher has two top-25 finishes behind the wheel of the No. 34 Ford … He has three XFINITY Series starts at Texas, with two top-20 finishes.
Cole Whitt | No. 35 Front Row Motorsports Ford
“We’re starting to hit our stride as a team, starting to hit on some things that are working for us. That’s starting to show the last few races. We will try to apply some things from Atlanta to Texas. Atlanta was a lot better for us than Las Vegas, the other mile-and-a-half we’ve been to. Heading to Texas, I’d like to think it’s more like Atlanta. A little bit newer surface, but you’ve still got those bumps in Turn 1 like Atlanta, and 3 and 4 are a bit smoother. I think if we can copy what we had in Atlanta, I think we can have a pretty good day.”
JUST THE FACTS: Whitt has two Sprint Cup career starts at Texas Motor Speedway … His top finish at the 1.5-mile oval is 26th (2014) … Whitt is coming off his third straight top-25 finish … Speed Stick, Rinnai Tankless Water Heaters and Tweaker Energy Shots will be aboard the No. 35 at Texas as associate sponsors.
David Gilliland | No. 38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford
“Texas is one of my favorite racetracks. I feel like stuff we’ve learned at Atlanta and Las Vegas in the past has always worked well at Texas. And we felt pretty good about those two tracks this season. We were happy with the way our cars ran, and we felt that we learned stuff after those races that we could take to Texas and maybe be even better.
“I love it because it’s fast, really fast. It’s got a lot of banking and the surface is wearing so you’re able to move around. But the speed is why I love it. You feel it in the racecar and that makes it fun. Texas is also the home track for our sponsor, Love’s Travel Stops, which has its headquarters up the road in Oklahoma City. They treat the race like a home game and have a lot of guests out at the track, so it’s always a big day for them.”
JUST THE FACTS: Gilliland has 17 Sprint Cup starts at Texas Motor Speedway … His best finish at the 1.5-mile oval is 15th (2008) … Love’s Travel Stops returns as primary sponsor of the No. 38 … Gilliland will sign autographs at the Love’s store at I-35W Exit 40 in Ft. Worth on Thursday from 3 to 4 p.m.
About Front Row Motorsports
Front Row Motorsports is a race-winning organization competing in NASCAR’s premier Sprint Cup Series, fielding the No. 34, the No. 35 and the No. 38 Fords. The team is owned by Bob Jenkins and is headquartered just outside of Charlotte, N.C. FRM was named to INC Magazine’s “INC 5000” list in 2012, recognizing the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. The team’s partnership base is representative of more than $200 billion of the U.S. economy and includes organizations such as Ford Motor Company, Love’s Travel Stops, Colgate-Palmolive, CSX Transportation, Taco Bell and Long John Silver’s. Visit teamfrm.com.
