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.”

As Tony Stewart continues to work his way back after breaking his leg last year in a sprint car wreck, concerns surround how well the two-time Sprint Cup Champion will perform this season. Both Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch, who will race for Stewart’s Sprint Cup team Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014, say not to worry.

Busch commented that well some people would worry about the mental aspect to it, it shouldn’t be a problem for Stewart as he has kept busy even during his rehabilitation time with rehab and developing the team.

One of the pieces to developing the team was working on relationships and in that regard, it worked in their favor. Busch said that he and Stewart were able to spend a lot of time talking, getting to know each other, without having to worry about other distractions that Stewart normally would’ve had to attend to.

“We’ve been able to jump over hurdles and run things and go through processes together even before the season started,” Busch said. “You can’t say the injury was a blessing in disguise, but it has brought us closer as competitors and as teammates.”

Kevin Harvick was also able to spend some time with Stewart to discuss plans heading into the new season, including a key conversation that sticks out in Harvick’s mind.

“As we went through the year, he was looking for things to do and worried about the team and the performance,” Harvick explained. “The best conversation I had all year was I sat in the bus and he said, ‘You are my motivation to make sure we get that race team back competitive because I want to win the championship as the owner with you driving this car’.”

Despite all that, everybody knows it’ll be a big moment simply when Stewart gets behind the wheel at Daytona.

“I know he just wants to get back behind the wheel of his No. 14 Bass Pro Shops Chevy to feel that comfort again, to feel that desire he has been missing all those months,” Busch commented on Monday. “We have to get him back in the car; we got to get him to Daytona so he can have fun that again.”

After all, as Harvick explained, racing consumes Stewart and makes him the person that he is.

“This racing consumes his life – whether in NASCAR or be in sprint cars or just watching a race on TV,” Harvick explained. “He doesn’t have any kids or a wife – these race teams are his family and he spends a lot of time with the guys on the different teams. He’s just a racer and he’s just got that drive and determination to not only do what he did before, but to be better when he comes back. It’s just a matter of seeing it all on the race track and I think for him, he’s just a hardcore racer and that’s all he knows how to do.”

A lot of people expect Stewart to come back strong right out of the gate at Daytona simply due to his competitive nature. Tony may be Tony and keep his hard-headed attitude on things, but Busch says some lessons may have been learned along the way.

“This is a lesson that will make you go through steps – through rehab to getting back in the car to getting back competitive,” Busch commented. “But Tony is Tony and he’ll probably win the 500 and we’ll be like, ‘Tony’s fine’.”

As the year goes forward, Harvick is also looking forward to working with Stewart as he knows that they’ll both be honest with each other, which in return, makes each other better.

“When you get into a situation like this with myself and Tony, when the other tells you something, it’s not cause he’s trying to hurt you. It’s cause he’s trying to make you better and that’s part of the reason I came to this team is to figure out how to win a championship,” Harvick commented.