Front Row Motorsports add third car
Richardson Jr. will race the No. 38 Mahindra USA Tractors Ford in the Daytona 500, the Aaron's 499 in April at Talladega Superspeedway and the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway in July.
"I'm looking forward to racing with Front Row Motorsports," said Richardson Jr. "The team is giving me the opportunity to race in the Daytona 500 with Mahindra USA Tractors on board our No. 38 Ford. It's a great opportunity for us and we're hoping to make the most of it during Speedweeks and the other two races with Front Row and Mahindra Tractors. I'm thankful to everyone involved."
Richardson Jr. will be making his second start at the Sprint Cup level, but first at Daytona. In October 2009, the 27-year-old native of McKinney, Texas, finished 18th in his NSCS debut at Talladega Superspeedway. He has more than 45 Nationwide Series starts and 20 Camping World Truck Series starts to his credit as well.
Gilliland comes to the team with four years of Sprint Cup experience having raced at Yates Racing, TRG Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. Gilliland has a career record of four top-10 and two top-five finishes in the Sprint Cup series. He also has two pole awards, including the 2007 Daytona 500. Gilliland may best be known for his 2006 upset win in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Kentucky racing for an underfunded team in only his seventh start.
As previously announced, Front Row will have two more full-time Sprint Cup programs in 2010. Travis Kvapil is behind the No. 34 Long John Silver's Ford Fusion and Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Kevin Conway is driving the No. 37 ExtenZe Ford Fusion. Veteran crew chiefs Steven Lane and Peter Sospenzo have been named crew chiefs of each respective program. This is the first season Front Row Motorsports, based in Statesville, N.C., will field three full-time programs. The teams will be supported by Ford Racing and Roush/Yates Engines.
Gilliland comes to Front Row Motorsports having been a former teammate with Kvapil at Yates Racing under the Ford Racing banner.
"It's going to be great to be back in a Ford with Roush/Yates Engines and teammates with Travis and Kevin," said Gilliland. "Travis and I had a lot of good runs together in the past and I know that Front Row Motorsports has put a lot of efforts into their program during the off-season. I think we can surprise some people."
"This is the result of a lot of hard work during the off-season," said Bob Jenkins, team owner. "We feel really good about building our program with veteran leadership and some young talent, too. The final piece is to find additional major sponsorship. We feel we've built a strong base and this season we're looking to continue our momentum with a solid program."