FRONTROW Motorsports Header

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Front Row Motorsports Good Sam RV Insurance 500 Qualifying Report

Track:  Pocono Raceway, 2.5-mile tri-oval, Long Pond, Pa.
Pole Winner: Joey Logano

Pole Time:  52.31 seconds

Pole Speed:  172.055 miles per hour
TV/Radio: ESPN2/MRN/SIRIUSXM

No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Qualifying Position:
24th

No. 38 Long John Silver's Ford Qualifying Position: 39th
No. 55 Front Row Motorsports Ford Qualifying Position: 34th


The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in the mountains of Pennsylvania this weekend at the always-tricky tri-oval of Pocono Raceway.  When the green flag drops for Sunday's Good Sam RV Insurance 500, Front Row Motorsports will have all three of its cars on track.

The team used Friday's practice sessions to squeeze as much speed as they could out of the No. 38 Long John Silver's Ford for Travis Kvapil and the No. 55 Front Row Motorsports Ford for J.J. Yeley, with both of those cars required to qualify for the race on speed.  The No. 34 Front Row Motorsports team of David Gilliland had a guaranteed spot in the field and worked mostly on making their car fast in race set-up.

Friday's efforts paid off on Saturday morning, when qualifying got under way under cloudy, rain-threatening skies.  The rains held off, allowing Kvapil and Yeley to lock themselves into Sunday's starting field with strong laps, qualifying in the 39th and 34th positions respectively.  Gilliland drove a fast lap around the tri-oval, qualifying in the 24th position and earning Front Row its best starting position at Pocono in team history.

Joey Logano ran a 52.31-second lap at 172.055 miles per hour to earn the pole.  Kasey Kahne will start alongside Logano in the front row.  Geoffrey Bodine, T.J. Bell and Mike Skinner failed to qualify for the race.

Teams are now set to go 500 miles around the "Tricky Triangle" on Sunday.  Television coverage of the Good Sam RV Insurance 500 kicks off at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN. 

David Gilliland

David Gilliland

Comments from No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford team driver David Gilliland after qualifying at Pocono: 

"
We found some set-up stuff yesterday that we tried and the car just drives like a whole different car now. I'm excited about having a good day this weekend, but I'm more excited about what we've learned to help us keep progressing throughout the rest of the year. I feel like we've made some great progress and great strides as far as getting the car to where it drives and feeling more 'in the racetrack.'  There's speed when you can get them driving like that, so I'm pretty excited."

Travis Kvapil

Travis Kvapil

Comments from No. 38 Long John Silver's Ford team driver Travis Kvapil after qualifying at Pocono: 

"
Last week was a huge letdown for us. Indy and Pocono have similar characteristics, but they're completely different racetracks. I really enjoy coming to Pocono. It's a unique place and I'm just proud of my guys. We rebounded and brought a good set-up.

"We had good speed off the truck yesterday and so far it's been a good, solid weekend. Hopefully we can pick up the pieces we left behind last week and have a good run tomorrow and keep inching our way back up toward that top 35. It seems every time we get close, we falter and fall back so, hopefully, we can get it done this week."

J.J. Yeley

J.J. Yeley 

Comments from No. 55 Front Row Motorsports Ford team driver J.J. Yeley after qualifying at Pocono: 

"It's been a pretty good weekend for us.  We unloaded pretty fast and we were the fastest go-or-go-homer in practice yesterday, so we knew we were in pretty good shape coming into qualifying today. We missed the race last week, so we just needed to make sure we'd be locked in here, and Derrick Finley and the guys did a good job."

About Front Row Motorsports:

Front Row Motorsports is a Statesville, N.C.-based race team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Formed in 2005 by restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, the team has competed in NASCAR racing in each year since its inception, expanding full-time to the premier Sprint Cup Series in 2009.  The team partners with Ford Racing and Roush-Yates Racing Engines to field the No. 34 Taco Bell Ford driven by David Gilliland, the No. 38 Long John Silver's Ford driven by Travis Kvapil and the No. 55 Front Row Motorsports Ford driven by J. J. Yeley.
 

-30-

Contact:

Shari Spiewak
Account Executive
Breaking Limits, LLC
403 Gilead Road, Suite A
Huntersville, NC  28078
Cell: 704-200-1779
[email protected]