Small race team working hard to make its mark

DARLINGTON — For most Sprint Cup teams, if they have a bad race it won’t affect the way they do business.

That’s not the case with the Front Row Motorsports.

The small three-team organization can’t afford any major slipups each week as it tries to build a team to compete against the likes of Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Racing.

Front Row is owned by Bob Jenkins, who owns 125 Taco Bell and Long John Silver franchises. Front Row ran its first full-season schedule last year with John Andretti in the No. 34 car. The team had just 19 employees, all of whom were let go by other teams because of budget cuts or mergers.

“We were castoffs from other organizations from Petty, Ganassi and Joe Gibbs Racing,” Front Row general manager Jerry Freeze said. “But we have made it work.”

Travis Kvapil is one of those castoffs. Kvapil spent most of 2009 looking for a ride after driving a car for Robert Yates Racing in 2008.

“Bob Jenkins is giving us an opportunity to race,” Kvapil said. “There are a lot of drivers out there and there are a lot of teams that show up and start and park. The guys work tremendously hard. We are understaffed and it is moving forward.”

The organization has shown growth and progress in its second season. The team expanded from one car to three cars, which include Kvapil, rookie Kevin Conway and David Gilliland.

They expanded to 69 employees, which work at a 28,000-square foot shop owned by Travis Carter. In contrast, Hendrick Motorsports employs more than 400 people and its building is more than 600,000-square feet.

“Our building is a little crowded. It’s good for a one-car team but not for three,” Freeze said. “We just do the best we can.”

This year, Front Row has a deal with Yates Racing, which will build the team’s engines, and secured manufacturer support with Ford. Freeze said the partnership with Ford gives the team time in the wind tunnel and research and development, something it didn’t have last season.

Jenkins’ restaurants are the primary sponsors on Kvapil and Gilliland’s cars, while Conway was brought into the mix because he already had a sponsor in ExtenZe.

Freeze said they would like to find another fulltime sponsor for one of the other cars so Jenkins’ will have to sponsor only one car out of his pocket.

One of the drawbacks of finding that sponsor is assuring them that the car will make the race each week. Both Kvapil and Conway’s cars were inside the top 35 this week. Gilliland had to qualify on time and did so.

“It is like golf: If you don’t qualify for the weekend you don’t make nothing. Same here. If you don’t qualify for the race you make nothing,” Freeze said. “Lot of expenses getting to the race track. It is demoralizing, too, to the crew if we don’t make it in. Fortunately, we have been able to make races.”

And unlike other small teams, Front Row cars aren’t start or park cars, although Kvapil said they might not be as aggressive as other drivers.

“You got to race hard but you cant afford to wreck the race car,” Kvapil said. “It’s risk versus reward.”