Kvapil will pilot the team’s No. 34 Long John Silver Ford, and Gilliland will drive the No. 38 Taco Bell Ford. Bill Henderson will serve as crew chief for the No. 34 team. Henderson served as general manager with Prism Motorsports (now HP Racing) and as crew chief of the team’s No. 66 Cup entry. Peter Sospenzo will be back atop the pitbox of the No. 38 team. He teamed up with Gilliland over the final 12 races of 2010.

The team also plans to field a part-time team using the No. 37. Robert Richardson Jr is slated to drive for the team in the Daytona 500, and is likely to run the No. 37 with Mahindra Tractors on board as sponsor. Richardson ran the restrictor plates races for FRM last season.

Team owner Bob Jenkins said:

I’m thrilled to have Travis and David back. We’re going into our third season running full-time in Sprint Cup racing and we’re really starting to build something here with these guys. Our drivers are back, Sospenzo is back, (general manager) Jerry Freeze is into his third season running the team for us. So, I’m really excited to keep building with this core group.

In other team news, Derrick Finley has been appointed to the newly created position of competition director. And, the team will use Ford’s FR9 engines, supplied by Roush-Yates Engines. FRM also recently purchased 34 race cars from Richard Petty Motorsports.

Under caution, Ambrose switched his car off, which is routine for drivers trying to save fuel. But there was no reason for Ambrose to do that, as he had plenty to last through a green-white-checkered finish. When he went to re-fire it, it wouldn’t start.

He slowed allowing six cars to pass him. When it re-fired, he tried to get back into the lead, but NASCAR rules state that he has to maintain a reasonable speed. And since he didn’t, he had to restart seventh, giving Johnson the lead.

Johnson drove away from the competition over the final laps and earned the first Sprint Cup road course victory of his career. The win is also Johnson’s first since NASCAR switched to the spoiler on the COT.

Top 5: Johnson, Robby Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, and Jeff Gordon.

Marcos Ambrose, Greg Biffle, Boris Said, Tony Stewart, and Juan Montoya finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

Notables: Dale Earnhardt Jr (11th), Jan Magnussen (12th), AJ Allmendinger (13th), Mark Martin (14th), Jamie McMurray (15th), Ryan Newman (16th), Jeff Burton (27th), Carl Edwards (29th), Matt Kenseth (30th), Clint Bowyer (31st), Kurt Busch (32nd), Joey Logano (33rd), Denny Hamlin (34th), Kyle Busch (39th), and Martin Truex Jr (42nd).

Around lap 11, AJ Allmendinger got into Clint Bowyer, spinning him out. Elliott Sadler, Jamie McMurray, and Kyle Busch stacked up behind them. Busch made contact with McMurray, spinning him out. Busch got heavy damage to his nose. 

Denny Hamlin suffered nose damage early in the race. Rather than fix it during a green-flag stop, the team decided to wait for a caution. A few laps after Hamlin made his pit stop, his hood flipped up. Hamlin drove to pit road with his hood obstructing his view. His team fixed the car while he was on pit road. He finished 34th.

Martin Truex Jr was running well for most of the day. He was in the top 10 when Jeff Gordon got into him, spinning him around. He was furious with Gordon and Juan Montoya, vowing to wreck them over the radio. 

On a restart on lap 64, Boris Said didn’t get going. Cars stacked up behind him. Truex Jr, Regan Smith, Max Papis, Paul Menard, Sam Hornish Jr, and Denny Hamlin all got together, causing a pile up at the start finish line. The race was red flagged for clean up. Truex Jr and Smith got the worst of it.

Joey Logano spun off the bumper of Juan Montoya on lap 85. Mattias Ekström spun off the bumper of Brad Keselowski while Carl Edwards and David Gilliland also got back together on lap 92.

In the closing laps, Elliott Sadler and Clint Bowyer, who were running in the top 10, got together and spun. Sadler finished 17th while Bowyer finished 31st.

Give a call to Robby Gordon, Marcos Ambrose, Boris Said, Jan Magnussen, and AJ Allmendinger for all finishing in the top 15 despite not being in the most competitive equipment. Good for them.

Team owner Bob Jenkins said:

 Moving our drivers, along with their respective sponsors, to different cars gives us the best chance to succeed as an entire team. It has been this attitude and strategic growth plan that has allowed us to become the team we are today.

On the restart, Busch and Juan Montoya led the field to the green. Busch got a great restart while Montoya spun his tires. Kasey Kahne had to check up to avoid making contact with Montoya. That allowed Busch to pull away by Turn 1.

Top 5: Busch, Matt Kenseth, Montoya, Kahne, and Paul Menard.

AJ Allmendinger, Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, and Scott Speed finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

Notables: Jimmie Johnson (12th), Tony Stewart (13th), Dale Earnhardt Jr (15th), Bill Elliott (16th), Ryan Newman (17th), Jeff Gordon (18th), Jeff Burton (20th), Denny Hamlin (21st), Clint Bowyer (23rd), Kyle Busch (25th), Martin Truex Jr (27th), Jamie McMurray (29th), Mark Martin (33rd), Joey Logano (35th), Brad Keselowski (36th), and Carl Edwards (39th).

Early in the race, Carl Edwards tried to get in front of Brad Keselowski on the bottom of the race track. He wasn’t clear of Keselowski and the two made contact, sending Edwards up the track. He then made contact with Joey Logano and the two hit the wall. Edwards went to the garage.

Later, he returned to the track and with about two laps to go, he got into Keselowski, spinning him. Keselowski’s car flipped and hit the outside wall with its roof before coming to rest on the track. Keselowski was running sixth at the time. He finished 36th. Edwards was ordered to park his car for the rest of the day. This also set up the first attempt at a green white checkered finish 

Afterwards, Keselowski said:

To come back and just intentionally wreck someone, that’s not cool. He could have killed someone in the grandstands.

On the first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray led the field to green. Kurt Busch quickly passed them. McMurray and Bowyer then got together, triggering a seven car pileup. Bowyer, McMurray, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr, Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin, and David Gilliland were involved.