Michael McDowell changes his spotter, teams up with Hailie Deegan and Brad Keselowski’s road course spotter: Reports

Clayton Hughes, the longtime spotter for Michael McDowell and Front Row Motorsports, will reportedly not return as McDowell’s spotter for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. McDowell and Hughes have worked together in three consecutive full-time seasons.

As per reported by TobyChristie.com, McDowell will have a new spotter in 2024. Michael Fisher, who worked with drivers like Brad Keselowski, Josh Berry, Brandon Brown, and Hailie Deegan as a road course spotter across NASCAR’s top-three series, will reportedly join McDowell and #34 FRM Ford Mustang as full-time spotter for the upcoming 2024 Cup season.

The 2024 season will mark the seventh full-time season for Michael McDowell with Front Row Motorsports. During his tenure with the team, he collected his first two Cup wins and reached the playoffs two times.

McDowell has been prolific in the last two seasons, collecting 20 top-10 finishes – more than the 39-year-old driver had since his debut in 2008.

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“We’re going to be in a really good spot starting next year’ – Michael McDowell optimistic for 2024 NASCAR season

The Phoenix, Arizona native recently talked about the significance of continuity and familiarity within a team, emphasizing the challenges of establishing chemistry when working with a new group of individuals.

This continuity, he believes, will provide them with a substantial advantage heading into next year. He also suggested it would enable them to focus on competitive performance rather than investing time in getting to know new team dynamics and individual strengths and weaknesses.

In an interview with NASCAR.com, McDowell said:

“It’s hard to build chemistry, and it’s hard to do what we did this year with all new people,” McDowell said, “and I’m thankful to say that we kept everybody on our program, minus one, and so that’s huge for us.”

“We’ll go into the beginning of next year ready to do battle rather than trying to figure out each other’s names and how people work and where their strengths are, where their weaknesses are, what roles are best — just all those things. We’re going to be in a really good spot starting next year, and so I’m super-thankful for that. That’s a big part of, I think, what will make us successful next year.”

Catch Michael McDowell in action when the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season kicks off at Daytona International Speedway on February 18.