Zane Smith and Front Row Motorsports Make 2025 Plans Official
What’s Happening? Following their acquisition of a charter from Stewart-Haas Racing, Front Row Motorsports has finally announced the final driver of…
Thursday morning, Front Row Motorsports announced that Zane Smith would drive the No. 38 for the team this season. While Smith is joining the team full-time at the Cup Series level for the first time, he has a deep history with the team. Here is what led to Zane Smith’s return to Front Row Motorsports.
What’s Happening? Following their acquisition of a charter from Stewart-Haas Racing, Front Row Motorsports has finally announced the final driver of…
In 2021, Zane Smith was a standout driver racing for GMS Racing in a packed Chevrolet developmental system. For 2022, Smith would move to Front Row Motorsports’ Truck Series program. The team that opened with Todd Gilliland in 2020 had just one win in its short history in the series. However, as Gilliland moved to the team’s Cup Series program, Smith took over the No. 38 truck.
This signing proved to be the best in recent truck series history, with Smith’s performance boost resulting in four wins and a Truck Series Championship. In 2023, FRM would reward this with what seemed to be a preparatory Cup Series season for Smith. Zane would race in eight Cup Series races, six of which would be in the No. 38, which was Todd Gilliland’s usual ride, bumping Gilliland to an open car and Rick Ware’s No. 51.
This show of faith, bumping a full-time driver so Zane could race a Chartered car, appeared to be the future for FRM with Michael McDowell in his No. 34 and Smith in the No. 38. However, Smith and Trackhouse Racing had other plans, with the two signing a multi-year deal that September. In the aftermath of this shocking move, FRM kept Gilliland in the No. 38 and signed Layne Riggs to take over their Truck Series entry.
Trackhouse did not immediately bring Smith into their Cup Series lineup; however, they sent him to Spire Motorsports and their new No. 71 car for the foreseeable future.
Smith and his new team struggled almost immediately. In the first ten races, Zane had just six lead-lap finishes, and through the first fifteen races, Smith had just three top-20 finishes.
To make things worse, fellow Trackhouse Cup Series prospects Conor Zillisch and Shane Van Gisbergen outperformed Smith in their respective series. Smith also slipped far behind Spire Motorsports teammate Carson Hocevar in the Rookie of the Year standings.
This performance, of course, sparked the rumors that he could be out of Trackhouse at season’s end. While Smith turned it around as the year went on, and as the playoffs neared, there was one thing fans knew about Smith’s future: he wouldn’t be at Spire in 2024.
What’s Happening? The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series roster is slowly coming together. Many teams made major moves as early as May…
Smith’s departure from Spire seemed confirmed early on in the season when they announced on May 8 that FRM veteran Michael McDowell would take over Smith’s No. 71 in 2025. Of course, Smith’s history with FRM sparked rumors that he could return, but those making these rumors may have forgotten one thing: at that moment, Smith had a multi-year deal with Trackhouse.
That was until Trackhouse, at Daytona in August, made a series of moves in preparation for the 2025 season. Prior to the end of the 2024 Regular Season, Trackhouse announced that they would expand to three cars in 2024, entering the No. 1, No. 88, and No. 99 in 2025.
Unfortunately for Smith, he would not get the call for the ride. Instead, a race winner in the Xfinity Series, Shane Van Gisbergen, would drive this new car, and Smith would mutually part ways with Trackhouse not even one year into his contract.
What’s Happening? The 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports lawsuit will continue for some time. However, many developments will occur along…
The rumors mill picked up almost immediately that, despite rumors that Ford was frustrated with Smith’s 2023 departure, he could return to an expanding FRM who had already signed Noah Gragson.
One problem for Smith and FRM began in October; while most inspired considered him a lock for the ride, FRM might not be expanding after all. Following a holdout on signing the 2025 NASCAR Charter Agreement, risking their charters in the process, FRM and 23XI Racing sued NASCAR on anti-trust grounds.
As part of this lawsuit, the teams motioned for a preliminary injunction to race as Chartered teams in 2025. At one point, a Nov. 8 ruling almost ended the team’s hopes for this injunction. However, after re-filing with new evidence, the court ruled NASCAR must grant FRM a Charter Agreement to sign and their new Charter from Stewart-Haas Racing on Dec. 18.
With this Charter, the team made the reunion official on Jan. 2, after Smith claimed he signed the deal on Christmas Eve, six days after the injunction ruling. This signing creates what some thought was an unlikely scenario: FRM will have Smith in No. 38 and Gilliland, who will move to No. 34.
If FRM and Smith can click once again, this reunion will have a chance to be one of the best comebacks in recent history.
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