FRM signs Zane Smith as its third driver for 2025

Front Row Motorsports (FRM) has put its recent triumph in court over NASCAR to good use, signing Zane Smith as the team’s third driver for 2025.

Last September, FRM and 23XI refused to sign the 2025 Charter Agreement, and instead filed a suit against NASCAR alleging monopolistic practices — putting the teams in a precarious position. But on December 18th, Front Row Motorsports and 23XI Racing secured a significant legal victory when a North Carolina judge granted the two teams’ motion for preliminary injunction, giving them the right to compete with charters while the antitrust lawsuit unfolds in 2025. (Had the teams lost that December request for motion — or NASCAR’s subsequent failed appeal — they would have had to race as “open” teams without guaranteed race starts.) The court’s decision also forced NASCAR to approve FRM’s purchase of a Stewart-Haas Racing charter, which it needed to expand into a three-car operation. 

Getting those wins in court paved the way for FRM to become one of six teams running three chartered Cup Series cars (Trackhouse, Spire, RFK, Penske, and — soon — 23XI). As a result, 25-year-old Zane Smith will be running full-time in FRM’s No. 38 Ford Mustang, alongside Todd Gilliland and Noah Gragson.

It’s a reunion for Smith: he won the 2022 NASCAR Truck Series title with FRM, then ran a partial Cup schedule with the team in 2023, only to leave and have a tough 2024. He competed as a Cup Series rookie with Spire Motorsports last year while being under contract with Trackhouse. 

Smith had 11 finishes of 25th or worse in the first 14 races of the year, and didn’t look ready for a full-time Cup ride — only to turn things around in the back half of 2024 with a second at Nashville, a fifth at Watkins Glen, and a seventh at Michigan. He lost his seat, but now gets a second run with FRM, where he’ll look to match FRM’s recent trajectory.

Besides going to battle with NASCAR alongside 23XI, the team’s made plenty of noise on-track: a Daytona 500 win in 2021, playoffs two of the last four years, and becoming a Tier-1 Ford team in 2024. And last season FRM notched six poles, including a front row lockout at the second Daytona race.

It’ll be on Smith’s shoulders to continue developing after a rocky start to his rookie Cup campaign last season. Now he’ll look to add a few more good days to FRM’s string of victories.