Zane Smith is back, and he’s ready to rattle some cages. Front Row Motorsports announced Thursday that Smith, the 25-year-old Californian wunderkind, will pilot the No. 38 Ford for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. Yes, the team’s third full-time entry—complete with a shiny new charter swiped from the ashes of Stewart-Haas Racing’s implosion. If this were a soap opera, they’d call it “The Bold and the Speedy.”
Smith, oozing the confidence of a man who’s already tasted Truck Series glory with Front Row, couldn’t be more thrilled. “I’ve always felt at home here,” he declared in the obligatory press release. “They believed in me back in 2022 when I joined the Truck Series. We won races. We snagged a championship. It was glorious.” But as Smith ascended the NASCAR ladder, Front Row had a small problem: only two Cup cars and too many cooks in the kitchen. The result? A brief detour to Spire Motorsports, where Smith spent 2024 banging doors and ruffling feathers in the No. 71 Chevy.
Now, Smith returns to Front Row like a prodigal son, ready to lead their growing Cup operation. “Todd Gilliland and Noah Gragson are my teammates,” he said, grinning like a kid at Christmas. “We’re all young, hungry, and desperate to prove ourselves.” And by “hungry,” he doesn’t mean for lunch—he means trophies.
For Smith, the stats don’t lie. A Truck Series champion in 2022, six wins, and more top tens than most drivers see in a decade. Even his rookie Cup season with Spire wasn’t too shabby—two top fives and a few moments where he looked every bit the future superstar. Now reunited with Front Row, Smith is laser-focused on one thing: winning.
Behind the scenes, Ryan Bergenty will take the reins as Smith’s crew chief. Bergenty, a man who’s been around the block with Gilliland, knows how to build a fast car—and he’s clearly chuffed to bits about this pairing. “Zane’s a beast,” Bergenty said (well, probably). “Let’s go win some races.”
Meanwhile, Gilliland and Gragson round out what’s suddenly a formidable lineup for Front Row. Gilliland, the team’s steady hand since his Truck Series days, and Gragson, the wildcard fresh off a year at Stewart-Haas, are ready to shake things up. Bob Jenkins, Front Row’s owner and, presumably, the man holding the keys to the charter kingdom, couldn’t be more optimistic. “Zane brought us our first championship,” he said. “Now we think he can do the same in the Cup Series.”
But make no mistake—this isn’t just a feel-good story about a young driver coming home. It’s about a team stepping up, armed with three talented drivers, a newfound swagger, and a mandate to make noise in 2025. If you’re looking for underdogs to root for this season, Front Row Motorsports just raised their hands.
Let the games begin.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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