NASCAR Ford team, Front Row Motorsports (FRM), has announced Zane Smith as one of its full-time Ford Mustang Dark Horse drivers for 2025 – a noteworthy move given the team’s ongoing legal battle with NASCAR.
Smith is returning to the NASCAR Ford stable after spending the 2024 Cup Series season behind the wheel of a Chevy race car fielded by Spire Motorsports. It’s not his first turn with The Blue Oval, though. In fact, Smith was driving FRM machinery when he won the Truck Series title in 2022, bring the No. 38 Ford F-150 across the line first to secure the championship.
“I’ve always felt at home with Front Row Motorsports.” Smith said in a statement. “They believed in me when I signed with them to race in the Truck Series initially in 2022 and we shared so much success together, winning six races and a championship in two seasons. Unfortunately, everyone had to make tough decisions because there were only two Cup cars available at Front Row Motorsports going into last season when I was ready to move up full-time.”
He added, “I want to thank Bob [Jenkins, FRM owner], Jerry [Freeze, general manager], and Ford Performance head] Mark Rushbrook at Ford for making this happen. I know that we can win together in the Cup Series like we did in the Truck Series. It’s a great time to come back as we continue to make FRM even better.”
Smith will take control of the No. 38 NASCAR Ford Mustang Dark Horse next season, joining teammates Todd Gilliland and Noah Gragson at NASCAR’s highest echelon. Ryan Bergenty will serve atop the No. 38 pit box as crew chief, continuing his relationship with the young driver.
As a reminder, FRM joined Toyota team 23XI Racing to sue NASCAR over what they felt was an unfair charter system. Initially, the team was not allowed to proceed with charters, but the court ruled in favor of FRM and 23XI, granting them charters for the 2025 season. That’s a decision, unsurprisingly, that NASCAR is trying to fight.
No Comments yet