How Front Row Motorsports built NASCAR’s new core of young stars

Don’t look now, but a sleeping giant is being built in Mooresville, North Carolina. 

Its name is Front Row Motorsports, and while the organization wages war in the courtroom in an anti-trust case vs. NASCAR, it’s also become one of the most intriguing race teams in the NASCAR Cup Series. 

With the signing of 25-year-old Zane Smith on Thursday, the team boasts one of the youngest lineups in NASCAR — but also one of the most potential-filled. 

The addition of Smith gives Front Row three drivers age 26 or younger, as the 2022 Truck Series champion joins third-year Cup Series driver Noah Gragson and fourth-year Cup Series driver Todd Gilliland. 

Gilliland will be tasked with taking over the organization’s flagship No. 34 car, which won the organization’s first race with David Ragan in 2013, as well as the 2021 Daytona 500 with Michael McDowell. 

Gilliland is the son of former Cup Series driver David Gilliland, who drove for Front Row from 2010 to 2016 and pushed Ragan to victory in the infamous 2013 Aaron’s 499. 

Gilliland will take McDowell’s spot as the longest-tenured driver at Front Row, as well as the unofficial leadership role previously held by McDowell. 

At World Wide Technology Raceway in June, Gilliland was asked about the changes taking place at Front Row Motorsports. 

“There’s quite a few drivers that would be a good fit,” Gilliland told Yardbarker in June. “It’ll be interesting to see if we can get everything done on my end and start working toward all that.”

Four days after those comments, Gilliland was officially signed to a multiyear contract extension by Front Row. 

Smith seems to have the most upside of the three drivers on Front Row’s 2025 roster. It was Smith who brought the organization to the Truck Series championship stage in 2022 and Smith who responded to adversity in his rookie Cup Series season with a solid second half of races. 

Gragson is the biggest question mark of Front Row’s new trio of drivers. The Las Vegas native will be on his third team in three Cup Series seasons in 2025, but like Smith, he’s proven to be calm in the face of adversity. After one of the worst rookie seasons in NASCAR history in 2023 — which included a suspension after an incident on social media — Gragson rebounded to a 24th-place points finish in 2024 with Stewart-Haas Racing. 

After it was announced that Stewart-Haas would be shutting down after the 2024 season, Gragson was asked about his mindset before the June 2 race at the World Wide Technology Raceway. 

“As a human being, you’re going to think, ‘What does next year look like?’ I’m certainly looking for an opportunity for next year,” Gragson told Yardbarker. “But the only thing I can control is our race team and building the culture up for Stewart-Haas.” 

“We’re getting closer (to a deal),” Gragson said on July 6. “The closer you get, it allows you to focus more on doing your job on the weekends rather than your mind wandering.” 

Gragson was officially signed by Front Row on July 10.

Front Row has put together a talented group of young drivers t in an attempt to elevate the team to heights it’s never seen before. 2025 will be the first year that FRM can officially be called a true threat to make the playoffs on pure pace, and all three of its drivers have an opportunity to make a run to the postseason. 

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.