The 2025 NASCAR season is going to be exciting. And it feels like a season where we might see a strong challenge to NASCAR’s top 3 (Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske, and Joe Gibbs Racing). The reason is simple: smaller and younger teams are on the rise. Be it a revamped Spire Motorsports and their strong #7 team, with Justin Haley and Rodney Childers. Or Trackhouse Racing with Shane van Gisbergen piloting their third car. Especially after a 3-wins debut Xfinity Season.

Speaking of three cars, Trackhouse is not the only one expanding. 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports also joined the fold with three cars in 2025. We know Front Row is not exactly a young team. They have been here for two decades (2005-2025), but only recently have they shown potential. More so, a team insider has revealed their plans for further growth.

Front Row Motorsports plans to dominate in 2025

FRM started to turn heads in 2013 when David Ragan won the Talladega spring race. And then when Chris Buescher bagged a checkered flag at the ‘Tricky Triangle in 2016. But still, they were forgotten as a one-off miracle. The real shift came for the team in 2021 followed by the next-gen era. If you recall, Michael McDowell won the 2021 Daytona 500, got 2 top 5s, 5 top 10s, and a P16 season finish. FRM’s best back then. Then he bettered it in 2023 with a P15. While the 2024 season and a P23 season end weren’t ideal, McDowell won 6 poles for FRM. Clearly, this shows the FRM car had the potential.

Now, Michael McDowell is in Spire for 2025, and FRM has started with a new lineup. Noah Gragson and Zane Smith joined Todd Gilliland in 2025. This season the team is looking to compete with mid-pack NASCAR teams.

Recently, Gragson’s crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer, said, “Front Row’s like overall look at the race track is getting elevated. Their team presence, all of that, is trying to compete with some of those teams, the RFKs, the 23XIs, the RCRs. Those teams that are maybe under the big three. We think we can compete with them on a race tracks and they have shown if lately that they can. More times than not compete with a lot of those teams.”

Well, the FRM strategy seems sound. To achieve this goal, along with Gilliland, they have Gragson, who won 13 Xfinity races in just four seasons, or Smith who’s always had good runs with FRM. He got them the 2022 Truck Series championship, and to support this talent pool is a gutsy team owner. When all the veterans signed the new charter deal without question. Bob Jenkins decided to join Michael Jordan-led 23XI Racing in the anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR. And look at where it got them. They have been granted the preliminary injunction. It means they are racing as a charter team while fighting the lawsuit.

FRM’s growth is evident and Blickensderfer is loving it. “How can we compete with them regularly and how can we look like them at the race track as well. That’s just going to bring in more money in the building. Keep growing the place. Two Truck teams, three Cup cars, I mean this place is growing and it’s fun to be a part of,” He added.

The #4 team’s crew chief also thinks that Jenkins should get all the credit for this!

The bold Bob Jenkins behind FRM’s growth

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Well, if you look at FRM’s 2025 line-up, you might think Blickensderfer’s plan sounds like a tall task, despite the potential. But this is really Bob Jenkins’s vision. When the team discussed expansion plans, Bob Jenkins had said Front Row would have three young but experienced drivers in 2025. And that’s what he’s done. He could have gone with some veterans for the third ride, especially since Michael McDowell was leaving. And a veteran-youngster balance is what most teams think of. But Jenkins probably believes more in young energy.

And it seems to be working. We just concluded The Clash and among the 23-driver lineup, Noah Gragon ended up in P20 and Gilliland took P14. These are good early signs for the team. Even look at their Truck Series lineup for 2025 as Chandler Smith joined Layne Higgs. And if you have forgotten, Smith was the 2024 Xfinity Series’ most consistent driver.

He finished in P5, with two wins and 17 top-5s. When no team was picking him, Jenkins showed trust by giving him a shot. It probably creates a front-runner for the championship in 2025.

Jenkins’s ways might be bold, but Blickensderfer has complete faith in his vision for FRM. “It’s growing at a level that Bob Jenkins has done this almost every year. Where he has continued to be bigger and bigger. And fights odds sometimes, how’s this gonna work out for you Bob? Then he goes to the Daytona 500 and goes to Indy and wins Indy, I guess this is working out okay. So he’s got a pretty good finger on the pulse of when he needs to grow and he’s in the growing phase,” he added.

How do you think FRM will fare this season? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.