After a major victory against NASCAR in court, getting the injunction and control over the SHR charter, Front Row Motorsport has made a big announcement. In their previous statement, they stated they would reveal the name of the driver and other important details for the 2025 season. Zane Smith joining FRM as their third driver was an open secret, but the team has finally made this reunion official.

Smith was in a sticky situation, knowing that he was close to joining his former team, but with the lawsuit, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to race on Sundays again. Despite acquiring a third charter from the outgoing SHR team, NASCAR didn’t transfer the ownership right until recently. The court ordered the reinstatement of FRM’s chartered team status along with the transfer of the ownership of the SHR charter to the new owners.

Zane Smith looking to make the most of his second chance

Smith drove for FRM in the Truck Series, where he was a regular championship contender. After two back-to-back runner-up finishes, he finally triumphed with the #38 team and claimed his first title. But despite his strong links to Ford camp and FRM, he opted to jump ships and signed for Trackhouse Racing. A move that didn’t fare well for him and left him stranded mid-season in 2024. Fortunately, he had good ties with his former team and was able to link up with them to have a second bite at the cherry.

Sharing his thoughts and roller coaster of emotions during the last few months, Zane Smith was finally relieved to be officially unveiled as the driver of the No. 38 car. “I mean, there were just so many swings of what is going on, and I’m not just smart enough to know what’s going on. There’s a lot of that’s just out of your control. So I signed on Christmas Eve, which was, I think, right after the fifth appeal or something like that. After that, it was just a huge sigh of relief, and it was just exciting to know that I have another chance to race on Sunday.” Smith said this to Bob Pockrass.

Zane Smith was loaned out to Spire Motorsports, and in the first half of the season he just couldn’t hit his stride. Meanwhile, Shane van Gisbergen was adding more wins to his name in his Xfinity Series debut run, and as days went by, it looked like his switch to the Cup Series was inevitable. Justin Marks and Co. added a third charter, handed an extension to Daniel Suarez, and onboarded the Kiwi speedster for the 2025 season. This meant that Smith would need to find a new home to continue his Cup racing adventures.

With FRM embroiled in the legal tussle with NASCAR, the California native was knocking on every door possible. But deep in his heart, he wanted to return back to his former team. “So I didn’t know if I was going to be truck racing. I had multiple different conversations with different truck teams, a couple on the Cup side, but I was pretty set in stone that I wanted to be back at FRM but just didn’t know how this is gonna work out.” He added.

Things didn’t work out between the driver and Trackhouse Racing, and their split was on a sour note. After being lured into a new project and being discarded the very next year was not a good feeling for Smith. And this was the reason behind his redemption run in the second half of the season.

Smith wanted to prove that he is worthy to race in the Cup Series

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NASCAR Cup Series racing is brutal; with limited opportunities comes massive pressure to deliver on the racetrack. With the likes of HMS, JGR, and Team Penske rolling out the big guns, the new environment can be intimidating for young drivers. This is something that happened with Zane Smith, as he was unable to link up with his team at Spire.

In the first 18 races of the season, the driver of the No. 71 car wasn’t able to register a single top 10. However, things took a turn for the good in the latter half of the season; he finished runner-up at Nashville and started churning out top 10 runs. Moreover, the announcement in August by his parent team only added fuel to his drive to be better and that resulted in another top 5 finish at Watkins Glen, followed by a top 10 run at Kansas.

“I mean, there were times definitely where just things wouldn’t go our way, or we were kind of out of our control and part of a new group learning together… When I was let go, we started to click off some really good runs, and where we’re ranking as a team was actually impressive. And I think some of that is with the product of just me having a kind of chip on my shoulder and showing that I belong to race on Sunday.” Smith explained further.

Zane Smith has found his happy place with a move to Front Row Motorsports. And watch out for FRM, as they are certainly one of the teams to watch out for this season.