“I’m Ready”: Cup Series Underdog All Set to Embrace Leadership With Team’s Charter Expansion

Front Row Motorsports had a massive mission- finding a replacement for Michael McDowell, who announced his departure from the team after the end of the 2024 season. This call became even more important as FRM announced they had bought a third charter. Naturally, they needed someone to lead the charge for the team and fill the void left by their star driver, McDowell.

Rather than testing the waters and looking for the availability of a senior driver on the market, FRM decided to place their faith in Todd Gilliand. The driver is running his third season with FRM, and recently, he signed a multi-year deal. This now sees him take up the leadership role of a three-car race team. This move certainly came as a surprise for the driver, who certainly finds himself looking like an “old man” on the team, despite being 24.

But he feels he’s got all the makings of a leader for an ambitious race team like FRM, and is looking to grab the bull by the horns with this opportunity.

Change in fortunes for Todd Gilliland and his future in the Cup Series

Although the driver had secured a full-time seat with FRM for 2024, he wasn’t sure about his long-run competing in the series. His future was in doubt when he was fielded in the No. 38 car at FRM, and he even had to race six races with Rick Ware Racing to complete his full schedule in 2023. However, thanks to his good showings in 2024, aided by the departure of Michael McDowell, he has now become the poster child for the Front Row Motorsports team.

Sharing his optimism about making the switch to the role of senior driver, Todd Gilliland in an interview with Sirius XM NASCAR Radio said, “I’m super excited about it. If it was this time last year, I maybe wouldn’t say that I was ready to lead a team and be the senior guy which is pretty crazy to think about. I’m ready for it, I’m really excited to be able to do it for many years.”

While Gilliland hasn’t been racking up big top 10 or top 5 results, he has been consistent in his finishes. He had led 101 laps in 16 starts this season. Adding his second top-10 finish of the season at Sonoma, the Sherrills Ford native is on a streak of five races with consistent top-20 results. He finds himself placed 21st in the regular season standings, just a spot behind McDowell in the 20th spot.

This certainly makes things more interesting now for the Stewart-Haas Racing drivers, who are the front runners to find themselves in those two vacant seats at FRM.

Josh Berry is now a favorite to find a new seat at FRM for next season

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Now that FRM has roped in Todd Gilliland as their senior driver, this potentially closes the door for Chase Briscoe. It has to be noted that Briscoe is also linked with a move to Wood Brothers Racing. Noah Gragson could be a big addition to any of the teams, considering he brings in big sponsors like Bass Pro Shop. But again, in his case, he is linked with a move to Richard Childress Racing. Thus leaving the door open for Josh Berry to secure his future in the Cup Series.

Just like Gilliand, Berry is a driver with huge potential who needs a platform and a good project to support his NASCAR journey. He might have felt he bagged a big breakthrough by replacing Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 team at SHR, but yet again he finds himself looking for a new ride as SHR takes the exit doors from NASCAR racing.

Fortunately, this silly season drama might have carved a new opening for Berry at FRM, who are now looking to add strength to their racing project. Furthermore, the backing of a championship-caliber crew chief, Rodney Childers, makes him one of the favorites to take one of the two seats at FRM.

For the time being, all we can do is speculate and try to connect the dots. But going by the current state of silly-season drama, there is a huge possibility of Josh Berry finding himself at FRM in 2025.