Front Row Motorsports announces multi-year extension with Zane Smith

Great news for Zane Smith. The NASCAR Cup Series driver is getting a contract extension for multiple years to remain at Front Row Motorsports. Smith is still relatively young, and Front Row sees a lot of promise in his future. Can the 38 team step things up for next season and beyond?

Zane Smith is going to be at Front Row for 2026 and beyond. During his time with Front Row, he has won a Truck Series championship, then jumped ship to Spire in the Cup Series, via Trackhouse. When that fell apart, he made his way back to FRM.

With the news announced today, Smith is set to rejoin his two teammates. Noah Gragson and Todd Gilliland will remain at Front Row Motorsports with their current teams. It is a young core that FRM is betting pays off at some point.

He's baaaack.

We're excited to announce that we have agreed to a multi year extension with @ZaneSmith pic.twitter.com/IbUOrqkl5P

— Front Row Motorsports (@Team_FRM) October 23, 2025

This season, Front Row Motorsports has struggled more than they’d likely care to admit. However, I think there have been some noticeable improvements from Zane Smith on the track as he transitioned from Spire and Chevy back to Front Row and Ford.

We saw the speed earlier this season at Phoenix when he finished P9. He was great at Michigan, finishing P7. Of course, his run at Bristol a little over a month ago was fantastic, resulting in a P3 finish. I know he’s had other top-fives in his career, but that Bristol race was his most impressive performance to date in the Cup Series.

Can Zane Smith become the top driver at Front Row Motorsports?

Setting the potential consequences of the NASCAR antitrust lawsuit aside, can Zane Smith take that next step to truly define himself as the top driver at Front Row? His relationship for the team runs deep, and there are many in the garage who believe his talent is truly special, even if it will take time to develop.

You could argue that Smith has already been the top driver this season. But establishing himself as such will take a little more. To his credit, he didn’t absolutely fall apart in the summer like his team appeared to.

After a top-10 at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600, Noah Gragson didn’t have another top-20 finish until Darlington. Memorial Day to Labor Day, no top-20 finishes. Todd Gilliland had a very similar summer slump, but he had a top-10 at Indianapolis and a P11 at Daytona during that stretch.

Front Row Motorsports is going to bring Zane Smith back with Gragson and Gilliland. We will see how the “Big 3” perform next year with another year of experience under their belts, and hopefully, no lawsuit hanging over the organization.