Front Row Motorsports boss leaves door open for potential Zane Smith return to team

Front Row Motorsports general manager Jerry Freeze is not ruling out the return of Zane Smith if NASCAR limits teams to three charters in 2025. While speaking to Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports, Freeze was asked if Smith would be an option to drive the third car.

“We’ve still got really fond feelings for Zane. He did a phenomenal job for two years with our Truck team,” Freeze said. “I think a year ago if we had a third charter, it would be a no-brainer Zane Smith would have been driving the third car. I think that’s what Bob [Jenkins] was really wishing for and hoping for last year at this time. But we didn’t and we invested a couple of years in Todd [Gilliland] and thought it was getting ready to pay off. I think we were right in that regard.

“If Zane were to be a free agent for next year, I think that’s something that we would certainly be interested in for sure. I don’t know if he is, but we really believe in Zane’s talent, and I think he’s going to be a star. Everybody’s gotta go through that learning curve in the Cup Series. He’s no different than Todd was or Austin Cindric or some of the other guys. I think he’s a star in the making.”

Why Zane Smith could be the odd man out at Trackhouse Racing

In September last year, Smith signed a multi-year contract with Trackhouse Racing. However, Smith is driving for Spire Motorsports this year and is expected to join Trackhouse in 2025 as part of a partnership deal. If NASCAR limits teams to having three charters, Smith could be the odd man out as Trackhouse could go with Shane van Gisbergen as the third Cup driver. Trackhouse currently has Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez as their two full-time Cup Series drivers.

In his Cup Series rookie season, Smith tallied a P13 finish at Daytona and a P2 finish at Nashville. He made the move to the Cup Series after having a stellar career in the Truck Series, winning nine races and earning 61 top-10 finishes in 61 starts. Smith was with Trackhouse Racing in 2022 and 2023 and won the Truck Series Championship during the 2022 season. In the Xfinity series, Smith has competed in 12 races and earned eight top-10 finishes.