Front Row Motorsports finalizes purchase of third charter from Stewart-Haas Racing

Front Row Motorsports announced it has finalized the purchase of a third charter from Stewart-Haas Racing. In his statement, Front Row general manager Jerry Freeze said an announcement on the driver, car number and additional partners will come soon.

According to Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports, NASCAR plans to appeal injunctions that it must approve the transfer and grant Front Row (and 23XI Racing) the ability to race as charter teams while pursuing the lawsuit. The timeline for any appeal filing deadlines and/or decisions has not been determined.

In May, Front Row Motorsports announced it’s expanding to a three-charter team in the Cup Series in 2025. “It is good to get the news out now as we have a lot of work to do to prepare a new team,” Freeze said at the time. “All of us on the leadership team will be working through that, obtaining the parts and pieces needed for the new team. And, most importantly, adding to the dedicated and talented staff and culture that exists today within our organization.

Front Row Motorsports will look different in 2025

“Starting a new team from scratch is always a challenge, but with the opportunities in front of us, the talent we have in our leadership, and a bit of a runway to get there, I am confident that we can produce three competitive programs out of the box for the 2025 season. We haven’t lost sight of what our goals for 2024 are, to get our teams into the playoffs for both series. If we can keep up the speed on track and have a little bit of luck to come our way, we can achieve our objectives.”

In 2024, Todd Gilliland and Michael McDowell drove the two charter cars for Front Row. McDowell left Front Row at the end of the year, and the team signed Noah Gragson to a multi-year contract in July.

“It’s definitely exciting times,” Gragson said during his introductory press conference. “When we started out this year, I didn’t know how I was going to run. I didn’t know if I had the potential to run in the Cup Series just based off how the 2023 season went, and to be able to get my feet underneath me with the opportunity at Stewart-Haas, it definitely opened people’s eyes. And with the challenges that have come about with Stewart-Haas, we were looking for a home for a long time, and that’s when I got introduced to [co-owners] Bob (Jenkins) and Jerry (Freeze).”