Zane Smith will return to the No. 38 Ford Mustang entered by Entrance Row Motorsports, the workforce confirmed Thursday. The 25-year-old Huntington Seaside, Calif. native has signed a multi-year settlement that may see him be a part of former teammate Todd Gilliland and latest FRM driver Noah Gragson.
“I’ve at all times felt at residence with Entrance Row Motorsports,” stated Smith. “They believed in me once I signed with them to race within the Truck Collection initially in 2022 and we shared a lot success collectively, successful six races and a championship in two seasons. Sadly, everybody needed to make robust choices as a result of there have been solely two Cup automobiles accessible at Entrance Row Motorsports going into final season once I was prepared to maneuver up full-time.
“Now, going into subsequent yr, Entrance Row has actually taken their Cup program to a different stage and I can’t consider a greater line-up of teammates. Todd and Noah are nice buddies of mine and all of us have lots to show as younger drivers within the Cup Collection. It’s a nice time to come back again and proceed to construct my profession with a corporation the place I do know I can win.
Smith received the 2022 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Collection championship with FRM in one of the crucial dominant seasons within the sequence. Smith received 4 instances, together with Daytona, collected 14 top-five finishes, led 492 laps, received the common season championship, and capped the season off by successful on the Phoenix Raceway season finale to seize the sequence championship in dramatic style.
In 2023, Smith defended his wins at Daytona and the Circuit of The Americas within the Truck Collection with FRM, however barely missed out on qualifying for the Championship 4 for the fourth consecutive season.
The identical yr, Smith made his second begin within the NASCAR Cup Collection, and his first Cup race with FRM within the Daytona 500. He certified in an open entry and impressed with a Thirteenth-place end. Later that yr, Smith earned his first top-10 within the premier sequence with FRM after ending tenth on the 600-miler at Charlotte Motor Speedway – a crown jewel NASCAR occasion.
The 2024 season formally marked Smith’s rookie season within the NASCAR Cup Collection because the full-time driver of the No. 71 automobile, which was highlighted by his runner-up end on the Nashville Superspeedway in June and fifth-place end at Watkins Glen Worldwide in September. Since his preliminary Cup Collection debut in 2022, Smith has recorded 5 top-10 and 17 top-20 finishes. Actually, Smith has completed within the top-20 in over a 3rd of his 45 Cup profession races, together with the final two Daytona 500 races. He’ll return to the Ford Efficiency secure subsequent season extra skilled and is wanting ahead to his return to FRM.
“I wish to thank Bob (proprietor, Bob Jenkins), Jerry (common supervisor, Jerry Freeze) and Mark Rushbrook at Ford for making this occur. I do know that we will win collectively within the Cup Collection like we did within the Truck Collection,” Smith stated. “It’s a good time to come back again as we proceed to make FRM even higher.”
Going into his third yr with the No. 38 workforce, Ryan Bergenty will function the crew chief for Smith, having referred to as the pictures for Smith in a restricted schedule in 2023.
“We wish to welcome Zane again to Entrance Row Motorsports,” stated Jenkins. “He introduced us our first championship and we consider that he can win within the NASCAR Cup Collection, too. Now we have at all times believed in his abilities, and we are going to work laborious to offer him what he must be profitable. Now we have confidence in Zane.
“This finalizes our drivers for 2025 within the Cup Collection and we will now make all our groups as sturdy as potential. Now we have come a good distance, however there may be much more floor to make up, too. We now have the drivers who can construct on the place we’re at this time and take us to the following stage.”
