Zane Smith says he wants to go Cup racing next season. Will Front Row find a place for him or will another team swoop in and make a big silly season splash?
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34 comments
The Zane Smith factor is honestly why I’m hoping RWR sells one of its two charters to FRM so they can keep McDowell, Smith, and Gilliland.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the worst ever motorsport team just disappeared into oblivion and never returned
@Brandon Davis other than Ryan Newman Cody ware jj yeley and Jenson button I don’t really know any other drivers for them
@AJ the Nascar expertJenson Button is really just in an shr car under a different name
I like the idea, but I think FRM would be stretching their resources to thin. They gotta focus on getting their 2 cars to the playoffs consistently and then can think about expanding.
Let’s hope we don’t get an Alex Palou Ganassi-Mclaren or Oscar Piastri Alpine-Mclaren situation again with Zane Smith.
I’d say his best shot is at Front Row. It doesn’t look like Almirola will be retiring anytime soon, and Berry, Preece, and Briscoe are locked in for a long while. Not to mention, Custer is going to inevitably be back in Cup because of his connections to Haas. Unless RFK starts up a third team again, I don’t see him going to SHR.
There’s also the sad possibility that Smith could end up being a nascar bust if he’s rushed up to Cup too early. I’m not saying he will be, but statistically in the past, moving from Trucks straight to Cup doesn’t work out well long term, unless your name is Kurt Busch.
I’d say, if Zane Smith really wants to go to Cup, his best shot is at FRM right now, unless he goes to a Chevy or Toyota team, which I don’t see happening either.
I beg to differ with Almirola sir
It will be a while, in my opinion, till Zane is ready to win in cup
We won’t win in cup
I would love to see SVG in a cup ride in 2024 but he said he’s got one more year in supercars then possibly be in cup in 2025
His supercars team already said they would release SVG for 2024 if you got a ride in nascar.
@Skyler Lysek but he doesn’t so I think he’ll stay one more year in supercars then either he’ll have a ride with trackhouse if they buy another charter or Stewart hass in the number 10 if Aric retires
@Julian rangelI think if he went to trackhouse it would be the 91
I just disagree. Todd Gilliland is superior to Zane Smith. Todd built the 38 team in trucks and Zane inherited it. Todd Gilliland has also made the 38 cup team MUCH better.
Todd is one of the best young drivers in cup and it is obvious
Yeah comparing there truck seasons from years ago isn’t the most relevant argument for Zane imo. Todd has always been good and with his feet to the fire he has clutched up big time this year. Zane has way less cup experience and Todd is definitely the better cup driver as of right now.
The man drives his guts out without loosing his head. I love Noah but Todd is just better at keeping a level head.
Todd is absolutely not superior to Zane. Insane how people fail to see how good Zane is. He could easily be a 3 time (back to back to back) truck champ
@Nick Hatcher the main problem is .. FRM is like Kyle Busch good idea to let new people in but they dont give them time to grow. Yes Zane won a championship in the select rides in #38 if not for 2 races he got lucky in 11th i think and a top 10 he had really bad so far in the select starts, though there is time for Zane to grow. But those that bash Todd. Say their not big on him, when has he been arrogant or so ? he usually is thankful for anything he gets in and is very proud that to me is a sign fo a great young driver. Mostly nice, thankful and talented. Harrison Burton was same par with Todd in Kyles Trucks but he finished ahead of Todd in the last year together, Harrison got moved up .. not Todd. Though Todd if really look at it . He could of won many races just like Zane did , he was leading either someone took him out or some accident or unfortunate happened. So he could of won some more in Trucks but many were taken by wrecks by others mostly costing him a win, or so many times he dominated many Truck races but got taken out i remember many he was on his way until a caution then taken out. He fights hard but others always get the chance. he helped FRM then he gets cut short. Same with Kyle team they lost focus with him wanted way to much. Hes y oung hes good takes 2 years to get going i mean Kyle look at his Rookie season i mean remember tall the failed to qualifyy? Michael McDowell is a veternan. Yes but look how long hes been in it and .. until recently .. hes shown signs of being really fast. But that is experience and they do put alot into #34 alot … The new guys they kinda half do effort. If they kept McDowell that long to get good. Then … well .. let them other 2 drivers grow too. And Zane to me maybe great in Trucks but his on track was alot slower and not really impressive Todd ddoes have experience over Zane. to me . Todd always get screwed and he just accepts it.
Surprised you mentioned Shane van Gisbergen in this. It’d be awesome to see him race in NASCAR again and win a road course race. Interested to see what Front Row Motorsports’ lineup will be for next year if they’ll get Zane Smith in the 38 or Todd Gilliland returns to the 38? I’ll also keep an eye on Aric Almirola if he’ll also return to the 10 car next year. It’s unfortunate that the SHR cars struggled this year.
I know that answer with Almirola
Can’t say though
Im all for Zane in cup as long as they don’t boot Gilliland in his favor. Don’t get me wrong, im not a huge Gilliland fan, but i think he deserves to be in that 38 car.
I think Gilliland deserves to be in something better than the 38. Front Row only gave him 30 races in that car this year. That was a blatant slap in the face.
I said the same about SVG before he won… SVG to Haas NEEDS to happen…
Zane would be a great fit at SHR!!
You’re not crazy. You helped make 23XI a reality. SHR needs to sign SVG right now!
Biggest hurdle for SVG to SHR is gonna be GM. He’s won all of his titles in Holdens and now pilots a ZL1. GM will be eager to keep him and will most likely facilitate the ride if it comes to pass. To GM it would be like Dale Jr getting in a Mustang, unthinkable. I’m not saying it won’t happen (see LMC) but they are gonna pay top dollar, especially now that dude is a global superstar.
Would you ever think that Jimmy Johnson would be driving a Toy next season? Or Richard Petty’s 43 on a Toy next year? SVG wouldn’t be that shocking.
Myself, I’d love to see 3 things next year: RWR sells 1 charter to FRM for Zane Smith (#36), and rents out another to RFK for a 3rd driver. I’d love to see Ford get some of GMs Xfinity teams to switch. That is #1.
#2 Would be LiveFast to sell their charter to Jr Motorsports and use the #88 in Cup. I’d love to see who’ll drive it and I wonder who would drive the #8 in Xfinity.
#3 I’d love to see Ford step up their involvement in the minor league (ARCA, ACT, regional series, along with youth racing). Toy and GM got stronger feeder systems, but Ford doesn’t have it.
Loving the backdrops this week on the videos. Hope youre having a great week traveling eric. Thanks for the coverage
I like the idea of Zane to the 38 and Todd to the 10
Eric’s lineup for both SHR and Front Row makes good sense. I never would have put that list together myself but upon hearing his reasoning,..I completely agree! Nice one Eric!
You have a really good channel here on YouTube. You’re really informative you’re really knowledgeable of the sport, and you seem like a really good guy. Congratulations on sponsoring two cars in the past. You’re diecast your shirts. Two thumbs up. Keep up the great work.
I think the driver that would be best for Stewart-Haas racing is John Hunter Nemechek