Wednesday, February 12, 2025
HomeCup Series17 Days to Daytona: Front Row Motorsports #4

17 Days to Daytona: Front Row Motorsports #4

Wrapping up the Front Row Motorsports section of the Days to Daytona series is the newly minted #4 team. Adding a charter to their ranks, Front Row also brought over the driver/crew chief combo from last year’s SHR 10 team. Noah Gragson will look to carry on the tradition of the #4. What will be in store for this new Front Row Motorsports #4 team as there are only 17 Days to Daytona?

The #4 Team

Front Row Motorsports #4 - Gragson & Blickensderfer
Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images

Driver: Noah Gragson

Crew Chief: Drew Blickensderfer

Sponsors: MillerTech, Zep, Rush Truck Centers

2024 Statistics: 1 Top-5, 7 Top-10s, 13 Laps Led, 19.6 Average Finish

2025 Season Preview

Front Row Motorsports #4 - Gragson
Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images
Career Turnaround

At the end of the 2023 season, Noah Gragson’s NASCAR future looked bleak. He was fired and suspended from his rookie Cup ride, which might have been a blessing in retrospect. The off-track controversy helped cover up an abysmal rookie season where Gragson averaged a 28.2 finish. Stewart-Haas Racing took a chance in bringing Gragson in and it paid off. Last season, Gragson impressed and managed to bring his average finish down into a Top-20. Now heading to Front Row Motorsports, the goal will be to continue this career rebound.

Continuing a Driver/Crew Chief Pair

As mentioned in the introduction, Noah Gragson was not the only one from the SHR 10 team to be plucked for Front Row’s new team. Crew chief Drew Blickensderfer will sit atop the pit box again for Gragson in 2025. The pair worked well together, racking up 7 Top-10s across a variety of tracks. Building upon their proven chemistry, the question is whether they can find victory lane. Obviously, superspeedways are a clear option for that path. If the 4 team can show similar speed to last year’s 10, then there is a puncher’s chance that the iconic 4 returns to victory lane.

Is 3 Teams Too Many?

While there are multiple organizations expanding to 3 teams in 2025, none have more questions about performance than Front Row Motorsports. Outside of the current lawsuit, the main question about FRM’s expansion is how will their performance hold up. Unlike RFK, 23XI, and Trackhouse, FRM is still looking to solidify one of their teams as playoff contenders. Michael McDowell was close, but the 34 team still missed consistency to keep them in that playoff caliber tier. Taking a step up is the hope, but the bare minimum expectation is to stay at the level. However, there is a possibility that resources are spread too thing and all 3 teams could regress.

Daytona 500 Outlook

Noah Gragson Daytona
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Noah Gragson is coming off a Top-10 in the Great American Race last year. Thanks to his performance, it perked up ears about a potential Stewart-Haas Racing revival last season. Now, Gragson will enter this year’s Daytona 500 in a similar situation. A solid run from the start to finish of Speedweeks could help ease worries of the expanded Front Row Motorsports. Yes, Gragson would need to follow it up at the “normal” tracks shortly after. However, a good run in the Daytona 500 could do wonders.

Daytona has been kind to Noah Gragson in his young career. In Cup, it is the only track where has multiple Top-10 finishes. Looking at his Xfinity career, Gragson has a Daytona win on his resume to go with 96 laps led. What is most promising about his brief career at Daytona is his ability to run the majority of laps. Outside of last year’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, Gragson has run at least 90% of each Daytona race. Even when he has been involved in incidents, it usually is toward the end of the race. That ability to survive could help put Gragson in a position to pull an upset win.

Days to Daytona Countdown

40 Days: Team Penske #22; 39 Days: Team Penske #12; 38 Days: Hendrick #24;

37 Days: 23XI Racing #45; 36 Days: Joe Gibbs Racing #20;

35 Days: Hendrick Motorsports #5; 34 Days: Hendrick Motorsports #9

33 Days: Joe Gibbs Racing #11, 32 Days: Henrick Motorsports #48;

31 Days: Joe Gibbs Racing #19; 30 Days: Team Penske #2;

29 Days: Trackhouse Racing #99; 28 Days: RFK Racing #6;

27 Days: Trackhouse Racing #88; 26 Days: Joe Gibbs Racing #54;

25 Days: Wood Brothers Racing #21; 24 Days: RFK Racing #17;

23 Days: 23XI Racing #23; 22 Days: Trackhouse Racing #1;

21 Days: Richard Childress Racing #8; 20 Days: Spire Motorsports #77;

19 Days: Front Row Motorsports #38; 18 Days: Front Row Motorsports #34

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