Noah Gragson lands with Front Row as another Stewart-Haas driver finds 2025 ride
Six weeks after Stewart-Haas Racing announced it would shut down after the season, three of the four Cup drivers in its stable have found new rides.
Noah Gragson is the latest to sign a deal for next season as Front Row Motorsports announced Wednesday that he would drive one of its Cup cars next year as a teammate to Todd Gilliland with its third driver still to be determined.
Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19) and Josh Berry (Wood Brothers No. 21) had already announced their 2025 plans. That leaves Ryan Preece as the only Cup driver for SHR to not solidify 2025 plans. He is still talking to teams in NASCAR's national series, obviously hoping for a place where he'd have equipment that could win races.
Gragson, who signed a multiyear deal, will replace Michael McDowell, who will leave Front Row after the season to drive the Spire Motorsports No. 71 car. Whether Gragson drives the No. 34 Ford is still to be determined as well as his sponsors.
Front Row elevated its manufacturer relationship to Tier 1 status with Ford this year and has an alliance with Team Penske. The organization is 19th and 22nd in owner points with its two cars.
"The Front Row Motorsports guys have speed each and every weekend," Gragson said. "They also have an alliance with Penske. Being to rely on their teammates, ... it's all thumbs up for me."
Turning 25 years old next Monday, Gragson will drive for his fourth Cup team in four years in 2025 as he drove a partial Cup schedule in 2022 for Kaulig Racing, had a full-time ride in 2023 at Legacy Motor Club before a miserable season ended in August when he was indefinitely suspended for liking a racially insensitive social media meme and then signed with SHR to replace Aric Almirola for 2024.
He has had a solid season at SHR with an average finish of 18.3. He sits 23rd in the standings and would be 21st if not for a 35-point penalty earlier this year for a roof air deflector that didn't meet NASCAR specifications earlier this year.
"He has just the right amount of experience in the NASCAR Cup Series to break out and become a winner for years to come," team owner Bob Jenkins said.
Noah Gragson says he’s not bitter about the closing of Stewart-Haas Racing at the end of the season
Gragson has won the all-star fan vote the past two seasons as he has built a fan base driving for JR Motorsports and a personality that attempted to toe the line between fun-loving and immaturity.
He finished second in the 2018 truck standings and made the Championship 4 in both 2021 and 2022 in Xfinity, where he won 13 times from 2020-2022.
No crew chief was named for Gragson at Front Row, where current crew chief Travis Peterson is expected to move with McDowell to Spire.
McDowell is 22nd in the standings.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
