Front Row Motorsports

Front Row Motorsports was founded in 2004 as Means-Jenkins Motorsports, a partnership between experienced team owner Jimmy Means and restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, who initially ran the team on a part-time basis. Just one year later, Jenkins took full control and renamed the organization Front Row Motorsports. To this day, the team is headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, in the heart of the American motorsports scene near Charlotte.

Front Row Motorsports wrote its own chapter in team history in August 2018 when it acquired the assets of insolvent racing outfit BK Racing after former owner Ron Devine put the team up for auction. This acquisition initially resulted in the number 23 car, driven by J. J. Yeley, which became the number 36 in 2019. As a team with a comparatively small budget and around 60 employees, Front Row has relied on technical alliances for years, first with RFK Racing from 2010 to 2023, and since 2024 with Team Penske, often taking over used equipment from other Ford teams.

The team experienced its most successful phase especially at the superspeedways. On May 5, 2013, David Ragan celebrated the first Cup victory in team history at Talladega, with teammate David Gilliland finishing second in a historic one-two finish. In 2016, Chris Buescher added a second victory in the rain-shortened race at Pocono, leading Front Row to the playoffs for the first time. The team’s greatest triumph came in 2021 when Michael McDowell won the Daytona 500, and then dominated the Verizon 200 at the Indianapolis Road Course in 2023, giving the team its first most laps led in a race. In 2022, Zane Smith capped the success streak with the organization’s first national championship title in the Truck Series.

Under owner Bob Jenkins, Front Row Motorsports continues its technical partnership with Team Penske and has been fighting alongside 23XI Racing against NASCAR in court since October 2024 for fair charter conditions, after a temporary injunction in December 2024 secured their entry as a chartered team for the 2025 season. For 2026, the team is counting on Todd Gilliland, Zane Smith, and Noah Gragson in the Cup Series, while Chandler Smith provides continuity in the truck program, a driver pairing that gives the small Mooresville team new hope for further surprise victories.