Just three race into the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, and both of Front Row Motorsports’ drivers have found victory lane.
Chandler Smith squeezed past a group of trucks who refused to play nice with each other to snatch a four-wide win at Daytona International Speedway. Just two races later, Layne Riggs became the inaugural winner on the Streets of St. Petersburg in a highly entertaining race that saw the No. 34 have to fend off drivers all the way through the last lap.
The pair have been a successful duo since Smith was added to the team last year in an expansion truck. Riggs, in particular, was arguably Corey Heim‘s biggest threat to the title last year (albeit a distant one). Both drivers made significant strides in 2025 and 2026 looks to be an even bigger year for them.
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On the Cup Series side, things were not looking so bright last season. Todd Gilliland saw a sizeable regression after taking the reins of the team from Michael McDowell. Zane Smith had a pretty solid season considering it was his first back with his old team. Meanwhile, team newcomer Noah Gragson had an absolute season from hell. It felt like we couldn’t go a week without seeing the No. 4 either wrecked or behind the wall.
You could attribute those struggles to the lawsuit that FRM was embroiled in with 23XI Racing against NASCAR. Though its tough to pin it on that as the Truck Series team had its aforementioned strong season. It’s possible that adding a third Cup car and second truck stretched resources a little thinner than anticipated.
But it definitely feels like Riggs and Chandler Smith, with a whole season more of development in the Truck Series, could be ready for a ride at the top level sooner rather than later. And between the Truck Series side’s strong start and the way the Cup side performed last season, there’s reason, if only slightly, for Gragson, Gilliland and Zane Smith to feel the pressure.
Chandler Smith, in particular, has made sporadic Cup starts here and there and hasn’t done entirely bad in them, all things considered. Having driven for teams like Joe Gibbs Racing and Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series (now the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series), he arguably should’ve already been a full-time Cup driver by now. He’s getting two more chances in an O’Reilly car after he was announced as a driver of the No. 5 Hettinger Racing Ford in the next two races at Phoenix Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Riggs also may get a shot in that seat down the road, and has a few O’Reilly starts of his own with no finish worse than 19th. He might be more of a “dark horse” candidate for a Cup ride, but with the way FRM performed in Cup last year, that dream could be realized in 2027.
That’s not to say that FRM will change its driver lineup at all. Maybe no one gets released and FRM just shuffles who drives its Cup cars and who drives its trucks. Hell, all three Cup guys may find victory lane this year, or at the very least make the Chase, and no changes at all are made. Zane Smith currently sits 14th in points with two top 10s in the first three races. Gragson is not far behind, currently 18th with two top 15s.
As it stands, Gilliland is currently in the worst spot, as he hasn’t been able to finish any better than 21st and is sitting a dismal 30th in the point standings. Now let’s be realistic. Two drafting tracks and a road course aren’t exactly the best indicator of what a team is capable of. Gilliland may pop off this season and Smith’s top 10s may be the only ones he gets all year.
However, on the Truck Series side, both Riggs and Chandler Smith have found victory lane. Smith is leading the point standings, while Riggs sits fifth despite his St. Petersburg victory being his only top 25 of the year.
There’s a realistic possibility that the 2026 Truck Series championship will be settled between the two FRM trucks, and if that’s the case, that might put a lot of pressure on the three Cup guys to perform at their best this season. Smith is in his fourth full-time Truck Series season and Riggs his third. They seem more than ready for the next level.
Smith has already a proven O’Reilly winner, meaning that he really should be a contender for whatever Cup ride becomes available. Riggs is quickly making a case to be in a seat above the Truck Series after this season. As much as the next logistical step for at least Riggs should be O’Reilly, the noticeable lack of Fords in that series make it hard for him to run that series without getting poached to another manufacturer. Realistically, both Riggs and Smith should treat their time at FRM as a “Cup or nothing” approach.
Of the three Cup drivers, the one who might have the most pressure this season is Gragson. Now entering year four (if you add together the 18 races he ran in 2022 and the 22 races he ran in 2023 plus two full-time seasons and now this season), the Las Vegas native who was largely expected to rock the boat in aggression and contend for good finishes and even wins hasn’t really done much. The 2024 season kind of feels like a mulligan since Stewart-Haas Racing was a sinking ship when he joined, but 2025 was an aforementioned year from hell. The 27-year-old needs a good season in general, regardless of Riggs and Smith waiting in the wings.
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As for Zane Smith, early season results show he could be the flagbearer this season. Should FRM make wholesale changes to the team and add Riggs and Chandler Smith to the Cup Series, Smith feels the most safe – he won the team’s Truck Series championship in 2022, and has likely the best rapport with the team from a veteran’s angle, outside of Gilliland.
Speaking of Gilliland, since becoming the de facto leader of the team after McDowell’s departure (and inheriting his father David’s old ride on top of that), he hasn’t really shown that veteran step up that most expected him to take. While the first three races haven’t been kind to him, the upcoming race at Phoenix will start to give a true gauge on where his performance lies.
As for the two Truck Series guys, Riggs and Smith, they just need to keep doing what they’re doing. If they keep winning races, keep sitting atop the points and keep proving themselves, the elephant in the room will keep getting harder to ignore. At that point, it will be up to Ford and Front Row to make tough choices as to who gets the three Cup Series rides in 2027 and beyond.
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