After Front Row Motorsports announced in July 2024 that Noah Gragson would pilot their third car in the NASCAR Cup Series, it was confirmed that Gragson’s crew chief from Stewart Haas Racing, Drew Blickensderfer, would accompany him. The reunion at FRM isn’t Blickensderfer’s first stint with the team.
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Previously, Blickensderfer directed the #34 team and led Michael McDowell to a Daytona 500 victory in February 2021, having joined FRM at the beginning of 2019. He departed the team in December of 2021 to explore new opportunities and, by January 2022, took the helm as the crew chief for the #10 team in Stewart-Haas Racing, then driven by Aric Almirola.
In 2023, Blickensderfer transitioned to become Noah Gragson’s crew chief after Gragson took over the seat from Almirola, who moved to a part-time role with Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series.
Discussing his move to join Gragson in his new team, Blickensderfer shared on SiriusXM NASCAR, talking about his commitment to following Gragson into this new chapter:
“I was very happy at Front Row. But the things I was frustrated with was, we were just getting outperformed car-wise by wind tunnel time and resources and that’s gone away like I said. I think that made me happy. And then all that stuff came about… I’ve tried not to worry about it…”
“I let all that stuff kind of go on. I know it was big in the press and the media, but trying to get guys to come with me or try to recruit new guys, all of that was really successful. I’m Super happy with our team. It’s very strong. “
He further added, “Everybody believed everything was going to be okay. It helps, I could say that. My blood pressure will be slightly less at Daytona than it probably would have been. But I’m just worried about trying to build a fastest race cars and let Noah prove to everybody how good he is.”
💭 Drew Blickensderfer discusses why he decided to follow driver @NoahGragson to @Team_FRM to lead the No. 4 team.
🗣️ "I'm super happy with our team it's it's very strong."
More: https://t.co/WGRTG5gnEd pic.twitter.com/CKiAqBHnUh
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) January 6, 2025
Technically, 2024 marked Gragson‘s second full-time season in NASCAR, but it was the first season in which he completed all races. He wrapped up the series in P24 place, securing seven top-10 finishes, one top-5 finish, leading 13 laps across 36 starts, and achieving an average finish of 19.5 by season’s end.
Now under the Front Row Motorsports banner with virtually the same team, it will be intriguing to see how Gragson takes the helm of the iconic #4 car — previously steered by Kevin Harvick — in 2025.
