Anthony Alfredo joins Front Row Motorsports: Analyzing the move (2024)

On Wednesday, Front Row Motorsports announced Anthony Alfredo will join its lineup as the driver of its No. 38 Ford for 2021. The team also announced Michael McDowell will be back full time in the No. 34 and a third car will be added for David Ragan to race in the Daytona 500. Alfredo, 21, is making the leap after one year in the Xfinity Series driving for Richard Childress Racing. Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi weigh in on the decision.

Jeff: So here we have a case of a driver whose resume is thin — 19 Xfinity Series starts, 13 Truck starts — jumping into the Cup Series full time. What’s your initial reaction to this news, Jordan?

Jordan: That Front Row Motorsports went with a driver who had sponsorship was not at all surprising. Ever since John Hunter Nemechek announced his departure it was basically a foregone conclusion that Front Row’s decision would be heavily influenced by whoever brought the most funding.

But the actual decision by Front Row to select a driver with so little experience at the national level, or even in another top-flight racing series, underscored what so many people within the industry — most notably, Brad Keselowski — have been railing against for the last several years. Effectively, a driver’s talent is second to the check that they can write. (And yes, I understand that few people actually write checks anymore.) No disrespect to Anthony Alfredo, who has shown flashes in limited starts, but there is nothing to suggest that (1) he’s deserving of a Cup Series ride and (2) is ready for such a promotion.

What was your reaction, Jeff? And did you immediately think back to what Keselowski said last fall on this very topic?

Jeff: My immediate thought was about Quin Houff. You’ll recall that when Houff replaced Landon Cassill in the No. 00 car, there was an outcry about his lack of experience at the NASCAR national series level.

Houff had 27 NASCAR starts across two series before going full-time Cup racing; as I mentioned at the start of this conversation, Alfredo made 32 starts before making his leap. But in Houff’s case, at least he had 17 Cup starts under his belt. Alfredo has none.

Now, did Alfredo show potential? For sure. He had two top-fives in Xfinity last year. And he’s been building a brand for himself on TikTok. But I see more potential downside for “Fast Pasta” with this move than upside.

What do you see as the pluses and minuses for him?

Jordan: It may not be the answer you’re looking for, but Alfredo bringing funding to Front Row is certainly a positive. This team has had some sponsorship shortfalls in recent years and needed a driver to help bridge that gap. So while I take exception to the process that leads to Alfredo going to Cup full time without honing his skills at the Xfinity or Truck Series level, it is good to see that Front Row found a driver that will allow the team to continue forward operating two full-time cars.

And though Alfredo lacks experience, it’s not like he hasn’t done a good job in the limited Xfinity starts he’s made. He had nine top-10 finishes in 19 races last season, often running better than he finished. Another plus is that he’s known as a driver who doesn’t push his car beyond its capabilities, which, considering how many damaged cars Front Row had to repair in 2020, will greatly aid a team that can’t allot a ton of resources to continually rebuilding its inventory of cars.

Jeff: True, but what’s the benefit here for Alfredo? If he doesn’t run well or underperforms compared to what Nemechek did last year in the same ride, his reputation takes a significant hit. Now is that fair? Probably not, given his lack of seat time. But he’s the one choosing to go forward with Cup racing despite his inexperience.

The only way this move benefits him is if he has a full season like Nemechek did in the first part of 2020 — take care of his stuff and come home with better-than-expected results. And that’s going to be difficult with long Cup races and a talented field.

I would have preferred to see him run a full season in Xfinity or at least figure out a way to run a mix of Xfinity and Cup before jumping into Cup full time. Nothing against him; I’d say the same for any driver.

Anyway, Front Row is coming off a season in which the team showed improvement. Can it keep getting better or do you see a setback in 2021?

Jordan: Front Row should be optimistic entering the season. Michael McDowell had a career-high four top-10 finishes and a personal-best average finish of 20.9 in 2020, with both statistics also representing the best-ever results for a full-time Front Row driver. That’s a good foundation to build off of — especially if Alfredo doesn’t mirror the second half of the season that John Hunter Nemechek experienced last year.

And NASCAR’s sweeping schedule changes further benefit Front Row and should make them optimistic about the possibilities ahead. There are now four tracks where the team is often at a competitive disadvantage — the Indianapolis oval, Chicagoland, Texas and Fontana — that are being replaced by four road courses, which plays to McDowell’s skill set. There is every reason to think Front Row and McDowell could be even better in 2021.

Jeff: That’s a great point on McDowell, and his road racing background should be even more of a strength now that there are seven points races on road courses. Plus he often seems to find himself in contention at superspeedways. So that’s a lot of opportunities to score points.

I’ll say McDowell improves from 23rd to 21st in points while Alfredo ends up 29th in the standings (Nemechek was 27th). How about you?

Jordan: Both projections sound reasonable to me. McDowell has another solid, under-the-radar season, while Alfredo has about the same results as Nemechek just with fewer top-10 finishes. (Nemechek had three.)

(Top photo: Streeter Lecka / Getty Images)