After one season, Anthony Alfredo has departed Front Row Motorsports. On Tuesday, the team announced its plans for the 2022 NASCAR season, which includes continuing as a two-car operation in the Cup Series and fielding a truck for Todd Gilliland in the Camping World Truck Series. However, while Michael McDowell will return to the #34 Ford Mustang, Alfredo will not be back in the #38.
Alfredo signed with FRM to compete for Cup Series Rookie of the Year in 2021, a move that raised some eyebrows as he had never competed full-time in any of NASCAR’s lower national series. He ultimately finished thirtieth in points, a distant second to Chase Briscoe in the ROTY battle, with a best finish of tenth at Talladega in the fall. His last start for the team saw him place twentieth in the finale at Phoenix.
Prior to debuting in Cup, he recorded nineteen Xfinity Series starts in 2020 for Richard Childress Racing with nine top tens, two top fives, and a best run of third. The year prior, he made thirteen races in the Trucks with now-David Gilliland Racing, notching two top tens. 2018 marked his last full-time campaign in any series before 2021 when he finished fifth in what is now the ARCA Menards Series East.
“We would like to thank Anthony for being an outstanding ambassador of our team as well as for our #38 partners,” team manager Jerry Freeze stated. “He showed a lot speed in what was very difficult circumstances. He is a true professional and we wish him nothing but success in his future racing endeavours.”
Alfredo’s departure means the #38 will have a different full-time driver for the fourth straight year. Following David Ragan‘s retirement after 2018, Cup newcomer Matt Tifft ran much of 2019 before health issues forced him out of the car. Matt Crafton and John Hunter Nemechek, both of whom made the 2021 Truck Series Championship Round, finished out the 2019 season, and the latter was tabbed to run the full 2020 slate in the #38 before dipping down to the Trucks.
McDowell and Gilliland’s returns come with little surprise. The former scored his maiden Cup win in the season-opening Daytona 500 and became FRM’s second driver to reach the playoffs after Chris Buescher in 2016, though the team’s lesser equipment resulted in him being eliminated after the first round. Gilliland was also knocked out of the Truck playoffs after one round, though he enjoyed a solid year with a win in the inaugural NASCAR race at Circuit of the Americas. DGR, run by his father, maintains an alliance with FRM.
“We will have a very busy next three months as we build for 2022,” commented Freeze. “Our men and women are working hard as we usher in the next generation of NASCAR. It’s an exciting time and we are embracing the challenge and excitement.”
