Bob Jenkins, who resides in Dandridge, Tennessee, built his wealth through more than 250 franchise locations in the Yum! Brands family — KFC, Taco Bell, Long John Silver's, and A&W — as well as through his logistics company Morristown Driver's Services. Jenkins first entered NASCAR as a sponsor of a Busch Series entry driven by Brad Teague and fielded by Jimmy Means, then began co-fielding Cup entries with Means in 2004 before taking full ownership the following year.
The team's shop is located in Mooresville, North Carolina, in a facility that previously housed MDM Motorsports and Ranier Racing. FRM operates with roughly 60 employees — a fraction of the staff at the sport's top organizations — and has historically sourced equipment second-hand from better-funded Ford teams, first through an alliance with Roush Fenway/RFK Racing (2016–2023) and then through a technical partnership with Team Penske beginning in 2024.
FRM's identity was shaped largely by its performance on restrictor-plate tracks, where aerodynamic disadvantages of underfunded teams are compressed and draft positioning matters more than raw speed. This reputation crystallized when David Ragan, a skilled plate racer, joined the No. 34 in 2013. The following year at the Aaron's 499 at Talladega, Ragan and teammate David Gilliland finished first and second — the first Cup win for a car using the No. 34 since Wendell Scott in 1964, and the team's first-ever Cup victory.
The team's biggest moment came at the 2021 Daytona 500, when Michael McDowell, a 100-to-1 underdog, dominated the final laps and won. It was McDowell's first Cup victory in his 358th start. McDowell returned to the winner's circle in 2023 with a commanding performance at the Indianapolis road course, dominating laps in a way unprecedented for the team. Chris Buescher also won for FRM in the fog-shortened 2016 Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono, a victory that made Buescher the first Cup Rookie of the Year candidate to win a race since Joey Logano in 2009 and gave him the team's first Chase berth.
The No. 34 became the team's flagship entry. Among its drivers: John Andretti ran full-time in 2009 through an alliance with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing; Travis Kvapil drove in 2010; David Gilliland had a notable third-place finish at the 2011 Daytona 500, beginning the team's superspeedway reputation; David Ragan drove from 2012 through 2015 and delivered the team's first win; Chris Buescher drove in 2016; and Michael McDowell drove from 2018 through 2024, producing the team's most celebrated results.
The No. 38 also carried a long history. Gilliland drove it from 2012 to 2015 and won the first pole in team history at Daytona in 2014. David Ragan drove the No. 38 from 2017 to 2019 before retiring from full-time competition.
In October 2024, Front Row Motorsports and 23XI Racing filed a joint antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR, alleging anti-competitive practices by the France family in the design of the charter agreement governing team participation. In December 2024, a federal court granted a preliminary injunction allowing both teams to race as chartered entries in 2025 during the ongoing litigation. The injunction was overturned on appeal in June 2025, and the case was settled in December 2025 after eight days in court.
As of 2025–2026, FRM fields three full-time Cup entries: the No. 4 for Noah Gragson (who joined in 2025), the No. 34 for Todd Gilliland, and the No. 38 for Zane Smith. In the Truck Series, the team fields the No. 34 for Layne Riggs and No. 38 for Chandler Smith. All Cup entries run Ford Mustang Dark Horse machinery in alliance with Team Penske.