In the aftermath of NASCAR ultimately deciding not to approve Mike Wallace entry into making a Daytona 500 attempt a decade removed from his most recent start at the highest level the MBM Motorsports Garage 66 entry has a new driver.
Chandler Smith will try to race his way into the Great American Race.
Racing in the Truck Series for Front Row Motorsports this year following a two-year stint in the Xfinity Series for Kaulig Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, Smith will also make his second attempt in the race after trying in 2023 for Kaulig. Smith has two Cup Series starts on superspeedways at Daytona and Talladega.
“I’m very excited for the opportunity to race our way into the Daytona 500 with Garage 66. Being in The Great American Race is such an honor, and I can’t thank QuickTie and Carl Long enough for helping put this all together,” said Smith.
Long is the owner of the team alongside Rocky Smith, Tom Smith and John Jackson, who were able to find a viable business solution after Wallace was denied.
“The last few days have been a whirlwind of phone calls and emails after Mike Wallace was not approved to be the driver of our Daytona 500 entry. After several days of non-stop communication with available drivers who could race a Ford, the pieces came together to place Chandler Smith in our car,” said Long. “I am super pleased to have Chandler in our seat. He has friends behind the wheel of the other cars. At Daytona, we will need all the friends we can find to help race our way into the show! There are a lot of really quality cars attempting this race, which could easily make the most exciting part of the 2025 Daytona 500 the race to be in the race.
“With Roush-Yates power and Chandler behind the wheel, the odds of Garage 66 and our No. 66 team making the event just got stronger.”
