Dylan “Mamba” Smith, who made his ARCA Menards Series debut earlier this season with a ninth-place finish at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, will get back behind the wheel for this weekend’s South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway.
According to a press release, Smith will pilot the No. 170 Dodge Charger SRT Super Late Model for Lee Faulk Racing and the effort will be backed by the Dodge Direct Connection performance parts brand and @DodgeMoparMotorsports, the brand’s motorsports Instagram channel.
For Smith, who has been heavily involved with Dodge since 2019 through the company’s Thrill Ride Tour, the chance to evolve his role from ‘Hype Man’ to driving the brand onto the race track is a dream come true.
“In April 2019 I was offered a spot on the Dodge Thrill Ride tour, and since then I’ve grown within the brand from a support staff role to serving as a brand ambassador, Dodge product specialist, and now leading event activations and acting as a ‘hype man’ on the mic,” said Smith. “Without this opportunity on the Dodge Thrill Ride tour, I don’t think I’m doing what I’m doing with NASCAR. To carry Direct Connection and @DodgeMoparMotorsports colors on this car is a full-circle life experience — the people and the brand will always be home for me.”
Smith’s No. 170 car will carry a slick black base paint scheme with intimidating red striping to fall in line with Dodge’s bold branding. The car will also feature sponsorship on the rear quarter-panels from Shaq Eye Gear (*editor’s note: Use promo code “Toby20” for 20% off your order of Shaq Eye Gear glasses).
The alumni of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program has been a longtime advocate for short-track racing. The 30-year-old Smith has driven in multiple big-time local short-track races throughout the country over the years, and he has even hosted video shows dedicated to covering short-track racing.
In recent years, Smith has started his own media company — Mamba Media — and has also taken on an analyst role with NASCAR.com, where he can be seen frequently on episodes of Backseat Drivers and several other NASCAR.com video productions.
In addition to his driving and media-world ventures within the industry, Smith was also a team member on Kevin Harvick’s 2014 NASCAR Cup Series championship team with Stewart-Haas Racing.
The 2022 South Carolina 400 will be a hotly contested battle as many big names will be on the entry list to duke it out for the victory in one of short-track racing’s most coveted races and the $12,000 prize money that goes along with it. Smith will be joined by notable names such as NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., who will pilot a gold No. 3 Bass Pro Shops car, 2022 Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour LMSC champion Carson Kvapil and 2022 Hickory Motor Speedway Track Champion Landon Huffman.
The event will be streamed on FloRacing on Saturday, November 19th at 7:30 PM ET.
