Garage 66 Adds Garrett Smithley for Clash at Bowman Gray Entry

Garage 66, the NASCAR Cup Series team formerly known as MBM Motorsports, will attempt to make the show in the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. On Saturday morning, the organization announced the addition of Garrett Smithley as its driver for the first NASCAR Cup event at Bowman Gray since 1971.

Smithley, 32, will pilot the No. 66 Ford Mustang Dark Horse with sponsorship that will be announced in the coming days. Smithley is honored to run the historic event at Bowman Gray, and while he is set for a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign with SS-GreenLight Racing this year, Smithley hopes he can carve out more NASCAR Cup Series starts with Garage 66 this season.

"It's awesome to be back in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2025," Smithley said in a team press release. "I've been talking to Carl [Long] for a while now about putting something together, and finally all the pieces fell into place. I am looking forward to running this historic race at Bowman Gray, and hopefully we can do more together throughout the year."

Smithley has driven for Carl Long's team in the past. In his previous stint with the team, Smithley gained a reputation as a driver who made few mistakes on track.

"It has been a while since Garrett last drove for our organization, but I am glad to have him back in our car," Long stated. "He has a solid deal in Xfinity that also gives him more freedom to race in Cup. Garrett knows how to take care of his equipment and be there at the end."

A native of Ligonier, Pennsylvania, Smithley has amassed 76 starts in NASCAR Cup Series competition throughout his career. The driver has a career best finish of 21st, which came in the 2022 event at Auto Club Speedway. In all, Smithley has combined for 266 starts between the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series.

Garage 66, which was rebranded from MBM Motorsports earlier this week, is still working on shoring up its entry for the Daytona 500 after Mike Wallace, its originally planned driver, was not approved by NASCAR to compete in the season-opening NASCAR Cup Series event.

Sources indicate the team is nearing an announcement of a new driver for the 2025 running of The Great American Race.