Matt Evans

**Matt "The Black Mamba" Evans** is a driver in the Utica Rallycross Series. He currently drives the #17 car for Evans Engineering Inc.

 Car no., team
 Best Points
 First race
 Last race
 First win
 Last win

## Early Life and Pre-URCS Career

Evans is the son of regional dirt track racer Neal Evans. Evans grew up as a big racing junkie, entering bicycle races with his childhood friend Tyler Benoit and heading to the local dirt track to watch the old timers race.

As Evans grew up and learned to drive a car, Evans raced whenever he could, entering in the illegal underground street racing circuits that littered the city. Though he was relatively young compared to the others in his crew, Evans was a prodigal wheel-man and would often guide the team to victory against the rival East Side Motor Mafia. He used the winnings and pink slips to fund a reputable dirt-track operation with Tyler Benoit. However, Evans' luck evading authority caught up to him, and he was arrested after a sting operation race.

Evans was sentenced to two years in jail, but was eventually set free after five months due to good behavior. Evans quit the street racing circuit and decided to attend college in engineering. Upon graduation, Evans joined his friend Tyler's stock car team and raced in the Utica Home Track Series.

Evans had a rocky start to his Utica Home Track Series career, but got a hang of it in his quickly, winning three races in his first season and three more in his second, championship contending season. Evans would gain one more victory in the 2013 season, making him the winningest driver in the Utica Home Track Series. Evans grew tired of the oval tracks and yearned for something more challenging.

## URCS S1

Evans was one of seventeen drivers to attempt the inaugural race in Yuma, Arizona for a team co-owned by he and his father. Evans would finish third in Yuma, but would head to victory lane two races later in Stockholm, edging out Brandon Bayne by a tenth of a second. The rest of Evans' first season went well, gaining a close runner-up finish in Sarh and accruing multiple top ten efforts.

Evans' notably drove a stark black race car in Season 1, which, along with his natural talent to slither around the many difficult corners on the circuit, resulted in Evans being nicknamed "The Black Mamba." This alias resulted in a large social boom, including an influx of new fans, an increase of merchandise sales, and a large social media following on Twitter.

## URCS S2

Happy with the success of Season 1, Evans returned with his team to chase the Season 2 title. Evans was strong out of the gate, finishing third in Yuma and surviving the Turn of Death in Kansas City to finish seventh. Evans secured a second place finish in Ecuador, only failing to beat Chris Aurelio who had a five second gain on the entire field. Solid top ten efforts continued for Evans in St. Denis, Wiener, and Lithuania. However, Evans season took a negative turn in Budva, where he received his first ever last place finish. Sarh did not go well for Evans either. Evans was worried about his late season until he went to Hong Kong. The Asian tour was good to Evans, as Evans dominated the Hong Kong event from nearly start to finish, and winning the following race Seoul as the second to last car on track.

Evans hit another lull in Amursk, which hurt him in the points. Toyota was lackluster for Evans as well and by the time he finished twelfth at The Pacific Oil Rig, Dunlap had secured the title going into Dead Man's Curve.

With nothing to lose in Dead Man's Curve, Evans wen all out. Stephen Carter had laid down a hard to beat 2:59.01 at the freshly more difficult Australian circuit and many drivers failed to finish chasing Carter down. Evans laid down a near perfect lap, gaining five seconds on Carter's time, with only Dillon Young able to challenge. Evans won the race, making it his third of the season and fourth overall. He finished the season third in points.

## URCS S3

Evans struggled to start Season 3, finishing a disappointing fifteenth in Yuma and wrecking out of the Elk Horn Pike event. However, his luck began to turn around in Blackpool, where he eked out a top five finish. He was able to follow it up with another top five finish in Paparone the following week.

Following the halfway point of the season, Evans' performance began to improve. He finished fourth in Dubai and scored two podium finishes in Sarh and Laos.

Evans finished tenth in Hong Kong, beating points leader Tyler Kulesa by one position and staying mathematically eligible for the Season 3 championship. Evans looked good going into the Dead Man's Curve Qualifier, having won there the previous year. However, Evans floundered during his qualifying attempt, and missed the race. This was the first time Evans was not present in he field for an event.

## URCS S4

Evans returned to series competition for another full-time effort in Season 4.

## Legacy

* Evans is tied with Tyler Benoit as the winningest driver in the Utica Rallycross Series, winning four races.
* Evans is the winningest driver in any Utica-brand series, winning 7 UHTS races and 4 URCS races.
* Evans has the record for the latest start to win a race (twenty-fourth, S2 Seoul).
* Evans has kept the same car number and team name for the longest time in the Utica Rallycross Series, having driven the #17 for Evans Engineering Inc. since his debut in Season 1.
* *Off-Trak Magazine* included Matt Evans on their list of the 100 Greatest Rallycross Racers, ranking him at #3.