NASCAR veteran Mike Wallace has been denied a planned entry in the Daytona 500 by series officials.
The 65-year-old Wallace was set to attempt to qualify for the race in a car fielded by MBM Motorsports, but series officials have informed him that, since he has not competed on an intermediate-size or superspeedway track since his appearance in the 2015 Daytona 500, it could not approve his entry.
“To my utter shock and devastation at 4:00 today NASCAR competetion [sic] director Elton Sawyer called me to inform me that NASCAR has decided not only to not approve me for Daytona 500 but at this time not approved to race in the Cup, Xfinity and Truck series in 2025 but could go through there [sic] process to possibly get approved for 2026.,” Wallace wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.
“This comes as a total shock as the President of NASCAR last week in a real phone call told me all was good and he will see me in Daytona. I also went to CMS as required by NASCAR took the required drug test, basic physical, eye test, impact concussion test, and even allowed them to scan my mouth for the volunteer mouth piece to gather driver data and paid the $160.00 in fees so I owe this posting to all my fans and non fans who were so supportive through the great messages and postings of support as they say I inspired them!”
Read Also: KURT BUSCH COMING OUT OF RETIREMENT FOR RACE OF CHAMPIONS
Wallace appeared in 197 Cup Series races after debuting in the series in 1991.
“2024 was a devastating year for me with the loss of Carla, my wife of 44 years, who passed away in January from a battle with cancer,” Wallace said in the original news release announcing his entry.
Read Also: HELIO CASTRONEVES ENTERING DAYTONA 500 WITH TRACKHOUSE RACING
“2025 brings fresh excitement, starting with this Daytona 500 announcement. They say you have to be in it to win it, and we are rolling into Daytona with the chance to both be a part of and then race to win the Daytona 500!”