As it turns out, NASCAR veteran Mike Wallace, who was attempting to qualify into the Daytona 500 as a 65-year-old five years after his last national touring start has not been approved for any race next month.
He posted the following statement to his Facebook page.
“To my utter shock and devastation at 4:00 today NASCAR competition 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 process to possibly get approved for 2026.
“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 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!.”
NASCAR has decided to not approve him for competition as he has not raced on an intermediate track or larger since the 2015 season. He last raced three Xfinity Series road course races in 2020.
“Please show your Love and support to Carl Long and the complete MBM Motorsports team as this has now put them in a terrible position as I was not just the driver but also committed to sponsorship for their Daytona 500 effort. I had sponsorship commitments for the effort around me and. Help them find an approved driver and plenty of money! Thank you Doug Yates for being in my corner and supportive. I guess we won’t get that Daytona 500 pit road picture after all.
“Brother Kenny, I Love you and thanks for showing me so much Love! In closing on Jan 22 will be the one year date of my wife of 44 years Carla’s passing. I Love my family and we had a plan for a great family picture on pit road at Daytona.”
MBM Motorsports is now seeking a new driver to run the event in its open car.
“MBM Motorsports can confirm that NASCAR has deemed Mike Wallace is not eligible to compete in the 2025 Daytona 500, despite eleven previous 500 starts and several superspeedway wins, due to lack of recent races in major professional motorsports.
“We are devastated for Mike and the Wallace family that this opportunity will not come to fruition. For MBM, we must regroup at this late stage with the loss of our driver and sponsor for The Great American Race. Our team is working swiftly to sign another funded driver for Speedweeks in order to still attempt the 67th Daytona 500.”
