Daytona Champ Mike Wallace Denied for Great American Race

NASCAR confirmed Mike Wallace has not been approved to attempt the Daytona 500 next month with MBM Motorsports due to inactivity in recent NASCAR seasons.

According to NASCAR's approval form:

A driver must submit this Driver Information and Record before being considered for eligibility for a NASCAR-sanctioned event. After review of the Driver Information and Record, NASCAR will advise a driver if he/she is approved for competition and/or observation and, if approved, may include limitations or conditions for a particular series and/or racetrack...Furthermore, should a driver not compete in a NASCAR-sanctioned event in his or her currently approved series for over 365 days, such driver will be considered inactive...This driver information and record must be submitted to NASCAR at least two weeks prior to the requested event.

Wallace later took to Facebook to display his displeasure:

To my utter shock and devastation at 4:00 today NASCAR competetion 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...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!😃

Notably, Wallace never said he applied to any other series for the 2025 NASCAR season, only that he was denied.

Historically, NASCAR has granted drivers with more recent racing experience, such as when Derrike Cope ran in the 2021 Daytona 500, having Cup Series starts in 2018. Likewise, 72-year-old James Hylton raced in the 2007 Daytona 500 while having no Cup starts since 1995. Hylton had one Xfinity start and 16 ARCA events in 2006 along with two ARCA racing in the subsequent year.

Wallace's most recent efforts are three Xfinity starts in 2020 for JD Racing.