NASCAR Denies Mike Wallace’s Daytona 500 Comeback

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer/Photographer

NASCAR veteran Mike Wallace, who was looking to qualify for his 12th Daytona 500 next month, will no longer have that opportunity after the sanctioning body denied his entry Monday afternoon.

First broken by The Late Lap host AJ England, then elaborated by Mike’s brother Kenny Wallace on The Kenny Wallace Show, and soon confirmed by MBM Motorsports, the 65-year-old racer won’t be allowed to compete in the No. 66 Ford Mustang Dark Horse due to recent inactivity in NASCAR.

The consequential outcome was a result of not competing at intermediate or larger tracks since 2015, the year when Mike last competed in the Cup Series when he finished 36th in the Daytona 500.

Before being denied to race, the middle brother of the Wallace racing family made his last national touring start in the Xfinity Series on August 18, 2020 when he drove for JD Motorsports, finishing 25th at the Daytona Road Course.

Mike shared his initial remarks on his Facebook page saying the decision came as a shock after getting the nod from NASCAR President Steve Phelps nearly two weeks ago. As not only the denial was for Daytona, but the entire national touring division this season, but can go through the process of getting approved to race in 2026.

After England first broke the news, Wallace later spoke to him on The Late Lap and discussed the disappointment of not getting an opportunity to attempt The Great American Race for the first time since 2015.

“I spoke with (Phelps) even up to last Thursday via phone call and he said everything was fine,” said Mike. “The only reason why I was even concerned about it was Chad Little, an official within NASCAR.

“He was telling my team, ‘Mike is not even approved to run Daytona.’

“Lo and behold, they made it an opinion that because I haven’t raced competitively for the last four years. Even though I have been doing other things and haven’t run a NASCAR speedway, that I wasn’t qualified to race the (NextGen) car.”

Mike wished he could explain the inconsistency of the rule, citing Helio Castroneves’ approval of racing the Daytona 500 without having any NASCAR experience as a case of the flawed system that denied him to race, but allows a four-time Indy 500 champion to be approved. Not only that, but guaranteed a spot either by qualifying speed, racing his way in his Duel race or the new Open Exemption Provisional (OPE).

NASCAR told Mike that Castroneves is a “world class driver,” which he took it as that he’s not in that class.

“It really hurts bad because I given 25 years of my life to being and wanting to be in NASCAR. If there was some different procedure that I wasn’t aware of, I wished they would’ve made me aware of it,” Mike explained. “The President of NASCAR tells me that we’re all good to go. I really don’t get it and this one really was a striking hard blow for me.

“There’s been a lot of expenditure out of my pocket and the team’s pocket. I feel real bad for MBM Motorsports, a small team that doesn’t have any sponsorship. I was a two-fold deal. I was being a driver and I guaranteed the funding for the program because I had people that are willing to support me.”

Despite the devastating news, Mike thanked the people who supported him through the journey and encourages them to show love and support to the No. 66 team. More so that it now leaves the seat, with a high-caliber Roush Yates Racing powered machine, vacant with the Daytona 500 being a month away. Furthermore, Mike provided funding and sponsorship commitments on his behalf when he had the impression he’d be racing for Long at Daytona.

MBM Motorsports issued a statement after confirming Mike’s entry being denied and their Daytona 500 plans going forward:

“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.”

MBM Motorsports last attempted to make the Daytona 500 in 2022 when Timmy Hill missed the show. Heading into next month’s race, the organization are looking to make their third Daytona 500 start and the first since Hill made the field in 2020.

Kenny explained on The Kenny Wallace Show that a “dejected and embarrassed” Mike received a phone call from senior Vice President of Competition Elton Swayer, telling Mike he isn’t allowed to compete. In large part of not racing in the sport since 2020 despite having tremendous success on superspeedways across all three national touring divisions, highlighted with wins at Daytona in both Xfinity (July 2004) and Trucks (February 2000).

Furthermore, Mike had spoken with NASCAR executives and was excited of his interest of racing race stock cars again as he was looking to become the second oldest driver to make the Daytona 500 and the first over the age of 65 since Mark Thompson made the race at 66 years old. Ironically, driving for Carl Long’s organization in 2018 where he finished 22nd, the team’s best Daytona 500 result to date.

However, the dealbreaker of Mike’s comeback was a result of not speaking with the competition side of the sport. Therefore, it left Mike in a dejected state which Kenny explained to his viewers.

“I don’t think Mike messed up, but I think Mike felt like he had the green light from NASCAR executives,” said Kenny during the livestream. “It hurts me to see someone come out so negative and I already knew Mike talked to them. It was a timeline issue and Mike is very embarrassed.

“The reason he’s embarrassed is because if he thought there were (issues) after he talked with NASCAR executives, he would’ve never pursued it. But he felt like he was good to go, but he’s dejected and very embarrassed is what he told me.”

This news came nearly two weeks after Mike announcing being approved to race at Daytona and had his seat fitted. The journey also became symbolic for Mike as he was racing for his late wife of 44 years, Carla, who passed away from cancer last January 22nd.

“As a year has passed, we think about her every day,” Mike on Carla. “This opportunity to go to Daytona brought up a new way to honor her. I had planned a big tribute on the car in memory of my wife. That’s probably is what hurts just as bad is because I’ll never be able to do that. I was going to do it, but that opportunity was taken away.

“But on a positive note, the Wallace family has had an incredible opportunity in NASCAR racing. Rusty is a Hall of Famer, brother Kenny and I won about the same amount of races. We were good for the sport. We talked good. We rattled on. Might’ve threw up a controversy or two over the years, but that’s what we needed to do. Now it’s all different just because of what happened.”