NASCAR removes driver from the 2025 Daytona 500 entry list

MBM Motorsports recently announced that Mike Wallace was set to attempt to qualify for the 67th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, and the No. 66 Ford was added to the provisional entry list.

The Carl Long-owned team have not competed in the "Great American Race" at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval since 2020, when Timmy Hill successfully qualified. The team attempted to qualify for the race again in 2021 and 2022 but failed to do so both times. They did not return in 2023 or 2024.

Wallace is now 65 years old and has not competed in a Cup Series race since the 2015 Daytona 500. He was aiming to become the first driver to ever compete in five generations of Cup Series cars and needed to lock into the race either on speed in the single-car qualifying session or on his result in one of the two Bluegreen Vacations Duel races.

Now he won't even get the chance to try, at least not this year.

Due to his lack of recent experience in major professional motorsport events, NASCAR ruled that Wallace cannot compete at the "World Center of Racing" next month, leaving MBM Motorsports in need of a new driver for the No. 66 Ford.

There is no guarantee that MBM Motorsports will even end up on the entry list at this point, given the fact that the start of Speedweeks is less than one month away and the team are now seeking a driver who can bring sponsorship to fund the entry.

It is also worth pointing out that, with as many as 10 non-chartered (open) cars going for the four remaining open spots in the Daytona 500 lineup, MBM Motorsports face an uphill battle just to get into the race as it is, so attracting a new driver and a new major sponsor for a race they may not even be in could prove difficult.

Given the team's relative lack of pace, it goes without saying that they probably aren't going to be one of the two open entries to lock in on speed, meaning that their new driver would need to race in via one of the Duel races, a challenging task with such a stacked field of open entries competing for those final two spots.

Single-car Daytona 500 qualifying is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 12, and the Bluegreen Vacations Duel races are scheduled to take place on Thursday, February 13 (7:00 p.m. ET on Fox). The "Great American Race" itself is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 16 (2:30 p.m. ET on Fox).