NASCAR team suddenly in need of a new driver for the 2025 Daytona 500

Mike Wallace was supposed to drive the No. 66 Ford at Daytona International Speedway in the single-car qualifying session and one of the two Bluegreen Vacations Duel races in attempt to qualify for the 67th annual Daytona 500 next month.

However, NASCAR ruled that the 65-year-old Wallace is not allowed to even attempt to qualify for the race, due to his lack of recent races in major professional motorsport events. Though he has competed in the "Great American Race" on 11 occasions in the past, he has not done so since 2015.

So now, all of a sudden, Carl Long's team need a new driver for the No. 66 Ford, as Wallace will not get the opportunity to become the first driver in Cup Series history to run five generations of cars a few weeks from now.

MBM Motorsports have not competed in the Daytona 500 since 2020, when Timmy Hill successfully qualified for the race. They attempt to qualify for the event in both 2021 and 2022 but failed to do so. They skipped the 2023 Cup Series season entirely, and they returned in 2024, but not until after the season opener.

Mike Wallace out, but who is in?

Given the team's relative lack of competitiveness, plus the fact that there could be as many as 11 non-chartered (open) cars going for the four open spots in the Daytona 500 field, it was always going to be an uphill battle for the team to make their first Daytona 500 start in five years.

Being one of two entries to lock in on speed was never likely; it was always probably going to come down to racing in via a Duel race.

Wallace being ruled out certainly doesn't help matters, and now there is a good chance that they might not compete at all; there were a number of occasions in 2024 in which they planned to enter a race but did not end up doing so. They operate on a race-by-race basis, and they now need funding again with under a month to go until the start of Speedweeks.

With the clock ticking, will a driver/sponsor combination be able to provide the necessary funding to a team that very well might not even make the main event?

Daytona 500 qualifying is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 12, followed by the Bluegreen Vacations Duels 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).