At 65 years old, Mike Wallace was looking at becoming the biggest Cinderella Story leading into the 2025 Daytona 500. The driver, who has accumulated nine wins between the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (two of them at Daytona International Speedway) and has compiled 809 total starts in NASCAR National Series competition was set to attempt this year’s edition of The Great American Race in the No. 66 MBM Motorsports entry.
Then, on Monday afternoon Wallace received a phone call that cut through him like a dagger. NASCAR concluded that Wallace was not eligible to compete for a spot in the Daytona 500 field.
“Well, I think it’s past heartbreaking, it’s devastating,” Wallace explained in an exclusive interview with Racing America on SI. “It’s because I did what I knew, or thought was appropriate in getting the proper clearances and everything.”
Read the rest of Toby Christie‘s article on SI by clicking here.