With over 800 starts at the national level, and 197 in Cup, Mike Wallace was looking forward to making an unexpected return to the sport in next month's Daytona 500. But the veteran driver, even with 11 Daytona 500 starts and 16 attempts, was denied a 17th, as confirmed by a NASCAR spokesperson to Motorsport.com.
NASCAR cited "recent racing activity and performance" as the driving factors behind this decision, noting that he has not competed at larger oval tracks (intermediate and up) in a decade. "Due to this inactivity, at this time, he is not approved to race at the NASCAR Cup Series level." The series added that he has not requested approval for competing in the Truck or Xfinity Series.
