As NASCAR seemed to turn over a new page with its change of regulations, fans quickly jumped on board. After all, one of their favorite drivers, Mike Wallace, would be back in a car for the Daytona 500. He could pay a fitting tribute to his wife. However, it was only time before the gravy train stopped.

Veteran driver Mike Wallace won’t be able to make his dream comeback to the Daytona 500 despite his confirmed entry for the race. Initially, the 65-year-old driver was all set to attempt to qualify for the Great American Race with MBM Motorsports. However, in a surprising turn of events, the sanctioning body informed him that he wasn’t approved to compete at the marquee event. The reason cited behind this decision was his lack of racing in the past few years.

Wallace’s last start in a NASCAR-sanctioned race came back in 2020 with JD Motorsports, but all of them were on road courses. The last time he ran an intermediate or superspeedway race was in 2015 when he ran at the Daytona 500 with Premium Motorsports. This situation is indeed puzzling, as Helio Castroneves, who’s never piloted a Cup car, is guaranteed a spot to race at Daytona. Meanwhile, a lack of races on large ovals is barring Mike Wallace from making his dream return.

But this sudden change has left MBM Motorsports in a huge predicament. With Wallace being barred from racing, the team is now desperately looking for a new driver and sponsors who can fund their Daytona 500 run. The veteran driver took to X in calling support for Carl Long and MB, “Please show some love and support to Carl Long and the complete MBM Motorsports team, as this has now put them in a terrible situation. I was not just the driver but also committed to sponsorship for there Daytona 500 effort.”

This has also sparked controversy with fans alleging that NASCAR is reigniting its beef with Carl Long. Back in 2009, Long was hit with a $200,000 fine as the engine on his car was discovered to be 0.17 cubic inches over the regulation size during practice. Now Carl Long Racing was a small team, and paying off the biggest fine in NASCAR at the time was just beyond their means. As a result, he wasn’t allowed to compete in the Cup Series until the fine was paid.

Long even called out Brain France and the ownership group, “I truly have a sour taste of the management in our sport. They’ve forgotten the roots of how this sport was created, and who are the people buying the tickets, sitting in the stands. The people in the stands are me.” Well, the fans were quick to connect the dots with this latest announcement and couldn’t help but bring the past incidents to light.

Does NASCAR have a personal vendetta against MBM Motorsports?

Mike Wallace’s entry at the Daytona 500 held sentimental value as he lost his wife last year. However, this race fan felt that it was NASCAR’s troubles with MBM and Long that proved detrimental in making a dream comeback. “Regardless of whether you like him or not, it sucks for everyone involved. For Mike, who was dedicating his entry to his late wife and for Carl who’s now left scrambling for a driver. Feels like nascar dropped the ball letting it get this far if there was never a chance, but it’s MBM so I doubt they truly care.”

Unlike the big team, Long depended on third parties to provide him with engines and race parts. Ernie Elliott was the one who provided the engine that landed Long in a ditch. But despite his arguments, the fine stayed, and he had to hit a pause on his cup-racing adventure. He threw shade at NASCAR for strangling the small teams back then, claiming that they wanted the small teams out of the sport. Fast forward to 2025, these start-and-park teams are now restricted to one or two races throughout the season, courtesy of the charter system. Of course, there’s more to this beef between NASCAR and Carl Long, and this user on Reddit asked everyone to look into the story to connect the dots. “NASCAR’s beef with Carl Long needs to be studied.”

Although MBM partnered with the likes of Timmy Hill, David Star Chad Finchum, Josh Bilicki, Parker Retzlaf, and B.J. McLeod in 2024, it’s hard to see them return for the Daytona 500. Hill was the last driver to attempt to qualify for the Great American race in 2022; another issue is sponsorship. Is there a possibility of Long getting back to racing? Not sure how the rules would work in his favor, as he hasn’t competed in a big oval race either. But this fan thinks that is going to be the last resort, “F–k it, Carl Long may as well drive the car himself.”

It has to be noted that Long returned to Cup racing after reaching an agreement with NASCAR in 2017. While multiple drivers have raced under the MBM umbrella, this fan wasn’t convinced that NASCAR has buried the hatchet on their past differences with Long. “I’m starting to wonder if this was a slight against Carl Long. I have no issue with them denying him the ride, but they waited and put MBM in a really bad spot, and I have a hard time thinking that even nascar is that incompetent.”

There is a possibility that the entries for the Daytona 500 might reach up to 44 this time around. Not to forget, the likes of Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. are yet to confirm their entry. Could this somehow play a role in Wallace’s omission from Daytona? And with this, they would cut off MBM to aid other prominent teams and drivers. All of these sudden changes weren’t taken well by this race fan, as he claimed that NASCAR outright hates Carl Long, and he was indeed an easy target. “Man, NASCAR fucking hates Carl Long.”

What is your take on Mike Wallace being barred from attempting to qualify for the Daytona 500?