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The Daytona 500 is the most prestigious race in NASCAR's history, and simply racing in the 200-lap event is a privilege drivers don't take for granted. Unfortunately, there have been some instances where drivers have been barred from competing at the event.
Some of the situations surrounded racing circumstances, but others were because of off-track issues. In this article, we'll take a look at three NASCAR drivers who were told they can't race in The Great American Race.
Mike Wallace
The most recent driver for NASCAR to tell them they can't compete in one of the sport's most significant races is Mike Wallace. Ahead of next month's event, Wallace, who has over 800 NASCAR starts across the top three series, made his intentions known that he was going to attempt to race in this year's Daytona 500.
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However, due to recent inactivity, Wallace was denied entry into this year's race by NASCAR. The 65-year-old, who was set to get behind the wheel for MBM Motorsports, took to his Facebook last Monday to express how surprised he was by NASCAR's decision.
"This comes as a total shock as the President of NASCAR last week in a real phone call told me all was good and he will see me in Daytona," Wallace said. "I owe this posting to all my fans and non fans who were so supportive through the great messages and postings of support as they say I inspired them!"
Kurt Busch
Back in 2017, Kurt Busch scored the biggest win of his career when he captured his first and only career Daytona 500 victory. However, two years prior, the Las Vegas native was barred from competing in the event.
Ahead of the 2015 NASCAR Cup Series season, the 2004 champion was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR after a court determined the driver committed an act of domestic violence. Thus, the Las Vegas native was barred from competing in the 2015 Daytona 500.
NASCAR released a statement regarding Busch's suspension, stating:
“Given the serious nature of the findings and conclusions made by the Commissioner of the Family Court of the State of Delaware, NASCAR has indefinitely suspended driver Kurt Busch, effective immediately."
Busch would miss two more races in 2015 before being reinstated. He competed in every Daytona 500 after that until stepping away from full-time NASCAR competition midway through the 2022 season.
Jeremy Mayfield
After being indefinitely suspended midway through the 2009 NASCAR Cup Series season, Jeremy Mayfield wasn't allowed to compete in the following year's Daytona 500. The now-55-year-old was suspended by NASCAR for violating the sport's substance abuse policy.
The suspension ultimately ended Mayfield's career as the Kentucky native never entered the sport's Road to Recovery program in an attempt to be reinstated. Prior to that, Mayfield had won five career races. His most notable win came at Pocono in 2000, where he passed the late seven-time Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt on the final lap to claim the victory.
