Chandler Smith to attempt to make Daytona 500 with Garage 66 entry

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Chandler Smith will attempt to make the Daytona 500 for the Garage 66 team after NASCAR would not approve Mike Wallace for the ride.

The 22-year-old Smith made three Cup starts in 2023 for Kaulig Racing. He failed to make the Daytona 500 for Garage 66, known then as MBM Motorsports, that year.

Smith will run full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Front Row Motorsports this season after racing in the Xfinity Series full-time last year.

"I'm very excited for the opportunity to race our way into the Daytona 500 with Garage 66," Smith said in a statement from the team. "Being in The Great American Race is such an honor, and I can't thank (sponsor) QuickTie and Carl Long enough for helping put this all together."

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The team announced earlier this month that Wallace would be in the team's No. 66 car at Daytona. Wallace has 197 Cup starts. His last Cup start came in the 2015 Daytona 500. He won the 2000 Truck race at Daytona and the summer 2004 Xfinity race there.

NASCAR confirmed Jan. 13 that it had not approved Wallace for the Cup Series.

That left Garage 66 and Long, a co-owner of the team, looking for a new driver and sponsorship.

"The last few days have been a whirlwind of phone calls and emails after Mike Wallace was not approved to be the driver of our Daytona 500 entry," Long said in a statement from the team. "After several days of non-stop communication with available drivers who could race a Ford, the pieces came together to place Chandler Smith in our car."