Many fans were left disappointed at the fact that Mike Wallace wouldn’t be competing in the 2025 Daytona 500 due to his lack of recent racing experience. However, this isn’t the first time that a high-caliber driver has faced such a situation, where they’ve missed out on racing in the Great American Race due to unavoidable circumstances. Kenny Brack is one of them.
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The Swedish national was a famed CART driver who also won the 1999 Indianapolis 500. He was also the 1998 Indy Racing League champion. In 2002, Brack tested for Chip Ganassi Racing at Daytona with the dream of making his NASCAR debut in that year’s Daytona 500. However, he missed out on the chance due to a lack of sponsors.
Ganassi told the media, “I think the point there is that the business is tightening up and we had high hopes of finding the money for that but it doesn’t seem to be coming. I don’t foresee that happening and it’s too bad because we thought Daytona was a place where he might do well.” The result was particularly disappointing since Brack had a good record at Daytona.
January 15, 2002: Indy 500 champion, Kenny Brack tested a NASCAR Cup car ahead of a potential Daytona 500 entry with Chip Ganassi. Sponsorship couldn’t be found, and Brack never raced
In 4 IROC races on superspeedways, Brack never finished outside the top-5 pic.twitter.com/KMrSrwmN3J
— nascarman (@nascarman_rr) January 15, 2025
He drove at the oval in the IROC Series and impressed in testing as well. Ganassi has a reputation for being a great negotiator and businessman, but not even his skills could land Brack a good sponsor. Running a third entry alongside Sterling Marlin and Jimmy Spencer out of his pocket simply wasn’t a viable choice either.
When Brack suffered one of the most horrific crashes in motorsports
Brack went on with his IndyCar career following the failed Daytona 500 attempt. In 2003, he suffered a massive crash at the Texas Motor Speedway. His car was demolished as it tore into the fence and fell to the track. The cockpit sailed down the track before coming to a halt. Reports mention that it was the highest horizontal g-force ever experienced by a man.
His medical advisor, Dr. Henry Bock, had confirmed that he suffered fractures in his right thighbone, breastbone, lower back, and ankles. Despite the severity of the accident, he had been able to speak with the track’s medical staff, and he was taken to the Parkland Hospital in Dallas.
Eighteen months after this, he came back to race in the Indy 500 and set the fastest qualifying speed. He retired from the IndyCar Series after that event. In 2024, he worked as a consultant for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The team is currently being investigated by the FBI for unknown reasons.
