FORT WORTH (AP) – Nur Ali was not approved by NASCAR to run the Nationwide Series race this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

Ali struggled in his Oct. 20 NASCAR debut at Kansas, where he crashed and finished 33rd in the Nationwide race. He is the first driver of Pakistani descent to compete at NASCAR’s national level.

The Fort Worth resident had hoped to drive for Rick Ware Racing in Saturday’s race at Texas. But he said NASCAR wants him to gain more experience on smaller tracks before he’ll be approved to compete at 1.5-mile Texas.

Ali said he’ll enter the Nov. 10 race at Phoenix, which is a 1-mile track.

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