A disk drive is disclosed comprising a disk having a plurality of tracks, a head actuated over the disk, and control circuitry for servicing an access command received from a host, wherein the access command identifies at least one of the tracks. The control circuitry identifies a band of tracks associated with the access command, maintains a counter for tracking an amount of time the head is within the band of tracks, and moves the head out of the band of tracks in response to the counter to facilitate wear prevention.