Bubba Wallace: The NASCAR Champion Is the Best Driver Irrespective of the Format

A lot has been said of NASCAR’s playoff format, ranging from veteran drivers like Kyle Busch and Joey Logano to former greats of the sport, such as Mark Martin and Richard Petty, sometimes in favor, but mostly criticizing what has been a point of contention in the industry for a long time now. The latest to join that bandwagon is 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace.

The No. 23 driver looks on course to qualify for the Round of 12 after this Saturday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway, which concludes the first round of the 2025 playoffs.

As a result, and coming off a career year in the Cup Series, Wallace gave his take on the whole playoff format debate. Unlike some of his peers, such as Denny Hamlin or retired champions such as Petty, Wallace kept it relatively simple.

“You can leave me out of the format talks. If I have a contract and have a car and have a team and all this stuff, I’m gonna go race whatever it is and try to be the best at that. I could give two craps about how it is.”

“Not dismissing people’s opinions at all, I hear all that. But we have a job, this is what we are paid to do, and paid to beat the rest, and once you do that, you become champion. Doesn’t matter what format that is; you were the best of that current format,” added Wallace.

In typical fashion, the Mobile, Alabama native conveyed his opinions in a pretty blunt manner, which often is one of the reasons why fans are usually driven away from him, or at least a portion of the NASCAR fan base, but we digress.

However, what Wallace said does make sense. Improvements to the format can always be made, with talks around the 3-3-4 format, which involves crowning a champion after a 4-race final round, have been going around for quite some time, with the likes of Hamlin and Chase Elliott advocating for the same. Yet, it does not take away from the driver who manages to best the current system.

In the meantime, outlooks such as Wallace’s, especially during a time when he looks to be on course for his best year in the NASCAR Cup Series to date, help him achieve what he truly can, while keeping within the bounds of the rules.

With a +50 buffer over the cutoff line heading into Bristol this Saturday, and having qualified for the playoffs with a win itself for the first time in his career, it is also easy to see why he couldn’t care less about what format crowns the NASCAR champion leading up until now, similar to what 3-time champion Joey Logano has said in the past.

While their perspectives might be skewed given their current performances, it does say something about a racecar driver’s mentality, and how they try to find every little bit of advantage they can get, whether on track or off it.