Even though he is winless so far this season, 23XI driver Bubba Wallace is no doubt having his best year yet in the Cup Series, at least from the point of view of the standings. With just four races to go in the regular season, Wallace is 54 points above the playoff cut-off line, and if he maintains his current form, he will certainly make the Final 16 for the first time in his career. Ahead of Michigan, team owner Denny Hamlin opened up on where Wallace currently stands in the standings, and how he is expected to perform in the playoffs.
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Despite finishing outside the top 10, both 23XI drivers, Reddick and Wallace, showed incredible pace at Richmond and led the pack for a good amount of the race last week.
Denny Hamlin is confident about Bubba Wallace performing in the playoffs
Ahead of Michigan, Hamlin spoke about Bubba’s form heading into the final stretch of the season, saying, “I certainly like where Bubba’s at now, compared to what he was a few weeks ago. I think that team’s really done a good job of you know playing the game, managing the races the proper way and that’s what’s got ’em the points cushion they’ve got. You know it’s still not locked in right, you still want to come out of this racetrack, if he’s got +56, let’s get it to +70, right? You got to keep setting goals, keep expanding this thing to give yourself some buffer going into those last few weeks.”
On how he thinks Wallace will perform in his first playoffs, Hamlin added, “I think he’s more than capable of being a playoff driver, he drove the #45 to a great standing last year in the playoff standings. So He’s very capable and I think he’s just gotten better and better as he’s been with 23XI.
Denny Hamlin was not all that happy with Wallace’s team earlier this month
Earlier this month, the JGR driver was highly critical of the way the #23 team lost his way with plenty of poor finishes. Ahead of New Hampshire, Hamlin said, “They’re running OK. Certainly, would like to see a little more performance, a little more execution on the team’s part. The team has its fair share of growing that they need to do.”
“The drivers, as long as they do their part, then it’s up for us to make sure the team executes. They let him down in some spots, for sure. We all have to get better.”
Wallace himself believed that with the way he had been performing during that stretch, his playoff chances seemed bleak, stating, “Mistakes don’t create points, so we have to eliminate mistakes to get points.”
It will be interesting to see how Wallace will perform in the playoffs. Nevertheless, it will be a big step up in his career, and something he hopes will surely lead to greater things.
