Bubba Wallace is 21 points behind the playoff cutline with only one race remaining in the regular season, similar to his position at the same time last year. However, the catch was the Mobile, Alabama native sitting on the other side of the line in 2023. Regardless, Wallace was unsure of whether he would be in the playoffs heading into the final race weekend. Despite the current scenario, the 23XI Racing star expressed hopefulness and confidence in himself and his team to get the win on Sunday.
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Wallace has had a decent run of late, finishing in the top 10 in four out of the last five races. The #23 driver has been fairly consistent and improving gradually over the year, similar to last season. The only thing that’s been missing in both seasons are race wins. The last time he won a race was in Kansas in 2022. His teammate, on the other hand, has been racking up wins every year and is at the top of the regular season championship table.
It has surely been frustrating for Wallace to see Tyler Reddick be as successful as he is, in essentially the same car. They say that your teammate is your biggest rival in motorsports. If that is the case, Reddick has bettered Wallace in that rivalry so far. However, if the 30-year-old can pull a rabbit out of a hat at Darlington on Sunday and somehow make it to the playoffs, he’d have a chance to redeem himself.
“I’m excited just to show up and basically, I need to portray the best race that I’ve ever had in my career to make the playoffs. And I don’t say that from a desperation mode. I say it as I’m confident in our team and our ability, as long as all the outside factors execute — an example, pit crew and strategy — then there’s no reason why we can’t be in Victory Lane at Darlington on Sunday,” Wallace said in a recent media interaction.
His last few performances at NASCAR’s toughest tracks have been commendable. He has finished in the top 10 in each of the last four Cup races at the track, recording a best finish of P5 in 2023. The #23 driver will need to find that form again and improve upon it. He’s confident enough to be able to do that. That’s unless things out of his control don’t go his way.
It will be intriguing to see the 23XI Racing star give it his all on track on Sunday. He finds himself in this spot of desperation for the second straight year. Surely something has to change before this becomes a recurring issue for the #23 team.
