Heading into the first race of the playoffs, Bubba Wallace had one thing in mind–to somehow keep his calm and get in a stage point or a race win. Unfortunately for Wallace, mistakes slowly began creeping up, further shunting him down the order. Despite early mistakes and a spin, the 23XI Racing driver managed to recover well and finish the race in seventh place.
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Following the race, Wallace explained how he was not happy with himself. The #23 driver also apologized to some of his fellow drivers whom he had come in contact with during the rather eventful race.
Bubba Wallace reveals his playoff plan, echoing Truex Jr.’s comments
Having finished in the 7th place, Wallace spoke with NBC Sports and mentioned, “I’m not happy with myself. Apologies to Joey (Logano), apologies to AJ (Allmendinger).”
Wallace made brief contact with Logano’s left rear quarter panel after which the 23XI Racing driver spun out, bringing out the caution.
“I think the important thing to learn here is to not make enemies race one when you’re in the playoffs because they make it hell, so I deserve everything I got throughout the night.”
Interestingly, his comments about not making enemies during the postseason were fairly reminiscent of what Martin Truex Jr said in the aftermath of the Denny Hamlin-Kyle Larson incident at Pocono.
In the end, the 23XI Racing driver thanked his team and appreciated their support throughout the duration of the race. He stated, “Just did not execute. I’ve got to be better. I appreciate the team for sticking behind me through all of the mistakes that I caused them. They didn’t let us down and got us back to a top-10 finish.”
What did Martin Truex Jr. say about the playoffs?
A couple of weeks prior, Truex Jr., who had been battling for the lead of the regular season championship, made some comments about not making enemies when the postseason arrived.
The JGR driver mentioned, “You certainly don’t want to get into the playoffs with guys having grudges against you and want to settle scores. Because if they have a bad day, they’re going to try to take you with them. We’ve seen it in the past.” Later on, he added how he understood the bigger picture and wouldn’t look to create rivals once he was in the playoffs.
It makes sense since making enemies would only ruin your chances as and if you progressed through the elimination rounds. Hence, it makes sense for Wallace to follow Truex Jr. if he wants to go far in the postseason.
