Despite a late-season charge and a solid effort at the Darlington Raceway, Bubba Wallace came up short of making the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for the second season in a row.
A fantastic qualifying lap on Saturday put Wallace on the pole for Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington, but a changing track saw the No. 23 team struggle to keep up with adjustments. However, in the race’s final stage, the combination of a charge from Wallace and Chris Buescher falling back saw Wallace’s points deficit to Buescher shrink to as little as two points.
However, a caution flag for a Carson Hocevar spin changed the complexion of the race and saw both drivers suddenly start going in the opposite direction. Another yellow flag forced Wallacee to the middle of the pack, where he was caught up in a big wreck in turn two with 23 laps to go.
Wallace’s damage wasn’t terminal, but it put him further behind Buescher and crippled the car’s speed. Wallace clawed his way to a 16th-place finish, but at that point, the points gap to Buescher didn’t matter, as Chase Briscoe’s win knocked both Buescher and Wallace out of contention.
From June 30 to Aug. 24, Wallace racked up five top-10 finishes and six top-13 finishes in seven races, with the lone outlier being a 26th-place finish at Michigan after Kyle Larson spun right in front of Wallace.
To add insult to injury, Wallace sits 12th in the Cup Series’ regular-season standings. Only wins by Briscoe, Harrison Burton, Austin Cindric and Daniel Suarez — all drivers below the top-16 threshold that determines the playoffs – kept Wallace and the No. 23 team from making the playoffs in two straight seasons.
23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan was on site for Sunday’s race, admitting to NBC Sports that he was nervous as he watched one of his two drivers compete for a playoff berth.
The good news for Wallace? The No. 23 team has speed, and even without a championship to chase, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Wallace visit victory lane for the third time in his career.
