NASCAR: Why is Bubba Wallace listed as ‘playoffs’?

Bubba Wallace is listed with a “playoff” classification, but he isn’t in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Why is this the case?

Of the four races that have been contested so far in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, none have been won by a driver who was able to lock himself into the next round of the postseason.

All three races in the round of 16 were won by non-playoff drivers, and the opening race of the round of 12 was won by Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who was eliminated in the round of 16.

But one of the three races in the opening round was won by 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, and to this day, Wallace is still listed with a “playoff” classification, despite the fact that he did not qualify for the playoffs. He finished the regular season winless and in 20th place in the standings.

Why is this the case?

While Wallace didn’t qualify for the playoffs, the #45 team did. Kurt Busch won the race at Kansas Speedway behind the wheel of the #45 Toyota back in mid-May.

But a few weeks after Busch crashed in qualifying at Pocono Raceway and was sidelined with concussion-like symptoms, he withdrew himself from the playoffs after it became clear that he couldn’t return in time.

That opened up a spot for Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney in the 16-driver postseason, since Blaney finished the regular season as the highest non-winner in the standings and there were 15 race winners other than Busch.

But because the #45 team’s win at Kansas Speedway in May is tied to the #45 team and not specifically to Busch, the #45 team qualified for the owner playoffs as one of 16 regular season race winners, leaving Blaney’s #12 team in the 10-week battle for 17th place.

So with the #45 team still eligible to win the owner title, 23XI Racing opted to move Wallace from his usual #23 Toyota to the #45 Toyota for the playoffs.

They felt that Wallace was a better choice than Ty Gibbs, who had served as Busch’s replacement, in terms of giving the #45 team a chance to make a run in the owner playoffs, so the full-time Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series driver moved to Wallace’s #23 Toyota. The #23 team finished the regular season in 21st in the owner standings and did not qualify for the playoffs.

As you can see in the qualifying order below for this coming Sunday afternoon’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, Wallace is listed with a “P” beside his name, meaning that there are 13 drivers, not just 12, with this playoff classification in the round of 12 since both Blaney and the #45 team moved on from the round of 16.

It doesn’t mean that Wallace can still win the NASCAR Cup Series championship; it simply means that the #45 team is still in the running for the owner title.

While the qualifying formula (full explanation here) is what is used to determine the qualifying order, the drivers and teams that remain eligible to win the championship are ignored in that formula until all the non-playoff drivers and teams are listed, guaranteeing them their spots at the end of the order.

Because he now represents the #45 team, Bubba Wallace is included in this group. If the #45 team is eliminated, he will no longer be included.

It is entirely possible that Ryan Blaney wins the 2022 championship and the #12 team finishes in 17th place in the point standings, and it is entirely possible that the #45 team wins the owner championship despite the fact that Bubba Wallace isn’t even a playoff driver.

Worth noting is that in the event Blaney moves on to the round of 8 and the #45 team does not, there will be another playoff driver who is eliminated but whose team remains in contention, since Blaney’s #12 team still wouldn’t be occupying a playoff spot in the owner standings.

Likewise, if the #45 team moves on and Blaney does not, there will be another playoff driver who is still in contention but whose team is not, since the #45 team will still be occupying a playoff spot but Wallace will not.

If both move on, things will be the same as they are now, and if neither moves on, then the eight remaining playoff drivers and playoff teams will match.

Through one of three races in the round of 12, Blaney sits in fourth place in the standings, 22 points above the round of 8 cut line (between Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe and Team Penske rookie Austin Cindric).

The #45 team sits in 10th place in the owner standings, 10 points below the cut line (between Cindric’s #2 team and William Byron’s #24 Hendrick Motorsports team). All remaining NASCAR Cup Series playoff races are set to be broadcast live on NBC.