NASCAR: 5 drivers who could lose their playoffs spots
By Asher Fair
NASCAR drivers who could lose playoff spots: No. 2 – Bubba Wallace
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Bubba Wallace is the only driver in NASCAR Cup Series history with two playoff wins and zero career playoff appearances. He earned his first career victory at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2021, but he wasn’t a playoff driver, and he earned career win number two at Kansas Speedway last September, when he also wasn’t a playoff driver.
Wallace got hot late last regular season, but it was too little, too late. He needed a win to qualify for the playoffs, and unfortunately for him, that win did not come during the regular season.
Wallace’s 2022-like hot streak came earlier this year, when he reeled off three top five finishes, four if you include the non-points All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. As a result, he finds himself in unfamiliar territory in a provisional playoff spot with 16 of 26 regular season races in the books.
What might worry Wallace is the fact that, as mentioned on the previous slide, Alex Bowman has actually had a much better season than his point total indicates, and he could very well move up the standings just by simply continuing to do what he has been doing.
That could put Wallace, who still needs to find a bit more consistency, on the bubble, in which case he wouldn’t be able to afford to have a driver from below him in the standings find victory lane.
The easiest way for the 23XI Racing driver to avoid the stress? Win his first career regular season race.