23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace had a strong opening round of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, clinching his spot before the round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway concluded due to his points position.
The opening round continued what was already Wallace's career-best season. He earned his third career victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late July, ending a 100-race win drought, and because it was his first ever regular season victory, it marked the first time that he won his way into the playoffs.
His previous playoff berth in 2023 came after Chase Elliott got injured, and Wallace ended up being the 16th and final driver to get in. Based on average points per race, he would have been on the outside looking in without Elliott's injury.
Alas, Wallace's 2025 success also meant that he started the round of 12 above the round of 8 cut line, but Sunday's Mobil 1 301 was a disastrous race for him and 23XI Racing as a whole. A 26th place finish dropped him to 12th of 12 in the playoff standings, and he dropped from one point above the cutoff to 27 points behind the cutoff.
Bubba Wallace drops to last in NASCAR playoff standings
Teammate Tyler Reddick only finished in 21st, and after starting the round of 12 in last place, he has only managed to move ahead of Wallace. He finds himself 23 points below the cut line to advance.
Wallace has never made it beyond the round of 12; Reddick made it to the 2024 Championship 4, but he is the lone remaining title contender who has yet to win this year.
Wallace is certainly not in a must-win situation (yet), but passing four drivers over the next two races, and passing at least one of them by a 27-point margin, won't be easy. Though he is a former Kansas Speedway winner, Kansas has not been as kind to 23XI Racing lately; in May, it was development driver Corey Heim who surprisingly beat the team's three full-time drivers with a 13th place finish.
You can say the same for Reddick, who needs to pass at least three other drivers (assuming he stays ahead of Wallace), including at least one of them by a 23-point margin. That also won't be easy. He, too, is a former Kansas winner, but based on the team's recent performance at Kansas, optimism isn't exactly at an all-time high.
With Wallace dropping from inside the top eight to out of it, that means that somebody had to move up from below the top eight to above the cutoff. That somebody was Team Penske's Joey Logano, who started the round of 12 tied for 10th in points but is up to sixth, 24 points above the cut line, following his fourth place finish on Sunday.
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