Bubba Wallace is over the moon as he earns his maiden Cup playoff surviving ‘emotional rollercoaster’
Bubba Wallace has secured his first NASCAR playoff entry since his Truck Series championship chase.
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Bubba Wallace (Via IMAGO)
23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace secured his maiden Cup playoff entry after surviving the Daytona International Speedway. He entered the race as the favorite to make the playoffs on points, with his Toyota teammate Ty Gibbs being the only driver having a realistic shot at dis-placing him on points. He is one of the only three drivers making it on points other than Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski.
Wallace’s last 16 entry was made a reality after Chris Buescher secured his third win of the 2023 season, and it came at the cost of 2020 Cup champion Chase Elliott missing out on the playoffs. Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric, and Chase Briscoe are the other top talents to miss out on playoffs this season.
While talking about his playoff entry, Wallace said he is delighted with how the day went for him despite not having a car with him as he used to do. But the perfect race execution is what came in handy for the team. Neither the team nor the driver made a mistake, dodged wrecks, and survived to put him in a safe place. His prays a reaper winner paid off as well.
“That was the most stressful but also the most locked-in I’ve ever been. Proud to be locked into the playoffs. We’ve gone through a lot of trials and tribulations. So proud of the effort we put in,” Wallace told ESPN.
“We executed. We had no personal mistakes, dodged a wreck or two, and just survived. … Something was off, and we didn’t have the 23-speed that we usually do when we come here. I think we tried some different things, but hey, we survived, and that’s what we wanted to do,” Wallace said, as reported by NASCAR.com.
Discover: WATCH: Ryan Preece’s car goes airborne violently and flips ten times in a terrifying Daytona crash
Bubba Wallace calls his Daytona outing an emotional rollercoaster
The two times Cup race winner pointed out that rookie Ty Gibbs was taken out in the multiple car mele on lap 96. But with ten laps left in the race, there was still a possibility that a new race winner would emerge, but he had luck on his side as Keselowski and Buescher took up the front two for the final few laps of the race.
“We saw the 54 [Gibbs] and a lot of cars get taken out [in a 12-car accident on Lap 96] and knew what we wanted to do. We just didn’t need a new winner. With about 10 to go, I was like, ‘There’s going to be a new winner,’ then about eight to go, ‘All right, no new winner.’ Just an emotional rollercoaster those last laps,” Wallace said.
Wallace now has to step up his game once again, as he is the lowest-ranked driver in the playoff, if he wants to make it to the Round of 12. He won the Kansas playoff race last season and will be hoping to repeat the same this year as well and go deep in the playoffs.
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Justin P Joy
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