When it was all said and done at the Charlotte Roval, Bubba Wallace was on the outside looking in. Eliminated from the NASCAR Playoffs. To his credit, Wallace was the 16th driver into the playoffs when it began at Darlington. He almost made his way to the Round of 8.
Even if he hadn’t been spun late by Daniel Suárez, Bubba Wallace would have been close, but not close enough. It was a lot of points to overcome, and other drivers didn’t have bad days like he needed.
Wallace just got hit late and didn’t have time to make it up. After the race, he was disappointed but happy with his season overall. And there is more to come.
“Texas. That’s what I thought about after we got spun there,” Wallace said to NBC after the race. “You know this weekend was incredible. Just from the effort, from the team, from myself it’s just all clicking, right? It felt really good to be competitive and run up front and pass cars on road courses and not be passed, there’s a lot to look at. But what I analyze is, what could I have done to not be in that situation? Could I have been faster around another car, gotta be better to not put yourself where you’re racing around there with squirrels.
“Is what it is,” Bubba Wallace continued. “Just didn’t have enough and it wasn’t in the cards and I guess that’s what 30 is. I’m not mad, I’m happy for the team, I’m pumped for our season, it’s not over with yet. I’m really excited for next week and Homestead, Martinsville – Phoenix? Eh. I might just go on vacation then. We still got four races to go out and do it. So, proud of the team, I appreciate that.”
Bubba Wallace finishing up career-best season
There is still work to do for Bubba Wallace, if he wants. Four races remain in the season and Wallace could finish as high as ninth in the points standings if he plays his cards right. He still has chances to win races, too.
Las Vegas and Homestead and Martinsville will be potential victories. As he mentioned, Phoenix likely won’t be his race to win or be very competitive. Wallace had never made the NASCAR Playoffs and in his first trip, he went to the Round of 12.
In order to make it there, he had to overcome a points deficit from the start. At Bristol, in the elimination race there, he overcame the second-largest points deficit to transfer to the second round in playoff history.
There were times in the last two months when Bubba Wallace was a top-10 driver in the Cup Series. He looked like he was going to have a career-best day at the Roval. That spin made sure he wouldn’t advance, although it would have been a monumental task otherwise.
AJ Allmendinger wins this race and Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Busch find themselves on the wrong side of elimination.
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