According to Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing is currently outside the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs bubble amid their speed and handling being a little bit off.
Bubba Wallace currently sits 15th in the regular season points standings and remains fully engaged in another battle to secure a berth in the playoffs as the end of NASCAR Cup Series regular season approaches.
Wallace and his team need to begin producing crucial results. This entails placing in the top ten while accumulating stage points with his most recent top-10 finish this season coming at Darlington.
The 30-year old talked about the struggles on the bubble in Nashville and although he currently faces a difficult situation, the driver is certain that his team is getting close to the ideal setup and a single race to deliver results.
“It’s a little bit of both [speed and handling],” Wallace said in an interview with Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports.
“Like I’ve tried to come into this year way more prepared than I have been, studying more film, being more attentive in the meetings, asking, I would think more of the right questions, but just asking more questions in general.
“It’s hard, man. We’re fighting for thousandths of an inch. That’s what it’s all about and I say we have enough smart people on our team.
“Well, there’s a lot of teams in this sport that have a lot of smart people. So, you’re going up against the best of the best and that’s what makes you show up the following weeks is when you do get beat, you’ve got things to work on and it’s the competition side of things.
“So, as much as we’re off, it’s not much, but it’s just enough to keep us working hard and trying to find out what it is to get back to where we ran last year.”
Over the past month, Bubba Wallace has struggled to place in the top-15 as his finishes of P21, P20, P17, and P34 have also not been helpful.
According to 23XI Racing, both cars are ready for the playoffs but only Tyler Reddick has secured a spot in the postseason at the moment and with only eight races remaining before the playoffs, Wallace needs to step it up.
Not making the playoffs in 2024 would be disappointing following a 10th-place finish the previous season. The first step in this journey will be qualifying for this team which is the most suitable strategy to accumulate points and an advantage over other bubble drivers.
However, it’s challenging to accumulate stage points in the opening stage without impressive qualifying runs. This could place him one to ten points behind the drivers against who you are battling for points. This team has a genuine opportunity to contend for the playoffs if it improves in qualifying.
