After playing bumper cars, so to speak, with frequent rival Alex Bowman in the closing laps of Sunday’s Chicago Street Race, Bubba Wallace finds himself in an especially precarious position in the NASCAR playoff standings.
Bowman, who finally spun Wallace after the two had been trading paint, is likewise near the playoff cutline but has a bit more breathing room. However, with seven races still to go before the 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series playoff field is set, a lot can change.
So Wallace, Bowman and a few other drivers hovering near the playoff bubble need not get too comfortable.
Let’s take a quick look at how the NASCAR playoff standings look after a wild weekend on the Chicago Street Course.
Bubba Wallace Is Clinging To Final Spot By The Most Slender Of Margins
Upon arriving at the Chicago Street Course, Bubba Wallace held the 16th and final playoff spot by 23 points over Ryan Preece. However, after Wallace’s rough day in the Windy City, his margin over Preece in the NASCAR playoff standings shrank to a paltry two points.
Checking in just behind Preece but a good distance further back is AJ Allmendinger. The Dinger, as the Kaulig Racing driver is nicknamed, is 43 points in arrears of Wallace after leapfrogging Erik Jones in the standings with a sixth-place finish on the Chicago streets.
Also now ahead of Jones, who had been on a roll before Chicago, is Kyle Busch. Buoyed by a fifth-place finish on Sunday, the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion is three points behind Allmendinger, four ahead of Jones and 46 behind bubble man Wallace.
Given that it’s possible to score as many as 60 race points in most events, Preece, Allmendinger, Busch and Jones are all still well-within striking distance of Wallace and the final playoff berth.
NASCAR Playoff Standings Remain Modestly Tight Ahead Of The Cutline, Too
Although Bubba Wallace is hanging onto the last playoff transfer spot by a thread, the drivers just ahead of him in the NASCAR playoff standings best be looking over their shoulder.
Those drivers are RFK Racing wheelman Chris Buescher and Wallace nemesis Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports.
Bowman is in the better position of the two, with a 37-point advantage over Wallace and a 39-point lead over Ryan Preece — the first driver saddled south of the cutline.
Buescher, meanwhile, trails Bowman by four points and is 33 ahead of Wallace and 35 up on Preece.
Perched between Bowman and Ross Chastain — the last of the 12 drivers who’ve punched a provisional playoff ticket by virtue of winning this year — is Tyler Reddick.
Although winless and not technically in the playoffs, the 23XI Racing driver holds a healthy 143-point cushion over Preece. Reddick is 104 points ahead of Bowman, his closest challenger.
