Since joining 23XI Racing ahead of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, Bubba Wallace has been in the playoff hunt just about every year.
But only once — in 2023 — has he been a playoff participant. And even then, Wallace had to walk on egg shells until pretty much the final moment of the final regular season race, where he secured a playoff berth based on points.
This season will be a different story, however. August 23, the day of the regular season finale, will be a very care-free day for Wallace. That’s because, for the first time in his career, he’s punched his playoff ticket ahead of time.
Bubba Wallace Taking Different Mentality Into Remainder Of Regular Season
Bubba Wallace’s popular win in last weekend’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway marked his third trip to a Cup Series Victory Lane. But it was the first time he’s ever prevailed prior to the playoffs beginning.
And Wallace didn’t just win before the start of the playoffs. He did so with four regular season races to spare.
Quite cognizant of that reality, the 31-year-old Alabama native plans to approach the final month of the regular season much differently than he has in the past.
“I (couldn’t) care less what happens this next four weeks,” Wallace said on Saturday at Iowa Speedway, the site of Sunday’s Cup race. “It also gives you a chance to go push yourself and try different things and see if there is any speed related to that. … But if we’re 30th, I don’t care. If we qualify 35th, I don’t care. We’re locked in. The team might be mad at me, but I’m going to try some weird stuff the next four weeks.”
How weird?
Well, Wallace joked during his media availability at Iowa about experimenting with a totally radical strategy.
“We were sitting in the briefing for this race, and I said, ‘Let’s pit on Lap 1 and do something stupid. Then we’ll be out of tires and not good,’” Wallace said with a laugh. “The book is wide open on what we can do. I’m excited to see if anything does change on that front, because you do have to call races differently.”
Relaxed Or Not, 23XI Racing Driver Still Has Some Goals For The Next 4 Weeks
Even though Bubba Wallace clearly isn’t all that worried about his results over the remainder of the regular season, he does still have some agenda items.
The No. 1 item on his to-do list?
“Just exposing our weaknesses,” he said. “Figure out the areas we need to improve on. We have a month to figure it out. Not a lot of time, but when you have the right people in the right places, you know what they are. I can say that the lowest hanging fruit is the driver, and getting the most speed and executing the best races. I’m excited to work on that.”
Wallace is also amped about the possibility of enjoying his first multi-win season in the NASCAR Cup Series.
“We had a goal at the beginning of the year,” he said. “It was to get a win and lock ourselves into the playoffs. And we’ve done that. I don’t want to say we are playing with house money now, because I’m not settled and not fine with one win. I think we are a multiple-win team. And it takes a lot of work. And it starts right now.”
But even if nothing tangible comes from the rest of the regular season for Wallace, he will at least be able to sleep well at night knowing he’s in the playoffs come whatever may. He calls his guaranteed playoff berth “just a massive weight lifted.”
“I told my team: ‘If you think fatherhood looks good on me, wait until you see how Bubba Wallace locked into the playoffs looks on me, because it’s going to look good,’” he said.
