Bubba Wallace won’t get to race for a NASCAR Cup Series championship.
The 23XI driver failed to clinch a spot for the NASCAR playoffs on Sunday, his chances of clinching a berth were all but squashed after being involved in a wreck with 23 laps left.
Chase Briscoe guaranteed a spot in the playoffs by winning the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington, leaving one open playoff spot. That went to Ty Gibbs, who tied with Martin Truex Jr. with 2,004 points. Gibbs and Truex garnered the final two spots.
Truex, who finished 36th, was guaranteed a spot after the second stage.
Chris Buescher, who finished sixth, was the first person left out of the playoffs. Wallace, who finished 16th, was the second. Wallace started the race from the pole.
“Tomorrow is Labor Day right? I got to sit and dwell on it. Hopefully no meetings,” Wallace said. “You’ve got four or five days to reset and go on to… where do we go next? I don’t even know. That shows how mental this race was.”
Wallace was part of a wreck late in the race when Hendersonville’s Josh Berry split Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs. Berry and Gibbs eventually touched causing the wreck. Wallace was able to finish the race, but his car had suffered damage.
Buescher missed the playoffs by six points. Wallace missed by 27 points.
Wallace made the NASCAR playoffs in 2023, but didn’t reach the cutdown to the final eight. He failed to reach the 2022 playoffs.
Wallace and Buescher appeared to be battling much of the final stage before Briscoe took the lead from Kyle Larson. That took both out of contention thanks to Gibbs’ comfortable spot for the final playoff spot.
Buescher avoided one potential mishap when he and Todd Gilliland got involved with about 50 laps left. Gilliland went up and squeezed Buescher up against the wall. But when Buescher got behind Gilliland he ended up turning Gilliland into the wall. Buescher was able to drive past and not be affected by the wreck.
Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on the X platform @Kreager.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR playoffs: Bubba Wallace misses out after Darlington finish
