“4 of these dudes don’t deserve to be here”: Fans react as Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace fail to make playoffs after Chase Briscoe’s Darlington win 

Some fans have opined on the finalized playoff roster as Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace fail to make the cut after Chase Briscoe's win at the Darlington Raceway. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver snapped his 93-race winless streak to bag his career's second Cup Series win.

Wallace's #23 Toyota was the polesitter in the regular season finale race, Briscoe's #14 Ford stood third fastest in the qualifying, and Busch's #8 Chevy kicked off its run from 17th place.

While the 23XI Racing driver and the SHR driver stood second and third, respectively, in the first stage, the Richard Childress Racing driver was way behind in P20. Briscoe finished second in Stage 2 with Wallace settling in ninth, and Busch in 12th.

However, the disappointing turnaround of events knocked on Wallace's door on Lap 344. The 23XI Racing driver got trapped in the massive pileup initiated by Josh Berry and drifted away from securing his playoff spot.

Moving forward, Kyle Busch and Chase Briscoe fiercely fought in the remaining 17 laps but the #14 Ford driver fended off the two-time Cup Series champion's #8 Chevy. As a result, the RCR driver came second and lost his playoff bid.

NASCAR on NBC shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) depicting 16 drivers confirmed for the Round of 16, starting at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The fanbase reacted to the update and opined on the playoff roster.

"4 of these dudes don’t deserve to be here," one fan commented.

"Only the actual top 16 should have advanced," the fan opined.

"Geez I wonder who will be eliminated first!?" a fan questioned.

One fan pointed out Harrison Burton and Austin Cindric as the two "undeserving" drivers in the playoffs.

"You have 2 undeserving drivers. 21 and 2 . 14 had a bad year but it’s due to all the team distractions etc," the fan wrote.

"Can we just kick out briscoe, cindric, Burton and Suarez and skip to the round of 12?" a fan commented.

Briscoe is the only SHR Cup driver who will fight for the championship amid his team's final year in NASCAR.

Kyle Busch misses the playoff for the first time since 2012

Kyle Busch entered the Cup Series scene in 2004 and fielded the #84 Chevy part-time for Hendrick Motorsports. Next year, the Nevada native marked his rookie Cup season and tamed HMS's #5 Chevy. However, he couldn't secure the playoff berth despite collecting two wins, nine top-5s, and thirteen top-10s.

Since then, however, Busch safeguarded his playoff seat and fought for the championship every season except in 2005, 2009, and 2012. But this year has been a disappointment for the veteran driver.

RCR's lack of preparation plagued Busch's footing into the season, but the 39-year-old kept battling for the top spot. He posted consecutive top-5 finishes at the last two races hosted by Michigan International Speedway and Daytona International Speedway.

Still, Kyle Busch was in a must-win situation at Darlington to land a seat in the playoffs but Briscoe didn't let the former's pursuit succeed. He edged the RCR driver by 0.361 seconds.