Bubba Wallace is seeking to clinch his third NASCAR Cup Series victory after almost a year and a half since his last. It is also extremely essential for his playoff qualification this season.
The 23XI Racing driver is currently 51 points short of getting into the top 16 for the 2024 NASCAR playoffs. He has not won a race so far this season, making his qualification more difficult under the current circumstances. However, even if he doesn't manage to get a win under his belt, he can still qualify on the basis of points.
But, as he recently revealed, Bubba Wallace is "tired of" qualifying based on points and not wins. In the 2023 season, he finished the championship in 10th place, making it to the playoffs without a victory. However, he has different goals for this season, according to what he told SpeedFreaks.
"I'm quite tired of having to do it on points. Always seem to find ourselves right around the bubble. And it gets stressful. Every race that goes by and you don't want to get some more and more stressful. So knowing we can do it on points is, yeah, for sure. We did it last year, but damn, it'd be nice just to win," he said.
Bubba Wallace on the possibility of a point-based playoff qualification
At the moment, there are seven Cup Series races to go before the 2024 playoff begins. While a race win will guarantee a spot for Wallace, he might still be able to qualify on the basis of points.
As mentioned, the #23 Toyota Camry driver is currently 51 points short of getting into the top 16. The #48 of Alex Bowman is ahead of him. Calculating his possibility of getting into the playoff without a victory, Bubba Wallace said (at 0:55)
"I know it's relative to where the cars around you finish. You're not gaining 51 points just- unless who's in front of us? Bowman? I see finishes last, right? You know, there's 50 points day you can have so that it's doable just in one race. So there's seven left. Let's just get after it."
Wallace has won two races in the championship so far in his career. His first victory came at Talladega in 2021, a significant victory for 23XI. He repeated his spell of success after heading for the victory lane in 2022 at Kansas. This season, Bubba Wallace has finished within the top 10 six times.