“It’s unacceptable”- Bubba Wallace comes down hard on himself after unfortunate finish to Daytona race

Bubba Wallace took it out on himself despite finishing P6 in Sunday's Coke Zero Sugar 400. The 23XI Racing driver is now 21 points behind the provisional cutline for the 2024 playoffs.

Harrison Burton of Wood Brothers Racing got a last-lap push from Parker Retzlaff and passed Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch, en route to his first Cup Series win. Wallace could have benefitted if someone already locked in the playoffs had won the race.

Wallace's teammate, Tyler Reddick leads the field on points. Reddick, who won last week's race at Michigan, is in his fifth full season in the Cup Series. The Corning, California native is also a two-time Xfinity Series champion (2018, 2019). Comparing the latter's position in the playoffs with his own, Wallace said in a post-race interview with PRN:

"Got one care fighting for a regular season championship and another on the bubble. It's unacceptable. I'll take all that weight on my shoulders. I should've won multiple times and I haven't. We don't even deserve to be here and we aren't. Gotta go win, that's it."

Harrison Burton, who is 34th on points, is locked in the playoffs, whereas Wallace, who is 14th in the standings and 339 points ahead of Burton, is yet to make it to the postseason. However, the Alabama native has just one race to do that.

Next week's race, i.e., the Cook Out Southern 500 will be held at Darlington Raceway. The 367-lap race will stream live on NBC Sports and USA. After that, the Cup Series field will meet the following week at Atlanta Motor Speedway to kick off the Round of 16 opener.

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"A lot at times"- Bubba Wallace's take on toxic social media comments

Bubba Wallace spoke to Bob Pockrass in an interview ahead of Sunday's event about how staying away from social media has helped him focus more on improving his mental health. He has been avoiding social media since Pocono in July.

"Oh it's been so nice, it's been so nice," Bubba Wallace told Pockrass. "Just being caught up in other people's lives and start comparing. Man I want ... Just, besides from the toxic comments, you know, social media is just a lot at times."

He added:

"I do miss the photography side of it, you know, posting all that stuff, but it's just way better for the mental. YouTube is my best friend."

Although his run at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June resulted in a DNF, Bubba Wallace has delivered three top-10s (including today's finish) and two top-5 finishes, over the past seven weeks,

Bubba Wallace will now prepare for his upcoming race. In his last four starts at the 1.366-mile racetrack in Darlington, South Carolina, the 30-year-old speedster has one top-5 and three top-10 finishes.