Bubba Wallace may be a NASCAR Cup Series playoff driver for the first time in his career, but his No. 23 team can’t finish higher than 17th in the owners’ standings.
23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace entered Saturday night NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway occupying the 16th and final spot in the provisional playoff bracket.
He was one of 17 drivers who were able to clinch that playoff spot by winning the 163-lap Coke Zero Sugar 400 at the four-turn, 4.023-kilometer Daytona Beach, Fla., circuit, and he was one of only three drivers capable of scoring points.
By the end of the second stage, Wallace knew no one could pass him for the points spot, meaning he or one of the 15 drivers already entered in the playoffs were needed to win the race to ensure he his first career playoff appearance. berth. Another winner would have eliminated him.
A number of drivers, including Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, came close to grabbing the spot, but thanks to RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher taking his third win of the 2023 season, Wallace retained this position.
However, Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 team failed to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series owners’ playoffs.
While this topic doesn’t usually get a lot of attention, since the playoff field is usually made up of drivers who drive the same cars each race, the driver playoffs and the owner playoffs are distinct from each other. others.
Instead of Wallace’s No. 23 team, it was Elliott’s No. 9 team that took the 16th and final spot in the owners’ standings. Elliott himself has missed seven races this season and failed to qualify for the playoffsbut the points scored by his replacements in the seven races he missed still count toward the points total of the No. 9 team in the owners’ standings.
Since team #9 scored more points than team #23 in total, the former succeeded while the latter did not.
So even though Elliott was eliminated from the championship, he is always ready to compete for an owner titleand although Wallace can still compete for a championship, his team cannot finish higher than 17th in the owners’ standings.
Ironically, Wallace ended up in Elliott’s shoes last year. Teammate Kurt Busch qualified for the playoffs with a regular season win, but due to injury he withdrew from the playoffs and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney entered instead. However, Busch’s victory remained tied to his No. 45 team, so the No. 45 team, not Blaney’s No. 12 team, made the owners’ playoffs.
With Busch out, 23XI Racing moved Wallace from the No. 23 Toyota to the No. 45 Toyota for the playoffs. Wallace himself was not a playoff driver, but he was the No. 45 team’s representative in its quest for an owners’ championship. Meanwhile, Blaney was a playoff driver, but his No. 12 team could only finish 17th in the standings.
The circumstances are a little different, but Elliott is effectively in Wallace’s position from last year, while Wallace is effectively in Blaney’s position. All things considered, for the second year in a row, 17 drivers have at least one championship to fight for instead of just 16.
It should be noted that with the elimination of the No. 23 team, only two organizations have all of their drivers and cars in the playoffs: RFK Racing (two) and JTG Daugherty Racing (one).
Buescher, Buescher’s No. 17 team, Brad Keselowski, Keselowski’s No. 6 team, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Stenhouse’s No. 47 team are all engaged in their respective playoffs.
None of these drivers or teams were represented in last year’s playoffs, which speaks to the parity we’ve seen throughout the start of the Next Gen era.
Darlington Raceway is scheduled to open the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs this Sunday, September 3 with the Cook Out Southern 500. The race is scheduled to air live on USA Network starting at 6 p.m. ET. Start a FuboTV free trial now and don’t miss it!
