With just one last left and one more seat left for grabs, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Cup Series drivers. Before the bubble and hopes burst and dissipate in the air, the drivers who are yet to make it to the playoffs are clinging to the last straw of Daytona. However, the narrative is different for Michael Jordan’s driver Bubba Wallace, who has one leg inside of the playoffs. 

There is no denying the fact that the final race of the regular season at Daytona is set to deliver one of the most aggressive races of the season. With 15 drivers already confirming their postseason berth, the 16th spot would be the arbiter for Bubba Wallace’s fate as well as the most popular driver of NASCAR Chase Elliott. However, if statistics and probabilities are to be believed, it is apparent that Bubba Wallace has an edge over Elliott, and one can attribute it to Wallace’s co-owner, Denny Hamlin.

Bubba Wallace remains a step ahead of Chase Elliott as the favorite driver for Daytona

The 2023 Cup Series has been unyielding for the 2020 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott. One can surely thank the snowboarding accident that initiated the streak of misfortunes for the No.9 driver and it seems to be unending. Although the driver had incredible speed in most of the races and exhibited his resurgence, Elliott faltered due to unforeseeable circumstances.  

Elliott had the likelihood of achieving his first victory on his strongest turf of Watkins Glen, however, running out of fuel threw a wrench to all expectations. Nevertheless, the battle of entering the playoffs is yet to draw curtains on Elliott ahead of the ultimate race at Daytona. However, it will be a tough nut to crack for the No.9 driver, given Bubba Wallace’s standing in the points table and his caliber at superspeedways. 

Plus, we can not forget that Wallace’s boss is the only active NASCAR driver with three Daytona wins to his name. Owing to this fact, Wallace can assuredly look forward to assistance from Hamlin. NASCAR journalists Alex Weaver and Alan Cavanna seem to assert these notions in their latest episode, discussing the playoff scenario. 

Cavanna expressed, “Some of these drivers a lot of them have done it before at Daytona. One driver will still get in on points, right now that driver is Bubba Wallace. 32 points ahead to the good.”

To this Weaver retorted, “Bubba is obviously a very good superspeedway racer, he is going to have the help of Denny Hamlin there, which we know they tend to work together, but I talked to Bubba after Watkins Glen, he had two races to just make his car be there at the end and stay clean and it was Indy Road course and Watkins Glen. So the 23 of Bubba Wallace showed up when it counted the most so just survive Daytona, Bubba.”

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The final race of the season will surely be the survival of the fittest for most of the fittest and also promising high-octane drama on the track. However, no other is facing the pressure as Bubba Wallace, who has the highest chance of making it to the postseason for the first time in his Cup Series career.

The only thing that Wallace can hope for at this point is there are no new winners jeopardizing his favorable season. Even his team owner Denny Hamlin wished in the latest episode of Action Detrimental. 

He expressed, “I think that selfishly we would like him to gain 39 points on the #9 [Chase Elliott] as a team owner, but I’m rooting for Bubba. I want him to run whatever race he needs to get himself into the playoffs. I think he deserves it. I think he’s working really hard. You saw the emotion that he had after Watkins Glen. That emotion stems from someone who is working really, really hard, and he’s finally seeing results.”

With bated breaths, the fans are hoping to see the race at Daytona unfold and deliver the final victor of the season, before gearing up for the postseason and the championship later in the year.

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