As Bubba Wallace has said, “we just need everything to fall in place.” The 2024 season witnessed the No. 45 driver displaying his career-best finishes. Holding 5 top-five and 10 top-ten results, Wallace has leveled up his game in the 23XI Racing fold. However, he has somehow circled back to the same dilemma he faced last year—fighting with the playoff bubble.

Now, Harrison Burton, the newest regular season winner at Daytona, has further axed his hopes. The upcoming race at Darlington will pose a great challenge to Wallace and his rivals, and his crew chief cannot help but sigh in misery.

Bubba Wallace’s chances are razor-thin now

On Saturday, Wood Brothers Racing snapped its seven-year winless streak, adding its prestigious 100th win to its resume. And Harrison Burton made it all happen. As Kyle Busch looked primed to grab the win, Burton got a push from a rival and surged to victory. Bubba Wallace and others congratulated Burton for getting this historic win for a hallowed race team. In the meantime, the No. 45 driver chafed in misery as Burton tightened the window for the postseason hopefuls.

Bubba Wallace’s crew chief, Freddie Kraft, also could not help but lament this lost chance. Kraft detailed the good run-gone-bad experience at Daytona. “The first stage, everybody could run the whole stage, and the third lane formed better than it ever has. I thought like, we’re actually gonna be able to race a little bit…But you know, we were planning on saving the second and third stages. We restarted on the bottom and drove to the lead. And Bubba just led, and I’m like, ‘I don’t know what the f–k he’s doing…I was just going to keep spotting to try to keep the lead…I was obviously running 40-50% throttle. But he’s like, I feel safer there…And sure enough, they had that big wreck with Corey.”

Then, although Bubba Wallace secured 6th place, Harrison Burton’s win pushed him 21 points below the playoff cutline. Kraft despaired: “Obviously, the new winner did not help us by any means whatsoever. We’re having so much of a better season this year than last year, and we’re out at this point.” Then he jokingly suggested that Tyler Reddick should ruin Darlington contender Chris Buescher’s plans. “Unfortunately for us, Buescher seems to be pretty good in Darlington. I’m gonna have to call Tyler and see if he’s gonna wreck him again for me…we can maybe make some points.”

Buescher, being 21 points in the green, is the guy Bubba Wallace will be fighting with for the last playoff spot. Last year at Darlington, he led the Ford camp to 3rd place. However, Tyler Reddick may indeed be a thorn in his side, given the stellar streak that Wallace hailed.

Reddick is Wallace’s inspiration

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Like Bubba Wallace’s career-best trajectory this year, his teammate is also on a similar track. Holding two wins along with 11 top-fives and 17 top-tens, Tyler Reddick is on fire. Add to that the crown of holding the points lead with a 15-point cushion, and what more do you need? Reddick may be well on his way to clinching the Cup Series championship this season unless his Hendrick Motorsports rivals throw wrenches in his plans. But meanwhile, he might throw a wrench in Chris Buescher‘s Darlington plans as he did in May, to secure his teammate’s fortune.

Although he is not hopeful about that happening, Bubba Wallace is full of praise for Reddick. “Three words to describe Tyler – attentive, competitive, and nerdy,” Wallace said of his teammate. “Tyler is an incredible teammate. I think we work very well together. I’ve been able to learn some more things from his experience road courses.” Then Wallace could not help but add his own contribution as well—both own victories at Talladega. “I feel like I’ve taught him some of my strengths in superspeedway racing.”

This superb teamwork is what the 23XI Racing fold needs at present. With Reddick surging forward, Wallace is still hanging onto his playoff chances—which will be decided this weekend.