On Saturday, Richmond Raceway sprung us some surprise contenders for the 2024 Cook Out 400. For starters, Austin Dillon posted the fastest lap in practice after ages. Following him were 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace and his Toyota teammate from Joe Gibbs Racing, Christopher Bell. The only driver who should worry about a potential win coming Sunday out of those three is unsurprisingly Bubba Wallace.

As things stand, he is the only one from that bunch who lingers just seven points off the playoff cutline. Four drivers rest above him in exactly that many uncertain playoff berths. This sure is an unsettling thought to harbor for a hopeful heading into a two-week-long Olympic break. Regardless, provided with some brand-new “options,” courtesy of tire partners Goodyear, is Bubba finally ready to gamble big for a guaranteed shot at the 2024 championship?

Richmond speed & prime tires key to Bubba Wallace’s playoff ambitions

With just four races left to make the playoffs, it looks like Bubba is certainly gunning for glory in the very highest gear. Ever since that $50,000 penalty for his Chicago Street Race infractions, the #23 driver has been a man possessed. Emerging as one of the fastest cars in the last few races, his 23XI Toyota Camry XSE registered its fourth top-5 of the season at the 2024 Brickyard 400 a few weeks ago. With that result, Wallace narrowed his gap to the driver, now coincidentally sitting only seven points above the cutline, Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain.

Martin Truex Jr, Ty Gibbs, and Chris Buescher are the drivers sitting in the three remaining spots above Chastain inside the playoff bubble. Although each one of those men can ably secure his respective spot in the elimination rounds, the next four races provide a fairly welcome challenge for Bubba. As he told the press, before his Richmond advance, “Ran really good here in the spring. Michigan next; really good for us. Daytona; obviously we know what we can do there. Darlington’s been a decent track for us too. So four good opportunities to make some Headway.” 

“But also we know it’s four opportunities to take ourselves out of contention. So just have to show up and not let the off weeks, you know, sit with us. It’s time to put it back into gear and get things going again… My break has officially ended talking to you guys. It kind of stings a little bit, but part of it. Excited to be back,” Bubba voiced his opinion via Frontstretch.

Both Michigan and Daytona, two separate drafting tracks, fall well under the collective strengths of Bubba Wallace. Most already know by now that superspeedways are where the Mobile, AL native does his best normally. Daytona, 1.5-mile Darlington, and Michigan rank second, eighth, and ninth as his best-averaging tracks in all his starts combined since his Cup debut in 2017. As for Richmond? Bubba has finished P13 or better in three out of his last five appearances at the three-quarter-mile racetrack in the Next-Gen era.

But this weekend, Goodyear’s throwing a twist in the developments with two different tire compounds for the Cup race. The yellow sets, also known as the “prime” tires, are the regular slicks that teams use in NASCAR. However, what many believe will be the big equalizer on Sunday is Goodyear’s other sets of tires, the “options”.

Last used in competition at the North Wilkesboro All-Star Race. NASCAR has been experimenting with these tires for some time now, and they are softer compared to the primes. The option tire is designed to wear out faster. But based on Joey Logano’s unbelievable dominance on that compound at Wilkes County back in May, tire wear on it is heavily circumstantial.

As Bubba Wallace noted, “It’s still an unknown-like question. Like hey, when we going to put it on and they’re like we don’t know, we’ll figure it out. So I hope it’s just more tire degradation than North Wilkesboro. ‘Cause Logano won on reds I think right? 80 laps, 100 laps whatever It was. But new surface. Not much degradation there. Richmond chews up tires, so hopefully this is a test. A good test today to see what will happen tomorrow. But we’ll let you know after practice.” 

Bubba aced practice, falling short only to Austin Dillon’s fastest time. In qualifying, he posted the eighth-fastest average time to roll off the grid beside Chris Buescher in Row 4 starting P8. He didn’t use option tires in either of those instances. Yet, as per Saturday’s session, Bubba Wallace looks likely to pull a fast one on Sunday. But in his way stand Toyota teammates like Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr, and their JGR buddy, hoping for a Richmond sweep from the pole position, Denny Hamlin. 

But before these tensions resumed under the stress of competition this weekend, both Denny and Bubba celebrated a victory much bigger than stock-car racing, courtesy of their newly married 23XI Racing colleague who will start from P10 at the Cook Out 400, Tyler Reddick.

A father’s love, a driver’s drive!

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At the moment, as Bubba battles the bubble, hoping to claim that coveted playoff spot for his team owners, Denny Hamlin & Michael Jordan, Reddick will use this Richmond weekend as practice for the remaining two short track outings which will take place during the eliminators. First, at the Bass Pro Shops Night Race in the Round of 16 at Bristol. And next at the last race of the Round of 8 deciders–the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

But before these teammates could worry about any of this unsettling dynamic, the occasion of Holy Matrimony brought them together. During the Olympics break, Tyler Reddick and his long-time partner Alexa DeLeon tied the knot at Lake Geneva in Wisconsin.

Bubba, who only wished to “get away from the sport” during the opportune off-season “went to Tyler’s wedding, which was very nice” along with his employer, Denny Hamlin. The trio shared plenty of memories, as Reddick gets ready to make plenty more with his new bride. Bubba reiterated for the masses: “So congrats again to him and Alexa.” 

However, once that was over, he and his seven-month pregnant wife came back home, and in his words, “We stayed at home basically from Thursday in the first week off till we flew out this morning.” He explained, “Didn’t go anywhere. The best vacation sometimes is no vacation. So we enjoyed our time at home. She’s getting bigger and bigger. Starting to not sleep at all. So we’re what? Just under two months out? So we’re excited for that but no, it was a good break. Definitely a much needed relaxing break.”

With these thoughts of added responsibility, the chip on Bubba Wallace’s shoulder appears to be slowly disappearing. Should he win his first-ever race at Richmond and break a two-year-plus winless streak? It will surely be the cherry on top of his cake. And by the looks of things, there will be even more Wallace’s asking for a share shortly. So can he be the best family man and give those he loves dearly what they truly deserve? If you know Bubba Wallace, you would know he brings out his best performances when he’s fighting for a cause much greater than himself.