Despite being out of the playoffs, Bubba Wallace still seems to be the post-race sensation. Sadly, not in a good way. The Quaker State 400 kicked off the playoffs with a lot of track drama as multiple crashes spanned across the 3 stages of the race. The late crash on the final lap of the race started with Ross Chastain failing to maintain his rhythm behind his teammate. A carnage ensued that engulfed Harrison Burton along with eight other drivers.

While Burton’s view was limited to how exactly the pile-up took place, he saw Bubba Wallace tumbling in front of him. Burton voiced his concerns about the unfortunate streak of events that defied his race plan.

What did Bubba Wallace have to do with the “big one” in Atlanta?

The race kicked off with Michael McDowell on the pole and Ryan Blaney right beside him. Blaney stayed consistent, finishing 3rd and helping teammate Joey Logano clinch his second Atlanta win since the 2022 reconfiguration. Local favorite Christopher Bell grabbed 4th, while Ross Chastain tried to give Daniel Suarez a hand but came up short, ending 13th.

Meanwhile, Harrison Burton, who started 12th, had a rough day with a DNF, putting him 16 points below the playoff cutoff. He then joined Brad Keselowski, Chase Briscoe, and Martin Truex Jr. in the elimination zone. Burton spoke to Matt Weaver post-race about his crash, and said, “I saw the #23 getting sideways and trying to go low and miss it and checked up. And I don’t know, honestly how I got back sideways to the wall but hit the wall real hard and then got hit again and just unfortunate, obviously.”

Nine playoff drivers landed in the top 10, with Kyle Busch being the odd one out. Joey Logano’s win secured him an automatic spot in the Round of 12 and vaulted him to 5th in the standings. Kyle Larson, who started 3rd, got tangled in a crash with Chase Briscoe, ending both of their races. While Larson remains safe from elimination, Briscoe and Harrison Burton are now in a tough spot, needing a win or crucial points to stay in the playoff hunt.

What’s Burton’s plan for Watkins Glen?

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As for Atlanta, the preplanned strategy did not work out for Harrison Burton to survive the race and cover up later. But he is confident about the next race of the round.

“Not a race-winning day but I guess we’re gonna have a probably decent day there and you know, probably move to Watkins Glen with good position at the points. You know, I’m not really sure, I haven’t seen anything yet to see where we are and whatnot. But obviously, it didn’t help. So, we’re going to next 2 with what probably 8 and see what we can do.”, shared Burton.

Talking about the tire strategy, the 23-year-old confidently said, “We had like good speed so, feel confident about that and Watkins Glen will kind of like match my style a little bit better with the tire fall-offs, so. Yeah, I think, still in a hunt. Just gotta keep going.”

It is going to be a challenge for Burton to go out of his way to lead and get a position this time because all the drivers are fighting a cutthroat competition at this stage. Let us see if the #21 driver can survive the first eliminations.