Bubba Wallace had a top-ten car in Michigan all weekend. Then Kyle Larson’s #5 came loose in front of his #23 Toyota with only a few laps to the end of stage 2. Although the 23XI wheelman recovered and limped on to finish his race in 26th after making the DVP clock, that wouldn’t be the case for Joey Logano, Todd Gilliland, Christopher Bell, and Chase Briscoe, the other cars involved in Larson’s wreckage.

It was a tale of two races for Wallace at the 2024 Firekeepers Casino 400. When the originally scheduled 200-lap showdown waved the green on Sunday, he looked poised for a better result, maybe even a points cushion over the rest of the bubble drivers, yet to make the playoffs. Finishing 4th in Stage 1, Wallace scored more points than contenders like Chris Buescher (P5), Kyle Busch (P6), Martin Truex Jr (P8), and Ross Chastain (P10), before rains above MIS postponed the rest of the race to be run on Monday.

Ross Chastain’s spin in overtime almost put Michigan in a spin cycle

Restarting third behind Truex Jr and Chase Elliott in Stage 2, Wallace seemed poised for another top-10 finish. until Kyle Larson’s cautionary mistake on Lap 116 troubled his advances for the remaining 90 laps. Regardless, it turned out to be a happy day for 23XI Racing overall, whose #45 driver, Tyler Reddick, won his second race of the season after falling well outside the top 10 in both stages. This win will shoot Reddick ten points ahead of all drivers contending for the regular season championship.

However, with only a handful of laps left to the end of the race, Martin Truex Jr. sent the race into overtime after tagging the wall on Turn 4. This brought out the sixth caution of the race canceling out Reddick’s initial lead on William Byron, as both restarted alongside each other for the two-lap shootout. But just when it seemed like the #24 would edge out Reddick for his 4th victory of the season, Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, another playoff berth hopeful, spun on the backstretch calling for the second overtime restart.

The #1 was running just outside the top 10 at the time of the incident. But after finishing 10th in Stage 1, and second in Stage 2, his points difference from Chris Buescher, who sat right on the cutline before the race, will only draw further apart following a P25 finish. It doesn’t help either Chastain or Bubba Wallace, considering Buescher (contending for his own playoff spot) finished P6 at the end of the 206 laps of the Firekeepers Casino 400. Another notable bubble contender, Ty Gibbs, inched closer to his rightful spot in the eliminators, finishing P3 behind Reddick, and Byron in Michigan.

Regardless, the fortunes could have been a lot different if Chastain had not brought out the 7th and final yellow flag of the race.

The road to the playoffs gets tougher for Bubba Wallace

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Byron, hungry for some Next-Gen dominance, might have been able to slip right past Tyler Reddick to put some distance between his car and Reddick’s, if not for that caution call for Ross Chastain. But although Reddick’s worst fears did not come out true, he certainly is in a better place than Wallace is at the moment. The #45 driver is already down for a playoff spot, thanks to a win at Talladega earlier this year. With two races left to make the post-season, the pressure will only mount further on drivers like Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain, lingering on unconfirmed championship chances.

On a separate note, to round off the top-10, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Zane Smith, Daniel Suárez, and Denny Hamlin finished behind Reddick, Byron, and Ty Gibbs. After a near-day-long rain delay and six extra laps, the 2024 Firekeepers Casino 400 will now make way for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway next Sunday!