Throwing caution to the wind, Bubba Wallace battled against the odds all season and, by the skin of his teeth, clinched a playoff spot during the last lap at Daytona. Hats off to him and his crew for playing their cards right and racking up those critical points. But even after stepping into the elite circle of the top 16, it seems he’s still trying to find his feet.

At the first playoff race at Darlington, he managed a commendable P7 finish. However, when it came to Kansas, where he tasted victory last year, fortune turned its back. Mechanical gremlins haunted his car this time, dragging him down to a disheartening P32 finish. Given this rollercoaster, NASCAR pundits, reading the tea leaves for his performance at Bristol, dropped a bombshell that might just rain on the parade for 23XI fans.

Bubba Wallace is back in the firing line

Before the regular season’s curtain call, Wallace, bitten by nerves, sidestepped interviews. The incident led NASCAR insider Kyle Petty, not one to mince words, to take a swipe at Michael Jordan‘s prot?g?, labeling him as “mentally fragile” and “unprofessional.” The jab didn’t sit well with Wallace, who fired back during the Darlington interview.

Now, as the first playoff round draws to a close, the rumor mill is buzzing with predictions about who’s in and who’s on the chopping block.?

As per theathletic.com, when another NASCAR insider, Jeff Gluck, threw his hat into the ring on the four drivers facing the axe after the Bristol showdown, he was clear-cut as he said, “Michael McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are virtually out already, so they are easy picks. Bubba Wallace has a lot of work to do and needs a lot of things to happen in order to advance, so he?s probably out as well. That leaves one spot, […] I?m not sure who that would be, and it?s impossible to predict without simply making a wild guess, but I?m picking Truex to survive this round.”

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Jordan Bianchi, his comrade in commentary, echoed the sentiment. He hinted at Wallace’s slim chances of advancing on points, though he’d (Bubba Wallace) need stars to align in his favor. And of course, Wallace’s recent sparring partner, Kyle Petty, along with PRN Live’s Doug Rice, also couldn’t resist throwing their two cents into the conversation.

As per another NASCAR insider, Wallace has never been good

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In the realm of straight-talkers like Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin, Kyle Petty stands tall, never sugar-coating his opinions, especially when it comes to Bubba Wallace.

However, this time around, the pot was stirred by PRN host Doug Rice, alongside Kyle Petty, who didn?t pull any punches when he remarked, “I think the four below the cut line stay there. Bubba?s never been good at Bristol.” A jaunt down memory lane indeed underscores Rice’s claim. Out of nine outings at the track, Wallace only flaunted a solitary 10th-place finish back in the day, circa 2020.

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Though the chatter around the last driver’s position brews with uncertainty, when it comes to Wallace, it appears the pundits are singing from the same hymn sheet about his Bristol prospects.