NASCAR Insider Bursts Bubba Wallace’s Playoff Bubble With A 6-Word Rant

From cutting teeth with Richard Petty Motorsports in 2017 to riding the wave with Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan’s groundbreaking venture, 2023XI Racing, in 2021, Bubba Wallace has finally hit his stride by clinching a spot in the 2023 Cup Series playoffs on his own steam.

Though he was able to jump into the fray by filling Tyler Reddick’s shoes in 2022, this wasn’t under his own banner. The 2023 season seems to have turned a new leaf for Wallace; while victory eluded him in the regular races, he’s played his cards right and, with lady luck smiling on him, carved a path to the playoffs. But, as the winds of NASCAR gossip blow, a whistle-blower from the inner circle has cast a shadow of doubt on Wallace’s journey ahead in the playoffs.

NASCAR insider not sure of Bubba Wallace and his playoff season

From zero to hero, the 2023 regular season of Michael Jordan’s star, Bubba Wallace, kept everyone on the edge of their seats, crossing the finish line with a spot in the top 16, boasting four top-5s and six notable top-10s. Clinching a playoff berth without a single victory under his belt undoubtedly took blood, sweat, and tears, as well as a keen strategy to stack up those stage points.

Yet, as the playoff curtain rises, the rumor mill is churning. NASCAR pundit Doug Rice, the bigwig at PRN, didn’t mince words in a recent pow-wow with Alexis Ericson and Brad Gillie. He pulled no punches in a fiery diatribe against Wallace, cautioning that coasting on past strategies, like playing for points, will be Wallace’s Achilles heel. To keep his playoff dreams alive, a win in one of the opening triad of races is non-negotiable.

“I haven’t seen enough steady performances or reasons for being the 16th seed. He is certainly not going to get super vitamins and blow away the field at Darlington, Kansas, although he is pretty good at it. It’s going to take another win”.

“I think there’s no path for him to point his way up there. Being good, he’s going to have to be better than everybody in one of these next three races if he wants to advance in the playoffs,” opined Rice.

Watch This Story: Michael Jordans Star Driver Betrays Bubba Wallace With an Arrogant Two Word Statement

But the pot gets stirred further. Rice wasn’t the lone voice in the wilderness. During this riveting discourse, Brad Gillie too took a swipe, casting further aspersions on Wallace’s playoff prospects.

Brad Gillie, sounding the bugle of caution, proclaimed, “I’m not going to put him in my championship four”

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Gillie did tip his hat to Wallace’s deft maneuvers, like the Watkins Glen race, where, despite a 12th-place finish, Wallace managed to rake in crucial stage points, keeping his playoff dreams alive.

While Gillie acknowledged the bumps in the road that Wallace and his team faced this year, he hinted they might have turned the corner and could make a splash in the playoffs. However, the top-4 pedestal seems a bridge too far for Wallace in Gillie’s books.

“I am not going to put him in my championship 4 by any stretch, but I don’t know that I am going to take him out in the first round,” Gillie said, casting a hopeful glance at the initial trio of races set to blaze at Darlington, Kansas, and Bristol.

Read more: “Make It Hard” – Bubba Wallace’s Spotter Reveals His Dejection With Driver’s Playoff Entry

With Wallace’s roller-coaster journey to the playoffs teetering on the brink of the cutoff, all eyes will be on him and 23Xi Racing to see if they can defy the odds in the even more pressurizing playoff duels.