Throwing a spanner in the works, Bubba Wallace’s car didn’t pass the pre-race inspection in Kansas not once, but twice. The hiccup led to a fine, and NASCAR benched his crew chief for the weekend. To add insult to injury, a flat tire during the race deflated his chances further, pushing him 19 points away from the cut line. Now, with Bristol on the horizon?a track that?s been his Achilles’ heel?one might wonder: What?s fueling Bubba’s optimism?

As the clock ticks down to the Bristol showdown, Bubba Wallace has pulled back the curtain, unveiling his game plan. Against all odds, he holds firm to the belief that he has the ace up his sleeve needed to ascend into the coveted top 12.

Bubba Wallace lets slip his Bristol race plans to advance to round of 12

Wallace’s one shining moment at Bristol came in 2018 with Richard Petty Motorsports, when he clinched a position within the top 10. But since then, crossing the P14 line has been like searching for a needle in a haystack for Wallace. Now, with elimination from playoffs looming large, he and his team seem to have devised a strategy to weave their way into the top 12.

The master plan closely mirrors his tactics from the regular season, and if he plays his cards right, it might just pave his way to the next playoff round. When quizzed on his ninth position during the Bristol pre-race qualifiers, Michael Jordan‘s prot?g? let on that it’s all a numbers game, emphasizing the need for flawless execution.

“We got to have a clean day. I think fifth is 40 points and I think you need 38, we?ve mapped it out, so we just got to execute. We can?t get caught up in looking at the finishing results already, we just have to get through today, qualify well. We know it?s going to be a track position race and just have to manage our race the best that we can.”

“So, looking at last year?s stuff, we were okay, ran fourth I think, when we had power steering problems. But we just got to do our own thing and have a good, clean day. […] We just can?t over adjust or get too complacent, we just got to stay in kill mode and we?ll be fine,“ he opined.

While shooting for fifth might seem like aiming for the stars given Wallace’s history at Bristol, it’s worth noting that his renewed spirit is evidently because having his car chief back on deck for Bristol has given Bubba a much-needed shot in the arm. Besides Bristol, Wallace also opened up about his Kansas mishaps during the interview, elaborating on what he and his team could have done better.

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While Wallace was left high and dry, being the sole driver who couldn’t select a pit stall due to the penalty that rained on his parade, his resolve remained unshaken. Even with no one in his corner to tend to the car’s intricacies, Wallace showcased a pace that almost had him clinching a Stage 1 triumph. However, fate threw a curveball in lap 108 when his right rear tire deflated, putting a damper on his dreams of sailing smoothly into the round of 12s.

But ever the optimist, Bubba Wallace kept his chin up, looking ahead to flex his racing muscles at Bristol. Reflecting on the Kansas race, he believed there were missed opportunities to turn the tide, especially during a restart and a yellow flag. “Our team did a really good job salvaging the day. We needed a big Talladega pile-up of 15 other playoff cars, but that didn?t happen,” he remarked.

Now, as the gears shift to Bristol, all eyes are on Wallace to see if he and his crew can pull off the strategy they’ve been brewing behind the scenes.

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