Buoyed by stage points, Bubba Wallace finds himself in a new spot entering Coca-Cola 600
Back-to-back 33rd-place finishes notwithstanding, Bubba Wallace finds himself in a unique position entering Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“I’ve never been 10th in points 12 races in,” he said. “I’ve always been the drama for the last four races leading up to the playoffs of trying to make it. Not saying we’re locked in by any means … but (66) points to the good, never said that before.”
Wallace is having a season unlike any other for him.
He is in the top 10 in the standings, in part, due to the stage points he’s scored. His 100 stage points rank fourth in the series behind only Kyle Larson (128 stage points), Ryan Blaney (110) and William Byron (107).
Wallace’s total exceeds the combined stage points (99) scored by Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece — who hold the final four spots in the playoffs standings.
Sunday’s race marks the halfway point of the 26-race regular season, so there’s still much racing to go.
While Wallace has two career Cup wins, none have come in the regular season. That’s led to the scramble to make the playoffs at the end of the regular season. His only playoff appearance came in 2023 when he secured the final playoff spot in the regular season finale at Daytona. He enters Sunday’s race winless in his last 91 Cup starts.
Wallace had never been higher than 16th in the standings at this point of the season in his previous seven seasons. A new crew chief in Charles Denike and a fast pit crew have played roles in Wallace’s improved performance but one shouldn’t overlook Wallace’s growth as a driver.
“I’ve done a lot work on self, on the mental side, the physical side to make sure that I am fit for the job,” Wallace said. “So you have to think like everything that everybody’s doing is just clicking and it’s seeming to work, right?”
As Wallace has gained experience in Cup, he’s learned more of what it takes to compete at the highest level of NASCAR.
“Eight years in there’s so much more than just going to beat the other guys,” Wallace said of advice he would give his younger self. “You have to do X, Y and Z and 1, 2, and 3, right? It’s wild how much goes into trying to be the best. I would say, aside from enjoying the moment, roll your sleeves up and be ready to work.
“There are some people, Larson for example, where he can wake up and go out and win everything. Happy for him. Awesome. There’s other people, like myself, I’ll throw my name in the hat, where we have to work to be that great. You have to understand that and two, recognize it, and three, put it to work.
”Wallace knows this week could be a challenge. The qualifying order is based on a metric that is weighed heavily on how the car finished in the previous race. With the 33rd-place finish at Kansas in the most recent points race, Wallace will go early in qualifying. That could be a starting spot outside the top 20.
“It’s going to be a dog fight for 600 miles,” Wallace said. “ … I have looked at that before as like, ‘Damn, we’re already at a negative.’ Well, there’s no different than going out last and hitting the wall and starting in the 20s, right?
“You just have to execute. You have to show up and treat it like a normal race. We have the speed. We’re confident in our people, confident in our equipment, and, I think, where we’re at now at this point in the season, never been here before. That gives you confidence, too.”
