Bubba Wallace‘s focus heading into Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener at Darlington Raceway was to just pick up base hits. It’s not a one-race playoff, it’s a 10-race playoff and in the Round of 16, it’s survive and advance.
Wallace did exactly what he wanted to do at Darlington. He spent the majority of the night up front, leading 10 laps and finishing sixth. Wallace was pleased with the effort, he said after the race.
“It was a good night. Just base hits, man. Just lap by lap,” Wallace said, via Frontstretch. Got in the wall a little bit, had some mistakes on pit road, but we rebounded really nice. I appreciate everyone’s effort. Our guys are solid, our team is solid and if we just do our job, nothing fancy, we can go really far.
“I think putting runs together like today, capitalizing on others’ mistakes — will help us achieve that goal. Just really pleased with the night, nothing to hang our head about. Obviously, wanted to win, but really happy with sixth and didn’t give up unnecessary points.”
Bubba Wallace avoided disaster at Darlington
While Wallace did just about everything right on the racetrack, a “treacherous” pit road threatened to negatively impact their night. At one point, Wallace was leaving his pit stall as Zane Smith was turning into his. Smith managed to hit the brakes and avoid contact with Wallace.
Pit road was an adventure for several players drivers throughout the night. Fortunately for Wallace, there was no harm from his near run-in with Smith.
“That was just crazy timing how it all worked out. Luckily, no damage was done, nobody was hurt,” Wallace said. “Pit road is treacherous here, so I think when we had our mistakes, a lot of people had mistakes too on pit road. It’s just one of those things. You got to be able to rebound and enjoy the moment.”
Wallace will turn his attention to this Sunday’s race at Gateway. He heads there fifth in the playoff standings, +25 above the cutline.
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