If there was ever a road-course race through which Bubba Wallace wanted to take the following step, it will be Sunday’s Grant Park 165.
Street programs have all the time been the weakest level of Wallace’s race craft, however in the direction of the tail finish of 2023, he gave the impression to be slowly bettering. Wallace has been first rate on highway programs in 2024 — finishes of fifteenth at COTA and twentieth at Sonoma are miles forward of the place he was in 2021 or 2022 — however Chicago is a pivotal race for Wallace if he needs to stay in placing distance for a playoff spot.
Wallace at the moment sits seventeenth within the Cup Collection playoff standings, 51 factors out of the Sixteenth and closing playoff spot. With solely seven regular-season races remaining, each lap counts for Wallace, who’s seeking to make the playoffs for the second 12 months in a row.
Wallace did his job on Saturday, because the No. 23 automotive was sixth quickest in each apply and qualifying. With Stage One being comprised of simply 20 laps, Wallace must make the most of his qualifying effort to earn stage factors.
And with Sixteenth-place driver Alex Bowman beginning eighth on Sunday, each place and level will matter that rather more.
Whereas 75 laps on the two.2-mile road course can current a myriad of methods, conditions and chaos, Wallace has an opportunity to chop into his factors deficit. With Pocono and Indianapolis — two tracks the place Wallace ought to be pretty fast — ending July’s portion of the NASCAR calendar, stealing factors day or a miraculous win might be the catalyst for an additional playoff run.
