On outside looking in 'difficult' to work back into top 16 of Cup playoff picture

LEBANON, Tenn. — Eight races remain before the 16-driver field will be set for the Cup Series Playoffs beginning at Atlanta Motor Speedway in September.

While there are still many opportunities for drivers on the outside looking in to work their way into the postseason picture, the trends say it’s nearly impossible at this point in the calendar for those to work their way into the playoffs solely on points.

Since the introduction of stage racing in 2017, only three drivers have accomplished the task and only did so with a minute three-point gap or less to the elimination line.

Bubba Wallace, who sits 17th in the playoff standings 13 points back of Joey Logano for 16th, is the only active driver to make it in on points and did so just last season.

The last five weeks have been rough for the No. 23 23XI Racing team as Wallace hasn’t scored a top 10 and was involved in a multicar wreck last Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, taking him out of the provisional playoff grid. He sees Nashville as a place where he and his crew can rebound.

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“One bad race last weekend took us out thanks to ole’ [Noah] Gragson but we just got to throw that behind us, focus on (Sunday),” Wallace said. “We’ve been really good here (at Nashville). We haven’t had a green race here though. So that’s what we’re focused on. We’ve said that a lot this week, is having a green race here, showing up with speed. Didn’t get the good qualifying draw, but it is what it is. We didn’t crash. We learned a lot about the car in practice and that’s what we’re focused on.”

Someone having an even worse stretch in the early weeks of summer is two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch.

The longtime veteran can’t seem to shake off the miserable woes that have struck the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing team. Despite showing speed capable of top-10 results (minus Loudon), Busch has DNF’d in three of the last four events. In that span, Busch was in line for a top-five performance before being spun on the final lap at Sonoma by Ross Chastain.

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On Saturday, he stressed the challenge drivers face while trying to inch their way back into the battle for the Bill France Cup given how the midpack can change abruptly from race to race.

“Everybody in that spot, 12th place through 20th, can be so random each week that you’re battling for those points in positions and stage points, everything throughout the day, everything throughout the race going into every weekend,” Busch said. “Like it’s just those eight to 10 guys are on top of one another and it’s hard to make point advantages because one week you might be 12th, the next you might be 22nd and the other guy was 20th and now he’s 12th. So he’s net ahead. So that’s why it’s difficult.”

On the flip side of results, Chris Buescher has been in contention to win races multiple times this season. From being on the short end of the closest finish in Cup Series history to contact for the lead and cutting a tire at Darlington, Buescher’s fate seems to be handled by everyone except for himself.

However, the 31-year-old driver has built a stable 50-point cushion to the elimination line with top fives at Sonoma (including a stage win) and New Hampshire.

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But points are not on the mind of Buescher as he’s craving to return to Victory Lane for the first time since the regular-season finale at Daytona last year.

“We haven’t even thought about the point side of it honestly,” Buescher said. “It’s been figuring out how to win a race. Honestly, it just feels like that’s what it’s gonna take. With us included, there’s some fast race cars from this year that have been very close and haven’t been able to seal the deal. Knowing that, I don’t think we can sit here and think that points are going to do it for us.

“I don’t like points racing generally anyway. But I think we’re mainly on the same boat that we all agree that what it’s going to take is going to be more than a stage point or two here or there.”

There could be consolation for Buescher as his three wins in 2023 all came in the final five weeks of the regular season but he would prefer it to come before pressure mounted.

“Certainly wanted to win them earlier this year,” Buescher said. “That was our big goal was, ‘how do we fire off this season more competitive?’ and we did that. We were significantly more competitive to fire off this year than last and we came close a lot of times here so we accomplished part of that goal but the second half of that was win races early so that we’re not heading into summer stretch with the stresses of our situation.”

Still, a lot of time remains between Nashville and the checkered flag at Darlington but for those not currently in the playoff picture, an uphill climb remains and with a plethora of unique tracks waiting in the wings, those still within reach need to start producing on the right side of the results sheet.

“Fast cars cure all,” Busch said. “Being able to have confidence and to go out there and run hard and run fast and put myself in positions to win, that’ll certainly make a lot of gains and make everybody happy.”