The playoff field has tightened once again in the NASCAR Cup Series. With three races left in the regular season, time is running out for postseason hopefuls to secure their spots. And of the teams whose playoff futures have not yet been decided, there may be no organization in a more precarious place than 23XI Racing.
23XI began competing last year amid enormous fanfare and high expectations. Co-owners Michael Jordan and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin started the team in no small part to provide an opportunity for Bubba Wallace to race for Cup Series wins. Although the organization went through some growing pains in 2021, Wallace made good on the opportunity by scoring his first career Cup win at Talladega Superspeedway. Unfortunately for Wallace, the team had not been able to qualify for the playoffs earlier that year.
The 2022 season for 23XI Racing brought a second car, driven by Kurt Busch. It also brought more of the same growing pains from 2021, this time for both drivers. Busch had an up-and-down start to the season but scored a victory at Kansas Speedway in May, giving him priority for the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Wallace nearly earned his second career victory in February’s Daytona 500, losing to Austin Cindric by no more than a bumper. On other occasions, Wallace has had speed roughly equal to Busch’s, especially at the intermediate ovals. But a series of pit road mistakes and strategy backfires have marred Wallace and the No. 23 team’s consistency. After just a few races this year, it was clear he would need to win in order to reach the playoffs.
Two weeks ago, at Pocono Raceway, 23XI Racing was dealt another difficult blow. Following a crash in qualifying, Busch was not medically cleared to race after experiencing concussion-like symptoms. He hasn’t been able to compete since then and has fallen to 15th on the playoff grid, the last driver qualified by race wins.
Wallace, on the other hand, has been on a hot streak. A third at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, eighth at Pocono, and fifth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course accounted for three of Wallace’s five top-10 finishes before heading to Michigan International Speedway.
When Wallace won the pole on Saturday (Aug. 6), it looked like he would have a great shot at victory number two. Wallace’s pole, the first of his career, was a bit of a surprise. Michigan has been strictly the domain of Ford over the last few years, winning the previous seven Cup races…
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