Wallace Gains Critical Ground On Playoff Cut Line

Bubba Wallace in action Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Nigel Kinrade/Toyota Racing photo)

INDIANAPOLIS – Bubba Wallace continued his march toward the playoff field Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, cutting his deficit down to single digits.

Wallace netted an impressive fifth-place finish in the 30th anniversary Brickyard 400 presented by PPG, a result that extended his top-10 streak to back-to-back weeks.

Though he started off the weekend subpar, qualifying 17th, Wallace worked his way through the field on race day and ultimately gained 20 points on the playoff cut line.

“We made up some points today,” said Wallace. “[Our day] was OK. Honestly, I really put our team behind the 8-ball Friday and Saturday, just not doing a good job in the car, but the team stuck with me and gave me all the right tools to work on things.”

Wallace finished 11th in stage one and then went on to top stage two. It marked his first NASCAR Cup Series stage win since October 2022 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway — where he was later suspended for intentionally wrecking Kyle Larson — and the fifth of his career.

Ironically enough, it was Larson who ultimately won the Brickyard 400 in double overtime.

The No. 23 Toyota team also spent time out front Sunday, leading 26 laps and topping the scoring pylon for the first time since the May throwback weekend at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

“We got some decent track position there in the middle and finally got us a stage win ... it's been [two] years since I got one of those. All in all, just a solid day,” Wallace noted. “Definitely what we needed.”

The 30-year-old remained solid on the IMS oval overall, with his third straight top-10 finish there dating back to 2019.

Leaving the Circle City, Wallace is looming large in the series standings, just seven back of Ross Chastain for the final playoff berth on points with four races left in the regular season.

With a much clearer path to the postseason, Wallace has favorable tracks ahead following the two-week Olympic break. He finished 13th in Richmond (Va.) Raceway’s April race, second after qualifying on the pole two years ago at Michigan Int’l Speedway, fifth in February’s Daytona 500, and has top 10s in each of his last four Darlington (S.C.) Raceway events with 23XI Racing.

“The goal from here is just to have fun,” said Wallace. “That's what I wanted to do last week and hope to continue that for the next 14 races. It's all about having fun.”

After taking two weeks off for the Paris Olympics, the NASCAR Cup Series returns at Richmond’s three-quarter-mile oval, where Denny Hamlin won most recently in April.

Coverage of the Cook Out 400 begins Sunday, Aug. 11 at 6 p.m. ET on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.