Kevin Harvick just revealed Bubba Wallace‘s chances of getting to the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for the second consecutive season. On Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Harvick detailed where Wallace sits in the playoff standings while also looking at the drivers who are on the bubble.
“I’m telling you if one person outside of that top 16 wins, it’s really going to get interesting,” Harvick said. “Martin Truex, I think he’s the only guy that’s safe on points. Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher and I can’t remember who’s 16th (Alex Bowman). Bubba is out by like 51 points, so he’s in trouble.
“I think from his standpoint, I think he’d like to see his cars run faster. But I think they’re capable of buckling down and finding some speed. It’s just a matter if those racetracks match up right because you’ve got Chicago Street Course, you’ve got Daytona Superspeedway, which they’ll run good at. You’ve got another Richmond Race, you’ve got some very unique racetracks, he’ll run good at Michigan. I think there are some race tracks that are good for him for the rest of the year, but it’s a matter of getting into the playoffs and those races that they have leading up to the playoffs.”
As Harvick mentioned, Wallace is 51 points behind Bowman for the final playoff spot. A win is the easiest way for Wallace to have a shot at the Cup Series Championship. On Sunday, Wallace earned a P7 finish at the Nashville race, and it was his first top-10 finish since the Darlington race in May where he also finished seventh.
Bubba Wallace weighs in on his playoff chances
Before the Nashville race, Wallace talked about the key to reaching the postseason. “It’s a little bit of both [speed and handling]. Like I’ve tried to come into this year way more prepared than I have been, studying more film, being more attentive in the meetings, asking, I would think more of the right questions, but just asking more questions in general,” Wallace told Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports. “It’s hard, man. We’re fighting for thousandths of an inch. That’s what it’s all about and I say we have enough smart people on our team.
“Well, there’s a lot of teams in this sport that have a lot of smart people. So, you’re going up against the best of the best and that’s what makes you show up the following weeks is when you do get beat, you’ve got things to work on and it’s the competition side of things. So, as much as we’re off, it’s not much, but it’s just enough to keep us working hard and trying to find out what it is to get back to where we ran last year.”
On3’s Jonathan Howard contributed to this story.
The post Kevin Harvick addresses chaotic NASCAR Playoff picture, chances for Bubba Wallace appeared first on On3.
