Has there ever been a Bubba Wallace season quite like this one? For most of 2025, Wallace lived life on the razor’s edge, hanging around the playoff bubble, never quite comfortable but never fully out of it either. Then came the Brickyard, where he silenced the doubters with a clutch win that finally locked him in.

That momentum carried him from the regular season to the Round of 16. But again, when it came to making it to the Round of 12, he sat 8th in the standings. No wins, just one slim point above the cutline. And with the pressure dialed all the way up, the Round of 12 opener at Loudon was supposed to be his chance to build some breathing room. Instead, it turned into the exact opposite. And shedding light on the same is Bubba Wallace.

Bubba Wallace’s painful New Hampshire

After qualifying a disappointing 14th, Wallace fell through the field as his No. 23 Toyota lacked both pace and handling, ultimately finishing a frustrating 26th. “No idea. No speed, no grip. So, unfortunate. So this one stings,“ Wallace bluntly confessed post-race, summing up the team’s inability to find answers over 301 laps.

The lack of speed and tire grip was visible from the start, as Wallace couldn’t maintain track position and reported handling woes throughout each stage. Despite multiple adjustments, the car fell further behind in the long run, finishing 15th in Stage 1 and 25th in Stage 2. This was a stark contrast to his occasional top-10 form earlier in the season.

The result was a costly one. He now sits last among the playoff contenders, 27 points below the cutline. Naturally, this makes elimination almost inevitable, barring a dramatic turnaround at Kansas or the Charlotte Roval. Still, Wallace remains determined: “Just gotta dig deep and figure it out next two weeks.” 

Kansas Speedway comes next. This is a track where Bubba Wallace in 15 starts has one win in 2022, 2 top fives and 3 top-10 finishes, demonstrating both speed and adaptability on 1.5-mile ovals. The Round of 12 then visits the Charlotte Roval, a challenging road course where Wallace’s best finish is a respectable 7th, though he’s yet to contend for a win. Both races represent a sharp departure from New Hampshire’s flat, tight confines.

Wallace’s bold confession invites a bigger question. Can a determined team flip the script and defy the odds when staring down playoff elimination? Or will Loudon’s struggles truly define Wallace’s 2025 campaign? Only time will tell.

Not just Bubba Wallace; Tyler Reddick and Riley Herbst share the pain too

It was not only Bubba Wallace who endured a frustrating afternoon at New Hampshire. 23XI Racing’s rough day caught Tyler Reddick and Riley Herbst as well. Reddick’s promising weekend began with a fast qualifying run, placing him 4th on the grid and squarely in the mix for stage points and a playoff boost. Despite cracking the ‘Magic Mile’ code, Reddick’s hopes waned early.

Plagued by persistent brake issues and a lack of long-run speed, Tyler Reddick steadily dropped back, ultimately finishing 21st, outside the top 20 for the first time in weeks. “The balance went away and then, next thing I know we were trying to battle for 20th so it was just a terrible day,” he said after the race. Reddick knows he missed a critical chance to rise above the playoff cutline. He now sits 11th in the standings, 23 points below the Round of 8 threshold. This makes every point vital in the coming weeks.

Riley Herbst faced a similar story. After a solid qualifying lap to start 25th, Herbst found the middle of the field to be treacherous. Handling woes and track position issues plagued his No. 35 Toyota, preventing any forward momentum as the race wore on. Herbst crossed the finish line in 22nd. While he isn’t in playoff contention, the result will surely hurt a little.

As the checkers flew, the story was clear: a bad day overall for 23XI Racing. All three playoff entries  — Wallace, Reddick, and Herbst- finished outside the top 20, and the playoff drivers sank below the cutline. For a team that entered the postseason brimming with promise, the road to recovery now leads through Kansas and the Charlotte Roval. Here, nothing short of excellence will suffice if 23XI wants to keep its playoff dreams alive.