Bubba Wallace’s playoff journey would sound familiar to every fan who has made a last-minute dash for the subway before the doors shut down. While Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano failed to reach the station on time, 23XI Racing‘s Bubba Wallace quietly sprinted in to head toward the destination. But he stumbled several times on his way.

The #23 Camry driver is one of the two playoff contenders to qualify for the Top 12 without a single win this season. Due to this, many were uncertain about the possibility of him riding on this far. NASCAR experts reveal the inherent quality in Michael Jordan‘s driver which makes him a racer to watch out for.

NASCAR insider reveals how Bubba Wallace prevailed over his shortcomings to emerge as a legitimate playoff contender

Bubba Wallace temporarily held the 16th qualifying spot before the last regular season race in Daytona. Both Ty Gibbs and Daniel Suarez were on his tail and many touted Suarez to be a more likely entry into the playoffs than Wallace. And yet Wallace confirmed his spot with a 12th-place finish and sailed through to the playoffs. However, the route across the first round was just as treacherous for Denny Hamlin’s driver.

Wallace’s race at the Kansas Speedway didn’t end well, but he registered a respectable 7th and 14th in Darlington and Bristol, respectively. Once again, he wasn’t marked as a serious contender for the next round, but he quietly accumulated stage points while the veterans Logano and Harvick suffered mishaps. But this time NASCAR analysts paid him his due attention.

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NBC Sports’ pit reporter Kim Coon was particularly enamored by this Toyota driver’s consistent rise. Coon noticed his relentless endeavor in Bristol and every other track where he needed to show up for himself and his team. Despite falling short on road courses, Wallace continued to improve his skills and up his game, especially on intermediate tracks and superspeedways.

Coon observed, “You know, even though Bubba, I’ll say, kind of squeezed in points-wise, the effort that he just put into, especially Bristol, was unmatched from anything I feel like I’ve seen from Bubba before...You just look at some of the races throughout this season where he hadn’t performed before and he knew it was imperative, like Watkins Glen. He has never been good on road courses and he fought through that race.

“Bristol, he knew, their goal was to finish fifth, fifth and fifth—fifth in stage 1, fifth in stage 2, and fifth in the race. While they didn’t do that, they still qualified very well to get him track position to start. And then scored eight points in the first stage to really bank those points. And that inevitably was what helped him move on.”

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The pit reporter further earmarked the main reason for Wallace’s impressive growth this season.

Wallace stuns fans and insiders alike with a grounded head in the game

Despite remaining winless this season, Bubba Wallace displayed a growing consistency with four Top 5 and seven Top 10 finishes. Notably, he was the runner-up in the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. NBC reporter Kim Coon discerned the primary reason behind this progress and credited his state of mind and management skills.

“I think you know throughout this season there have been races where I’ve said that too is, Bubba, to me, has started to evolve to the driver I think his fans want him to be. He seems from a mental perspective to have more mental stability than ever before. He seems like he can find a good head space more easily than he has in the past. And then I think his race craft, like managing races and his evolution on the track, I think has come a long way too.”

She astutely concluded, “Not a lot of people had Bubba in the playoffs period, so I think he’s shocking a lot of people, the fact that he’s moved on to the next round.”

Read More: “This Has Been Stressful” – Bubba Wallace’s Surprising Rise in the Playoffs Could Be His Very Downfall