RICHMOND, Va. — As Chris Buescher celebrated a playoff-clinching victory Sunday in Richmond Raceway’s victory lane, complete with milkshakes, emotions varied across the track on a day when some drivers helped solidify their playoff hopes and others left frustrated, lamenting opportunities that slipped away.From his words over the radio to his demeanor when he walked down pit road, it was clear Bubba Wallace resided in the first camp. A 12th-place finish plus 16 additional stage points combined with several of those around him in the standings having subpar days meant Wallace took a big step toward securing his first-ever playoff berth.The 23XI Racing driver moved to 54 points above the provisional cut line, nearly one full race, and doubling the margin he held when the race began. This gives Wallace a healthy buffer with four regular-season races remaining.“All in all, a good points day today,” he said. “I don’t know where we’re at. We’ve got a pretty good gap, I’m assuming. So, it’s a good day.”Too much can occur, however, over the next four weeks for Wallace to feel completely comfortable, especially with wild-card races on the road courses at Indianapolis and Watkins Glen and the unpredictability associated with racing at Daytona, where the regular season concludes.Nonetheless, 54 points is a fairly healthy margin — even if, on Sunday, Wallace and his team left some points on the table due to some issues on pit road that cost them a better result.“Just had a hiccup of a pit stop, but just never really rebounded, recovered,” Wallace said. Like, balance just went away. Man, it’s just hard. This place is tough, finding the right line and the right balance, and we just fell off of it. So, one of the best here (Kevin Harvick) had the worst (final) restart and held us up, unfortunately. But it is what it is. We finished 12th.”Less enthused about Sunday’s outcome was Travis Peterson. That much was evident post-race when the crew chief for Michael McDowell’s No. 34 Front Row Motorsports team made a self-deprecating remark regarding a strategic decision he wanted back.The call Peterson referred to came during Stage 2, when he opted for a one-stop strategy instead of two like many other crew chiefs employed. It proved costly, with McDowell going from running in the top 10 to falling a lap down and never recovering the track position he lost. He finished 22nd.“We got so far behind there and then we had a bad pit stop and it just compounded,” Peterson said. “We had no chance in Stage 3. We had a way faster car than we’ve ever had in Richmond, and I think I just screwed it up. So I apologize to everybody that likes the 34 team.”The saving grace for Peterson — which he learned via a screenshot of the standings his wife texted him — is that while McDowell occupies the last playoff spot, he actually increased the gap between himself and the first driver on the wrong side of the cut line. He’s up 18 points on Ty Gibbs because of assorted issues drivers in playoff contention experienced Sunday night.
Race for NASCAR’s final playoff spots Pos.DriverPointsBehind cut15Bubba Wallace506–16Michael McDowell470–17Ty Gibbs4521818AJ Allmendinger4482219Daniel Suárez4363420Chase Elliott43040
“We didn’t really lose a lot of (points) to the cut, but we lost a lot to Bubba, and that’s where we needed to stay closer,” Peterson said. “We were looking at a top 15, no problem. Like I said, I’m a little baffled at the moment why it didn’t work for us, but obviously, it didn’t. We had a fast enough car, we should’ve just done what everybody else did, and we’d have been fine. Definitely hurts right now. I gotta get back and digest it.”McDowell and Peterson aren’t the only ones to leave Richmond wondering “What if?”Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Ryan Preece and Aric Almirola each had a car that at times appeared capable of winning. Yet, neither left Richmond with the win they needed to qualify for the playoffs in part because of issues on pit road. Preece lost track position due to a slow pit stop early on, while Almirola was issued a commitment line penalty.Preece rallied back to finish a season-best fifth; Almirola finished eighth. A good day, sure, but not what it could’ve been.Winning is the only pathway to the playoffs for the SHR teammates. And considering the uneven performance exhibited by the organization this season, there are no guarantees Preece and Almirola will have the same chance in the remaining four regular-season races. It’s hard not to feel like Richmond was one that slipped away.“I’m frustrated that I bottomed out getting on to the apron coming to pit road under the green flag there and kind of took off in a four-wheel slide and barely clipped the orange box there with my right-side tires,” Almirola said. “I’m frustrated. That’s a silly mistake. You can’t make those mistakes.”(Photo of Chris Buescher: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)

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