In a span of 367 grueling laps of the 2024 Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Chris Buescher and Bubba Wallace went from competing against one another for the 16th and final berth to this year’s Playoffs to both being knocked out of contention amid a new race winner capitalizing on the Playoff’s “Win and You’re In” format.
With their respective top-10 runs at Daytona, Chris Buescher and Ty Gibbs are currently scored above the top-16 cutline to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs while Bubba Wallace is scored below the cutline ahead of next weekend's regular-season finale at Darlington.
The 23-year-old Burton from Huntersville, North Carolina, executed a final lap pass on Kyle Busch amid an overtime shootout to become the 205th competitor to win in NASCAR's premier series, the 13th competitor to claim a 2024 Cup Series Playoff berth by winning a regular-season event and deliver a milestone victory for Wood Brothers at the World Center of Racing.
The two-time Xfinity Series champion from Corning, California, led 15 over 206 over-scheduled laps and survived two overtime shootouts and a late challenge from William Byron to grab his second Cup victory of 2024 at the Irish Hills.
The 2018 Daytona 500 champion from Welcome, North Carolina, collided with veterans Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap amid an overtime shootout to snap a 68-race winless drought and clinch a 2024 Cup Series Playoff berth with a wild victory at Richmond.
23XI Racing's Reddick and Wallace finished third and fourth, respectively, which keeps the former in contention for the regular-season championship battle and the latter above the top-16 cutline by three points with three regular-season races of 2024 remaining.
The 2021 Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led eight of 167 over-scheduled laps and prevailed in two overtime attempts to win the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis for the first time in his career.
The 30-year-old Wallace from Mobile, Alabama, led 26 of 167 over-scheduled laps, won the second stage and finished in fifth place for his fourth top-five result of the 2024 season and gain 20 points towards making the 2024 Playoff cutline at the Brickyard.
The reigning Cup Series champion from High Point, North Carolina, led a race-high 44 of 160 laps and capitalized on a 23-lap dash to the finish to claim his second Cup victory of the 2024 season at the Tricky Triangle.
