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Bubba Wallace wins pole award for the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

JHby:Jonathan Howard•08/31/24•

Jondean25

Bubba Wallace Phoenix garage
Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

A man on a mission! Bubba Wallace wins the pole award at Darlington Raceway for the Southern 500 with his back against the wall. The 23XI Racing driver is hoping to not just point his way, but win his way into the NASCAR Playoffs.

This is the first pole award for Bubba Wallace since Texas last season in the playoffs. Wallace comes into the race 21 points down to Chris Buescher. He clearly doesn’t have points on his mind with the pole award locked down.

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Leading the field to green is the No. 23 Air Force Toyota Camry. Can Wallace put it in Victory Lane?

Bubba Wallace has three career pole awards. He has won a pole in each of the last three seasons.

Carson Hocevar, the Spire Motorsports rookie, is on the outside pole. Hocevar has earned Spire their best-ever starting position. It was previously Corey LaJoie, P5 at COTA this season. The No. 77 team is coming together.

It was a very interesting top-10 in qualifying. Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Christopher Bell, and Chris Buescher make up the rows two through five.

Darlington, The Lady in Black, Track Too Tough to Tame – whatever you call it – this is a challenging place. Bubba Wallace has four straight top-10 finishes at Darlington. Is Sunday the day that he finally wins?

Bubba Wallace is here to win

If Bubba Wallace were to win the Southern 500, it would mean a lot. It would be a crown jewel for Wallace and 23XI Racing. The 23 team would lock into the NASCAR Playoffs, where they finished 10th overall last season.

When you win at Darlington, there are no “ifs,” “ands,” or “buts.” It is a track that does not forgive, it has no way of showing mercy. As the regular season finale, the Southern 500 has that much more meaning to it this year.

Wallace’s teammate Tyler Reddick qualified in the top-10. He is on a path to win the regular season championship. He will have to hold off both Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott in order to do it.

Bubba Wallace completed step one of the weekend. He has the Southern 500 pole award all to himself and now, he’s ready to go chase after the race win. A spot in the NASCAR Playoffs is on the line as well as a place in the history of the sport as a Southern 500 winner.

Will Wallace and his team get the job done on Sunday?