After achieving his first-ever top-five finish in the NASCAR Cup Series with 23XI Racing, Bubba Wallace now has a new goal to achieve.
Before the race at Pocono Raceway, Wallace was among the four points-eligible full-time drivers without any top-10 finish in the season. For a team whose target was to book a playoff spot and win at least two races, the outcome so far was a big disappointment.
While the targets still elude the team, the first-ever top-five finish will put the team in the right direction. It was Wallace’s fourth top five finish in 131 career starts. His latest top-five finish puts him 54 points below the playoff cut line with seven regular-season races remaining in the 2021 Cup Series season.
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Having seen his team get its first-ever top-five finish, co-owner Michael Jordan has now set a new goal for his driver. After the race, Wallace got a text from Jordan outlining his expectation from Wallace to finish Top 10 every week.
.@BubbaWallace said Michael Jordan and 23XI investor Curtis Polk were "ecstatic and pumped up" after the team's first Top 5 finish yesterday, and that Jordan sent him "a very nice text, and now he expects a Top 10 every week, so now we have to put our foot down and keep digging." pic.twitter.com/k92UZSzZuf
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) June 28, 2021
However, considering that it took Wallace 19 races to get this finish, it is a big ask for the driver. Nonetheless, the team is making some strides and if he can get some finishes like such, he might be able to get a spot in the playoffs.