The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is one race into its second round, and both of 23XI Racing’s championship-eligible drivers are below the Round of 8 cutline. Now, they head to Kansas Speedway, a track that could become pivotal for both Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace.
The 1.5-mile track represents the best opportunity for both drivers to accumulate a substantial amount of points and rebound from average performances last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Reddick is 23 points below the cutline while Wallace is 27 points below.
These are not insurmountable hurdles, especially if other playoff drivers have issues early at Kansas Speedway. The team just needs to show up with more speed than they have the last three trips to the Sunflower State.
“There’s just a lot of question marks honestly,” Reddick said after finishing 21st at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “Places we have had speed at, we don’t bring speed. That’s been one of them for us.
“Yeah, we need something special to happen. I’m hoping we find the answer.”
The reason for the question marks is how 23XI Racing has fallen off in recent races at Kansas Speedway. The team had a dominant stretch at the track to kick off the Gen 7 era with Kurt Busch and Wallace splitting the races in 2022. Team owner Denny Hamlin and Reddick then split the races in 2023.
It appeared that Kansas had become the playground for 23XI Racing, but the situation changed in 2024. Reddick finished 20th and 25th in last season’s two races at the 1.5-mile track. He finished 17th in this season’s spring race. He only scored three stage points in this stretch.
Wallace, for comparison, finished 10th, first, and fourth in the first three Kansas races of the Gen 7 era. He has since finished 32nd, 17th, 17th, and 33rd. He scored nine stage points in the 2023 playoff race but none in the three races since.
If the two 23XI Racing drivers hope to advance beyond the Round of 12, they and their teams will have to hit on something this weekend at Kansas Speedway.
Why is this track so pivotal? The cutoff race for this round takes place at the Charlotte Roval. On paper, both Wallace and Reddick will have opportunities to score points. Reddick has multiple road course wins and Wallace has multiple top-10 finishes at the Roval.
However, Shane van Gisbergen will enter the race as the heavy favorite to win, so the playoff drivers will likely view this as simply an opportunity to stockpile some points. They can’t automatically go to NASCAR’s home track thinking that they will win and advance.