Wallace enters the Round of 12 on the bubble
Bubba Wallace enters the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway in the final spot of the NASCAR Playoffs Round of 12 and on the pole for the race.
Wallace has been outperforming expectations the entire year onto the first playoff appearance of his career and secured a spot in this round of the playoffs with a 14th-place finish at Bristol last week. He faces an uphill climb to get to the Round of 8 but wasn’t about to let non-believers bring him down.
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Bubba Wallace points to his signature on a banner after winning the Busch Light Pole Award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 on Sept. 23, 2023, at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. (Austin McAfee/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
"We keep outkicking the goal posts and they keep moving it," Wallace said Saturday, via Sportsnaut. "That’s fine. We’ll make it work. You can’t help DARFs."
The term DARF is an acronym for "Dumba-- race fan." He first used the term in 2022 after he wrecked in Atlanta.
Wallace gets to start on the pole, which could help him get a stage point at Texas. He enters the race 14 points behind Tyler Reddick, Wallace’s teammate who won at Kansas earlier this month.
Bubba Wallace smiles after winning the Busch Light Pole Award on Sept. 23, 2023, at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. (Austin McAfee/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Also on the bubble – Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney.
"Was I expecting it? I don’t know," Wallace said of qualifying. "Qualifying, you know, I tend to try too hard and overthink things. And that’s my problem with life, I need to stop doing it, I just need to just go out and do. So that was a good surprise."
It’s his second career pole.
Bubba Wallace drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 on Sept. 23, 2023, in Fort Worth. (Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
The Texas race starts at 3:30 p.m. ET.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.
