Bubba Wallace’s playoff hopes were boosted on Sunday by winning the Southern 500.

Wallace secured his first pole of 2024 on Saturday by setting a fast lap of 167.146 mph around Darlington Raceway’s famous egg-shaped track, beating Carson Hocevar’s speed of 167.010 mph.

Wallace has had a fast No. 23 Toyota this summer, finishing in the top 10 in four of the last five races, but he could use a win to secure a playoff spot. The 23XI Racing driver said he isn’t feeling any more stress than usual, but would just like to get back to Victory Lane.

“I think overall I’m stressed because I haven’t had a win for almost two seasons,” Wallace said. “Let’s say that was Daytona last year or the (elimination) race at Bristol. Compared to last year, I’m not stressed and I think that’s for the best.”

Wallace, who made the playoffs in 2023, is 17th in the standings heading into the regular season finale, 21 points behind Chris Buescher, another 2023 playoff driver. If there is no new winner on Sunday – 13 drivers qualified for the playoffs by winning races – Buescher, who qualified 10th, should have a good chance of advancing on points.

But Buescher knows that winning on Sunday is the surest way to continue his fight for the championship.

“I was very close in many races but didn’t take the win,” he said. “I didn’t expect to be in this position.”

Kyle Busch is coming off an insane, frustrating season that has taken the two-time Cup Series champion past the NASCAR playoffs for the 12th straight year, and a win at the Southern 500 is his only chance to continue his winning streak in the postseason.

“Every week it seems like you’re wondering, ‘OK, what’s next?'” Busch said Saturday. “But that’s something we can’t change.”

Busch, who hasn’t won in 46 races, nearly secured his spot last week at Daytona but lost in a wild final-lap duel with Harrison Burton. That leaves Busch 19th on the playoff grid, 106 points behind the field, and knows his only chance is his first win at Darlington since 2008.

He said he will not let his difficulties this year distract him from his focus on the final race of the regular season.

“You can use it as a distraction or as a motivational tool,” said Busch, who won the series championship in 2015 and 2019. “We’ll try to make that our motivation.”

That won’t be easy at Darlington, where Busch finished seventh in May 2023, his best finish since leaving Joe Gibbs Racing two seasons ago to join car owner Richard Childress.

Busch finished 27th at the spring event in Darlington and was never able to keep up in the race.

“We’re not going into this weekend with our heads down and thinking we’re not going to do well,” Busch said. “We’re putting our heads together and trying to figure out why that is. We’re saying, ‘We’re going to go there with the best car we have and try to kick their butts and win.'”

Ross Chastain, who has won four times in the last two years, is 18th in the overall standings and will start from 22nd on Sunday. He too was surprised to be winless this year.

“If I had to fill out a bingo card at the beginning of the season, I certainly wouldn’t have dabbed that pad,” he said.

Martin Truex Jr., the 2017 series champion, is the leading driver without a win in the playoffs. He is 58 points above the cut-off and likely safe in his final Cup Series season. But he is taking nothing for granted.

“I’ve seen a lot of crazy things happen,” he said.

The top five qualifiers were completed by Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson and Truex.

The race for the playoffs isn’t the only one taking place in Darlington. League leader Tyler Reddick is just 17 points ahead of 2021 series champion Larson for the regular season title and 15 bonus playoff points. Second place in the standings earns 10 bonus points.

Reddick and Larson have no plans to go after each other. Both say they will rely on their successful past at Darlington and their strong teams this season to finish at the top.

“When we get to a place like this, we’re in control, I’m in control and he’s in control,” Reddick said.

Larson has led 785 laps at Darlington in his career and won the Southern 500 a year ago. Reddick finished second to Larson at Darlington last September and led 174 laps in the May race.

Associated Press and Field Level Media contributed to this report.