DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Everyone else was jumping, including co-owner Michael Jordan. But Bubba Wallace, who doesn’t hide his feelings, didn’t show much emotion after reaching the playoff cup for the first time.

As Wallace calmly unbuckled his helmet, he paused. The weight of making the playoffs in the sixth attempt took hold of him. He pressed his hands on the door of his Toyota no. 23 and bowed his head. Wallace stood motionless for nearly 10 seconds before straightening up and loosening his helmet strap again.

After removing his helmet and socks, Wallace wiped his face with his hands and placed them on his sides. He looked at the stands and sighed.

“I’m just mentally drained,” Wallace said.

That Wallace showed little emotion – other than relief – shows just how grueling the past few weeks have been for the 23XI Racing driver.

He had to overcome a number of obstacles to reach the regular season finale at Daytona, including a pair of road courses over the last two weeks.

Getting through that race was nothing compared to what he faced this week.

“This week was probably the hardest week I’ve had in a long time, just trying to stay hyper-focused,” Wallace said. “Extremely stressed and up at 2:30 in the morning.”

Shouting into the radio at the finish, Wallace admitted in the pits that he was “a little bit upset, not very excited but at the same time I was mentally going for the bell”.

Five years ago, the scene was completely different when he finished second in his first Daytona 500, becoming the highest-finishing black driver in the event’s history. His mother hugged him during the press conference and told him, “I’m so proud of you.”

“You’re acting like we just won the race,”

“We did it. We did it. We won that race.”

Hugging his sister, Wallace broke down in tears and tried to collect his thoughts.

After finishing second in the 2022 Daytona 500, the emotions were different. After finishing 36-thousandths of a second behind winner Austin Cindric that day, he hung his head on pit road.

“2018 was amazing. 2022 was not amazing,” Wallace said after the race. “For the first time in 2018, I didn’t get a chance to fight. When it’s that close, it’s like a punch in the gut.”

Wallace’s road to the playoffs was filled with high expectations that weren’t always met. Sometimes it was him. Sometimes it was the pit crew. Other times it was a team. Such matters have kept the 29-year-old Wallace from winning this season and put him in a place where his playoff destiny is not entirely in his control.

The pressure was rising.

Before the Indianapolis road race two weeks ago, Wallace acknowledged the weight he put on himself to make the playoffs.

“I think it’s embarrassing if we don’t make the playoffs, for sure,” Wallace said earlier this month. “Next year will be my contract year so I think if we don’t make the playoffs then I could be out. But that’s just me being hard on myself.”

On the second day, he lost 32 points to Daniel Suarez. Wallace’s lead over Suarez has dropped to 28 points with two races remaining in the regular season. Heading into Watkins Glen, another road course, it seemed likely that Suarez could close the gap due to Wallace’s problems at such venues.

Emboldened by a phone conversation with six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon a few hours before last week’s race at Watkins Glen, Wallace finished 12th — his best finish at a road course this year. That gave him a 32-point lead over Ty Gibbs entering Daytona.

“Watkins Glen was a man-up moment,” crew chief Bootie Barker said of Wallace’s performance. “It was great.”