Over the course of 367 grueling laps of the 2024 Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Chris Buescher and Bubba Wallace went from competing for 16th and final place in this year’s Playoffs to ultimately being eliminated as a new race winner utilized the Playoffs’ “Win ​​and You’re In” format.

Buescher and Wallace’s diminished Playoff hopes come after the pair dominated headlines all weekend at Darlington and weathered a series of on-track tests to remain in the Playoff hunt until the checkered flag dropped and this year’s 26-race regular season ended.

The battle between Buescher and Wallace began with the latter striking first, leading the first 34 laps from pole position. Wallace finished second at the conclusion of the first stage and collected nine stage points, while Buescher finished 10th, allowing Wallace to pass Buescher for the 16th and final Playoff spot.

During the second stage, Buescher regained the advantage by a small margin as Wallace dropped out of the top five. Despite finishing 13th at the end of the second stage, while Wallace finished ninth, earning him two additional stage points, Buescher once again found himself on top of Wallace, earning the final Playoff spot.

Then, during the final stage, late drama struck for both Buescher and Wallace, which began with 46 laps to go when the former was squeezed into the outside wall of the straight by Todd Gilliland before he began spinning the latter. Despite minor cosmetic damage to his No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry, Buescher stayed on the lead lap and above the cutoff line. Then, with 24 laps remaining, Wallace’s Playoff hopes were dashed when he was caught in a multi-car accident at Turn 2, when he hit the back of a crashing William Byron before being rammed in the back by Noah Gragson, sending Wallace tumbling down the track. Despite falling below the leaderboard, Wallace was able to keep his damaged No. 23 U.S. Air Force Toyota Camry XSE under power and at race pace.

While Wallace initially appeared to be losing points to Buescher for the final Playoff spot, Buescher found himself at a disadvantage as Chase Briscoe, who came into Darlington in a must-win situation, shot out for the lead on a late restart with 17 laps to go. Briscoe fended off Kyle Busch, another Playoff must-win contender, over the final 17 laps to win the race and leapfrog Buescher and Wallace in the Playoff standings to secure a spot in the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs.

For Buescher, the result made the Prosper, Texas, native the first rider to finish outside the top 16, missing out on a third chance to make the playoffs a year after making it all the way to the quarterfinals and winning three races.

From losing a record-tying .001-second to Kyle Larson at Kansas Speedway to slashing a tire while battling for the win with Tyler Reddick at Darlington late in the race earlier in May, Buescher recounted the various instances where he squandered opportunities to secure a regular-season win that would have secured him a spot in the Playoffs. With five top-five finishes and 12 top-10s in 26 races, the Texan also tried to reflect on the positives from the start of the season that could have allowed him to finish strong in 2024.

“We came back in contention at the end and had some decent results,” Buescher told USA Network. “We just fell short again, and we’re looking at it from the outside. It’s just the system that we all play in. We had such a great year. Everyone at (Roush Fenway Keselowski) worked so hard. We were so fast. We passed so many cars that are going to be fighting for the championship, but that’s the system and we didn’t work well with it.”

Like Buescher, Wallace, who finished 10th in the Cup Series Playoffs for the first time last year, was also disappointed on pit road despite a late summer surge that allowed him to return to the Playoffs. But his hopes have been dashed by a recent surge in surprise winners, including Chase Briscoe and Harrison Burton. Still, the Mobile, Alabama, native praised the fight and determination of his No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota team, which kept the driver and team in contention until the end of the regular season.

Wallace currently has career-best stats, five top-five finishes and 10 top-10 finishes, equaling his totals from the previous two seasons. With a current average finish of 15.8, which is his personal best, Wallace has 10 races remaining on the 2024 schedule to add to his stats and earn his first Cup win in two seasons.

“We were going back and forth in our U.S. Air Force Toyota Camry,” Wallace said. “We were a little too loose, a little too tight. And a couple of laps of caution on the tires where we were on the outside, I don’t know if that was the deciding factor or not. I was so tight there and I came back in traffic in a place we hadn’t been all day and I got caught in someone’s mess. It’s unfortunate. I hate it for our guys. Man, hats off to (Briscoe). I thought I did something yesterday. They outdid us and came around when it was time to play, so that’s pretty awesome, so congrats to them. Man, I just wasn’t good enough for 16th this year. I hate it. It stinks to say it, but it wasn’t a lack of effort on our part in that No. 23 car. Good luck to (Reddick) and I hope Toyota wins.”

Overall, both Buescher and Wallace join Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, Todd Gilliland, rookie Carson Hocevar, Michael McDowell, rookie Josh Berry, Noah Gragson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Erik Jones, Ryan Preece, Austin Dillon, Daniel Hemric, Justin Haley, Corey LaJoie, John Hunter Nemechek and rookie Zane Smith as full-time Cup Series competitors who did not qualify for the 2024 Playoffs. Nevertheless, they all have the final 10 Playoff races to fight for 17th place in the final standings.

The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continues with the upcoming Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which will kick off the Playoffs. The event is scheduled for next Sunday, September 8, at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA Network.