Bubba Wallace gave a shoutout to the Tennessee Volunteers during his driver introduction at Bristol Motor Speedway. NASCAR reporter Steven Taranto shared several excerpts of driver introductions during Saturday's (September 13) Bass Pro Shops Night Race.As the 23XI driver, Wallace came out later and echoed the sentiment. Notably, Wallace shares deep roots with the Volunteers, since his mother used to run track and field at the university."Bubba Wallace also dropped a "Rocky Top! Go Vols!"," Taranto wrote via X.Bubba Wallace recently addressed his polarizing stature within the sport and how he deals with his critics."I've always kind of been very vocal. I'm not afraid to voice my opinion. I'm not afraid to show when I'm mad. And for some reason, people want a ton of personality, but they don't want it from me.... And I used to really focus on why am I damned if I do that? I don't care. I'm not going to change for anybody. It’s a full-circle moment, returning to how we started this interview. This is what you get. What you see is what you get," he said via Fox Sports.Wallace qualified eighth for the playoff elimination race and placed among the top 10 for both stages. His fourth-place finish in Stage 1 secured him a berth in the Round of 12, while he ended up finishing 34th in the running order.The result was due to a late-race incident where Cole Custer tagged Wallace's rear and sent him into the outside walls. Prior to the incident, Custer slowed down and was bumped by Brad Keselowski, which caused the inadvertent contact with Wallace."We're in an okay spot": Bubba Wallace on his playoff runBubba Wallace revealed how this year's playoff is far less stressful than his 2023 run. The 23Xl driver made it into the post-season after his Brickyard win, as opposed to his earlier attempt when he had to fight for points in the playoff bubble."For sure don’t feel the stress that I had two years ago. I feel like we’re in an okay spot. We’re not clenched or anything. So, it’s just one of those things where you just run your own race and be mindful of others, you should come out of here okay," he said via aforementioned source.Bubba Wallace entered the Bristol race with a 50-point cushion over the cutline. He secured two consecutive top-10s in the opening two rounds at Darlington Raceway and World Wide Technology Raceway.During last weekend's race at Gateway, Wallace was one of the leading contenders with a 73-lap lead. However, he suffered a stuck gear during a restart and tumbled down the order.Up next, the 31-year-old heads to New Hampshire Speedway for round 4 of the playoffs. His last outing at the track also resulted in a DNF and a 34th-place finish.