Bubba Wallace makes his mentality for the New Hampshire race crystal clear: “Focus on the big stuff”

Bubba Wallace opened up on his mindset going into the playoff Round of 12 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The 23Xl driver admitted that it'll take 'everything' for him to survive the 301-lap event.

Wallace starts outside the top 10 for Sunday's Mobil 1 301. He qualified 14th with a lap time of 29.485 seconds. His teammate, Tyler Reddick, grabbed a spot among the frontrunners at fourth, recording a lap time of 29.356 seconds.

In a post-qualifying interview at the Loudon track, Wallace discussed his chances going into the playoff elimination round.

"I think you gotta intensify a little bit more, you know. We're in by one or two, whatever it is. And so it's going to take, it takes everything. The last round took everything as well, but it's more defined on this one, I would say," he said via Youtube/Frontstretch [5:31 onwards]

"So, yeah, but I think the base hits mentality is just don't let the highs get too high, lows get too low. Just go out and lap by lap, make the right moves, let the little stuff go to focus on the big stuff later," he added.

Bubba Wallace wrecked out of last weekend's race at Bristol Motor Speedway, but kept himself among the top-10 during both stages. His top-10 results at Gateway and Darlington spared him a lowly finish in the standings. He's currently eighth in the playoff standings, a single point above the cutline, and four points adrift of Chase Elliott above him.

Tyler Reddick, meanwhile, runs the risk of elimination at 12th and three points below the cutoff.

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Bubba Wallace brings attention to Team Penske's tire test advantage at New Hampshire

Team Penske had a dominant qualifying at New Hamshire, with Joey Logano grabbing the Busch Light Pole and Ryan Blaney coming in second. Josh Berry, the Wood Brothers Racing driver benefitting from Penske's technical alliance, rounded out the top-3.

Bubba Wallace took notice of the fact and pointed out their July tire test at the one-mile asphalt.

"I mean we expected to be quicker than what we were and yeah, so looks like the the Penske tire test is paying off for those boys in top three right now," he said via aforementioned source. [8:18 onwards]

Ross Chastain, another driver who took part in the tire test back in July, also qualified among the top-10 at eighth. Team Penske's Austin Cindric, however, couldn't make use of the tire advantage and qualified 22nd.

Notably, Cindric ranks right below Bubba Wallace in the playoff standings, while Joey Logano and Ross Chastain place further down at 10th and 11th. If Logano can pulloff an upset at New Hampshire, Wallace stands to face elimination.

Sunday's(September 21) race is scheduled for 2 PM ET. Fans can catch the action on USA and HBO Max.