Bubba Wallace's measured approach at Darlington Raceway paid off with a sixth-place finish. The 23XI Racing driver explained how he didn't 'oversail it' and made sure to avoid finding the fence.During Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500, Wallace was lucky enough to survive the opening lap debacle and the multi-car wreck that ensued. He later avoided a disaster on pit road, stopping just in time as Zane Smith pulled into the adjacent stall.The No.23 driver even led the race at one point while Denny Hamlin trailed in second. Although his lead was short-lived at just 10 laps, the Alabama native held his nerve to escape the 'Track Too Tough to Tame' unscathed.Reflecting upon the same, Wallace spoke to ASAP Sports and said,"All in all we didn't oversail it. Hit base hits all day. I was counting down the laps one by one. Limit the mistakes. I seen a lot of people had bad days. I didn't want to add to that factor. It's what it's all about, is just keeping the aggression levels in check, keeping the big picture in check, enjoying the moment. Here we are top six at Darlington."Darlington can be quite unforgiving and punish even the smallest of mistakes. During last year's Southern 500, Bubba Wallace began on pole, but ended up with a DNF after getting collected in a chain reaction late into the race.This time around, his top-10 finish has him fifth in the playoff standings, 25 points above the cutline. Meanwhile, his 23XI teammate Tyler Reddick ranks one spot above him after coming in second.Bubba Wallace believes he belongs in the playoffsAhead of Sunday's race, Bubba Wallace reaffirmed that compared to his 2023 playoff run, he's more confident of his spot this year. Notably, this is the first time he has made the postseason based on a race win, instead of battling for points on the playoff bubble."I don't feel like 2023 playoff Bubba or like 'Oh Man, it's cool to be talking to you guys for playoff day,' like I feel like I belong here and want to continue this trend and have the utmost confidence in our team and our ability and our potential to carry this into making a deep run the Playoffs," he said via X/Alan Cavanna.Bubba Wallace now heads to World Wide Technology Raceway for Round 2 of the playoffs. If he can keep his current momentum going, the 31-year-old can overcome his poor track record at Gateway. In his three starts at the track, Wallace hasn't made it into the top-20, and his average finish comes in at a lowly 25.The 240-lap race is scheduled for 3 PM ET on Sunday, September 7.