Bubba Wallace had a rough Sunday at Gateway.
And by rough, I mean the No. 23 looked completely out of sorts.
The playoff pressure was already high.
Then Wallace made things even harder on himself.
The car looked difficult to control.
The decision-making did not exactly help.
And Gateway punished every mistake.
That is the worst possible combination at a flat track.
Wallace needed a clean, disciplined playoff race.
Instead, it felt like watching a man trying to put out a fire with gasoline.
The playoffs are not getting any easier.
If Wallace wants to make a deep run, he cannot afford many more afternoons like this.
Gateway was ugly.
And NASCAR’s playoff pressure is only getting hotter.