LONG POND, Pennsylvania — With 10 races remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, Bubba Wallace and Alex Bowman have little margin for error. 

Both drivers are currently inside the Cup Series playoff picture after 16 races, but with the potential for more winners below the cut line, both drivers know that a win is the only sure path to the postseason. 

Wallace, who is 13th on the playoff grid and 57 points above the cut line, is looking to get back to the playoffs after missing out in 2024. He’s also trying to snap a winless drought that dates back to Kansas in September of 2022. 

“I’ve had that mentality for the last three years that we need to win,” Wallace said. “Nothing has changed there. We’ve been executing all year, putting some races together. I’m really pleased with how Mexico City went. We’re in a decent spot, but not a safe spot at all. A win makes us safe, so that’s the only goal on our mind.”

Bowman is in a more precarious situation, sitting 15th on the grid, only 22 points above the cut line. His fourth-place finish in Mexico City on June 15 was his best finish since his runner-up effort at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 23. 

“We’re not in a good spot by any means,” Bowman said. “Over the last two months leading into Mexico, we bled a ton of points. We just need to get back to running where we should. Last week was a good swing back in the right direction. It’d definitely be better to win and be locked in. We were doing all the right things, and then we figured out how to crash quite a bit. Hopefully that’s behind us and we can be pointed in the right direction.”

Bowman and Wallace will start 25th and 34th, respectively, in Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway. 

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.