Chris Buescher entered the regular season finale with a 21-point buffer over Bubba Wallace, holding the 16th and final spot in the playoffs. However, the pressure quickly grew as laps clicked away. Wallace scored 11 stage points while Buescher collected only one, causing the margin between to be slashed nearly in half.
When a fellow Front Row Motorsports' Todd Gilliland put Buescher in the outside wall with 46 laps to go, he spun the fellow Ford driver out as his playoff hopes began to slip away. However, caution was an opportunity for him to pit for four fresh tires, while Wallace did not do. The momentum suddenly swung back in Buescher's direction as he surged back ahead of Wallace in points. A multi-car pileup then took the No. 23 Toyota of Wallace out of contention, but it was not a moment of relief for Buescher.
