NASCAR Madness: In-Season Challenge begins next week
Every year, like so many people do, Ryan Blaney and his team fill out a bracket for the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
Now, a bit of March Madness is coming to NASCAR.
Beginning next week, NASCAR holds its first In-Season Challenge, a bracket-style tournament where 32 drivers compete head-to-head for a $1 million prize.
Advertisement
Sunday's Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.COM at Pocono Raceway is the final seeding race; Michigan and Mexico City were the first two races. A driver's best finish in those three races determines his seed. The next-best finish in those three races is the tiebreaker. If drivers are still tied after that, the point standings after Pocono is the final tiebreaker.
The round-of-32 begins next Sunday at EchoPark Speedway at Atlanta. The Chicago Street Course hosts the 'Sweet 16' on July 6. The Sonoma road course is the site of the 'Elite Eight' on July 13. The 'Final Four' will be at Dover Motor Speedway on July 20. The two remaining drivers will battle for the championship in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27. All four races are televised on TNT.
Drivers simply advance by having the higher finish than the driver they are matched up against.
'I feel like the race tracks in the actual bracket are good for us; race tracks where I could knock out a top guy no problem,' said Michael McDowell, driver of No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. 'We're also doing it for a million bucks. How can you not be excited about that? That's life-changing money.'
Advertisement
Most of the drivers are excited about the In-Season Challenge.
Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Penske Ford, thinks it comes at a perfect time in the schedule.
'This is kind of that point where the newness has worn off, we're into the rhythm of racing every week, it's starting to be about who's going to be in the playoffs, who's not, the cutoff line, those types of things. But it's not really the main story yet,' Logano said. 'So this really spices up the mid-part of the season. We have a long season, so just kind of changing it up and adding something to it is great.'
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, agrees with Logano.
Advertisement
'I think it's exciting for our sport and our fan base,' Larson said. 'It's an extra storyline within the season. A lot of times the summer months can feel long and not much happening. So I think it adds an element of excitement. Hopefully it goes well for us. I think it's going to reward consistency, so hopefully we can be one of those teams.'
Blaney believes the In-Season Challenge will create a lot of race-within-the-races scenarios. Not only will drivers try to win, but also finish ahead of the driver they are pitted against.
'We don't have a lot of 1 v. 1 in our sport. This is a cool opportunity to have those matchups,' said Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Penske Ford. 'It will be fun for people to track and watch. I heard the broadcast is going to have a dedicated team just for the in-season tournament to really keep track of it, which is good. You have to do a good job of keeping track of what is going on within the full race. So I think it's neat and will be fun to watch. I don't see one negative about it. You could see a lot of great battles out there for maybe, 20th, but it means a lot if you get 19th.'
Much like the NCAA tournament, where people who don't follow college basketball still fill out a bracket, McDowell believes the In-Season Challenge can attract nonrace fans.
Advertisement
'I didn't grow up following other sports,' McDowell said. 'To me, this is a unique opportunity for us to engage with a fan who maybe, like me but the opposite, has never watched motor sports or never got into racing. But they're like, 'This is pretty cool. I can get into this.''
Christopher Bell, driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, thinks having Atlanta as the first race of the In-Season Challenge will make things interesting.
'It's hard to pick a favorite going through Atlanta with it being a superspeedway-style race,' Bell said. 'I think you're going to see a lot of upsets Week 1 of the in-season tournament. So get through that one and see who's left standing.'
Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, despite missing last week's race at Mexico City due to the birth of his son, is the No. 1 seed by virtue of his win at Michigan. Mexico City winner Shane van Gisebergen is not eligible for the Challenge since he was not in the top 32 in the point standings after Nashville.
Advertisement
'I'm a sports guy, so I'm going to be engaged with it,' Hamlin said. 'I'll know who I will have to beat next week. I've told the team, we are going to try and do what we can. We are going to be up against it because we are going to tracks that aren't very favorable to me. But we are going to try to do our best to beat that one car for the next four to five weeks.'
Here is how the bracket looks heading into Pocono and potential first-round matchups:
1-Denny Hamlin vs. 32-Carson Hocevar; 2-Chris Buescher vs. 31-Noah Gragson; 3-Christopher Bell vs. 30-Ty Dillon; 4-Ty Gibbs vs. 29-Todd Gilliland; 5-Chase Elliott vs. 28-Justin Haley; 6-Bubba Wallace vs. 27-Joey Logano; 7-Alex Bowman vs. 26-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.; 8-Michael McDowell vs. 25-Austin Dillon; 9-Kyle Larson vs. 24-Austin Cindric; 10-Ross Chastain vs. 23-Ryan Blaney; 11-John Hunter Nemechek vs. 22-Daniel Suarez; 12-Chase Briscoe vs. 21-Tyler Reddick; 13-Zane Smith vs. 20-A.J. Allmendinger; 14-Kyle Busch vs. 19-Josh Berry; 15-Ryan Preece vs. 18-Erik Jones; 16-William Byron vs. 17-Brad Keselowski.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
29 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins NASCAR national series debut as crew chief at Pocono
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Dale Earnhardt Jr. might already be NASCAR's most popular crew chief. He's certainly an undefeated one. Pressed into unexpected service, Earnhardt called the shots for 18-year-old prospect Connor Zilisch in the No. 88 Chevrolet and they landed in victory lane Saturday in the second-tier Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway. 'We had a lot of things going our way,' Earnhardt said. Earnhardt — who won NASCAR's most-popular driver award 15 times — made a pit stop from his day job as team owner at JR Motorsports with normal crew chief Mardy Lindley suspended one race because of a lug nut infraction this month at Nashville. Aside from his duties as team owner, Earnhardt also was at Pocono for his role on the Prime broadcast for the NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday. 'Lot of fun for me today,' Earnhardt said. 'I missed the thrill of competition. I love broadcast, don't get me wrong. But nothing compares to driving or just being part of the team. Being an owner doesn't really deliver like this. This is a lot of fun.' Earnhardt had his wife and two young daughters in tow with him as he made the celebratory walk to victory lane. Oldest daughter Isla Rose clutched the checkered flag while youngest Nicole Lorraine soaked in the scene from her dad's arms. The win continued a banner season for the NASCAR Hall of Fame driver — who swept two races at Pocono as a driver in 2014 — after JR Motorsports and reigning Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier qualified for the season-opening Daytona 500 and secured their Cup Series debut. Earnhardt won two Daytona 500s, in 2004 and 2014, and 26 races overall. His side hustle Saturday was made a bit easier with Zilisch behind the wheel. Zilisch, who turns 19 in July, raced to his second Xfinity victory of the season and third of his young career. He won his Xfinity debut last year at Watkins Glen International. Earnhardt even pitched in during the race and tossed tires over the wall during pit stops. Zilisch took the win down to the wire and finally passed Jesse Love with five laps left in the race. Love finished second. 'Dale Junior, not too bad on the box,' Zilisch said. 'Pretty cool to have him up there. Getting him a 1-for-1 win as crew chief is pretty awesome.' ___ AP auto racing:
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Dale Earnhardt Jr Just Won His First Race as a NASCAR Crew Chief
Dale Earnhardt Jr was asked to step in as crew chief for Connor Zilisch in the 18-year-old rookie's first attempt at Pocono Raceway. After two runner-up finishes in the last five races, he finally has his first win on an oval. Zilisch's regular crew chief, Mardy Lindley, was set to serve a one-race suspension following a penalty for two missing lug nuts at Nashville Speedway earlier this month. Jr. Motorsports saw it as an opportunity to get the boss closer to the action, and Earnhardt Jr. was tapped to replace him. With seven laps remaining, Zilisch restarted third and passed Christian Eckes for second on the restart. A few laps later, he was battling with his friend and fellow Xfinity race winner Jesse Love for the lead. Zilisch secured the lead over Love with four laps to go, with fellow rookie Eckes following in third. Earnhardt Jr. swept Pocono as a Cup Series racer in 2014 with the help of his longtime crew chief Steve Letarte, who was with Earnhardt for support in his first crew chief appearance. "When we have an issue like this with somebody being suspended, they know what to do. Just a great job putting us in a position to succeed," Earnhardt told The CW Sports' Dillon Welch. Since Zilisch sat out the Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway following his big late-race incident with Love at Talladega, he's finished in the top five every race, finishing second back-to-back at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Nashville. Zilisch, who came up through road course and sports car racing, has been an easy bet on the road courses but was dying to prove himself as a rookie with staying power in the Xfinity Series and beyond with an oval win. "I've been dying for this one for a while now, I know that it doesn't feel like that long," The 18-year-old told CW's Kim Coon. "Dale Jr, not too bad on the box," Zilisch added. You Might Also Like You Need a Torque Wrench in Your Toolbox Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners The Man Who Signs Every Car Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Chase Elliott Defends Longtime NASCAR Tradition and Questions Need for Change
Chase Elliott Defends Longtime NASCAR Tradition and Questions Need for Change originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Chase Elliott didn't win on Sunday in Mexico City at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez but did receive special recognition for his third-place finish, joining winner Shane van Gisbergen and second-place finisher Christopher Bell in a unique podium-style finish, not native to NASCAR but more so to Formula 1 and most other motorsports, including IndyCar and dirt tracks across the nation. Advertisement Kyle Larson was questioned about the podium celebrations before last week's race south of the border and suggested incorporating podiums at select NASCAR races, specifically mentioning crown jewels like the Daytona 500 or Coca-Cola 600. On Saturday at Pocono Raceway, the 2020 Cup Series champion was asked for his thoughts on podiums in the future. Shane van Gisbergen celebrates on the podium alongside second-place driver Christopher Bell and third-place driver Chase Elliott after Mexico City Romero/Reuters via Imagn Images 'Yeah, I am not really for it or against it,' Elliott began. 'I am fine with it. I have no problem giving Shane (van Gisbergen) his congratulations and making sure that he is celebrated properly. He won the race. He deserved the right to that. "Me being the second loser, I can certainly get in there and make sure that I can appreciate the job that he did. I guess that is kind of what you are getting at. 'There is no doubt would I have rather that been me? Yeah, no question. It's not normal for us, so I am okay with it. I am okay with doing it. I am okay with not doing it. If that is going to be a new thing, then totally fine and we can start a new tradition. Advertisement "But that has not historically been us. So I just want to make sure our focus is being us as NASCAR and that's OK. We are our own form of motorsports and I think we can stand on our own two feet and we can do our own thing. So, as long as we are not doing it to be like everybody else, I am fine. But if that is the case, I am also good not doing it.' Elliott and his fellow competitors take to the track for Sunday's race with coverage beginning at 2 p.m. ET on Prime. Related: Chase Elliott Gets Fans' Attention With Smart Reply to Denny Hamlin Post This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 21, 2025, where it first appeared.
