Who doesn't love brackets? NASCAR is taking its shot at it this year with the In-Season Challenge Bracket Game which begins with Saturday night's Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway and runs for five weeks culminating at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27 where the champion will be crowned. Not only will the winning NASCAR team be given $1 million, but anyone who is able to successfully fill out a perfect bracket will also receive a cool $1 million. The competition is free to play and available on NASCAR.com.
This five-race tournament starts with 32 drivers who will be pinned head-to-head in a matchup determined by the finishes in the previous three races at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono. All a driver has to do is finish higher than than their matchup to advance. A driver could finish 30th and move forward, or finish second and be knocked out. Never before have we seen something like this in NASCAR where a driver will be so focused on just one other car on track.
We'll take you through some tips to know when filling out your bracket and a few predictions for who will take home the top prize.
Fill out your NASCAR In-Season Challenge Bracket here.
Tracks
- EchoPark Speedway (Formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) on June 28
- Chicago Street Race on July 6
- Sonoma Raceway on July 13
- Dover Motor Speedway on July 20
- Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27
The In-Season Challenge starts with a bang at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta. The track underwent a renovation prior to the race in 2022 to increase the banking and create the type of racing we see at the superspeedway tracks of Daytona and Talladega. The big difference being Atlanta is just 1.5 miles instead of the 2.5+ miles of Daytona and Talladega. Safe to say it has been a huge success as the races at Atlanta have been some of the most thrilling on the calendar the last few years. Drivers still need some of the handling characteristics of intermediate tracks, but the cars all race in a big pack thanks to the large draft effect. It is a true wildcard that all teams can battle for victory on. That also makes it an extremely challenging race to predict. One wrong move can lead to a massive crash with everyone right on top of each other, and plenty of top drivers will be eliminated from the In-Season Challenge after this race.
The next two races feature two road courses which is another opportunity to see some upsets and a lot of strategy. This will be the third straight year that the Chicago Street Race will be on the schedule. Shane van Gisbergen shocked the world when he won the inaugural edition in 2023 and then Alex Bowman held off a hard-charging Tyler Reddick last year. Sonoma has been a staple on the NASCAR schedule for decades. The California track is extremely technical and features a variety of different turns to test NASCAR's best. Kyle Larson will be the defending race winner.
Only four drivers will remain after Atlanta and the two road courses. The semifinals will take place probably on the track that most closely resembles the week-to-week action in NASCAR. Dover Motor Speedway is a 1-mile concrete oval with 24 degrees of banking in the corners. This track is one where usually the top teams and drivers are able to rise above the rest, and there won't be as many variables as the first three tracks in the In-Season Challenge. The two winning drivers will then head to the Championship race at famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. NASCAR has been running at the iconic auto racing facility since 1994. We see the way nimble IndyCars are able to rip through the four flat corners, but it's much more of a challenge for these heavy stock cars to get the car to handle properly around them. There likely won't be much passing and the race between the final two drivers has a good chance to turn into a strategy chess match between the teams.
Seeding
With this being NASCAR's first year doing this In-Season Challenge there was certain to be a couple hiccups along the way. The biggest issue has to be the way they seeded drivers. Despite the fact that we have 17 races of data to go off of, NASCAR decided to drastically decrease the sample size when determining seeding for the 32 drivers that qualified. The seeding was based on a driver's best finish in the previous three races at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono with second-best and third-best finishes as other tiebreakers. As a result we have a bracket that very misrepresentative of who the best drivers and teams have been this season.
A prime example is Cup Series point leader William Byron. He struggled a bit over the last three races and was given an 18 seed, meaning by the seed lines he is an underdog in his first round matchup against the 15 seed in Ryan Preece, who sits 14th in the season-long standings. Ty Gibbs is another example of this as he is a No. 6 seed in the In-Season Challenge, but sits 23rd in the standings. Kyle Larson (10 seed) and Tyler Reddick (23 seed) have been two of the fastest cars all season and are going to be in a first-round matchup at Atlanta.
All that to say, pay no attention to the number beside a drivers name on the bracket. They are about as meaningless as you can get. If anything you might want to scratch that number out and write down their season points position instead.
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Breaking Down the Bracket
For March Madness in the NCAA Tournament, often we break things down into four regions or quadrants of the bracket. We'll do the same here for the NASCAR In-Season Challenge.
Top Left (Denny Hamlin Quadrant):
This is an interesting quadrant with Denny Hamlin leading the way after his win at Michigan and runner-up last week at Pocono. You'd think Hamlin would be the top choice to come out of these three races given all his recent speed, but he's been one of the worst finishers in the NextGen era on superspeedway style tracks and had also admittedly not been great on road courses. The track selection puts Hamlin in a tough spot to be able to win this tournament.
Daniel Suarez could be a sneaky option to get out of this quadrant as he has been really strong on the reconfigured Atlanta and is one of the better road course drivers in the series. These first three races set up very nicely for him to make a run in this tournament should he get past his first-round matchup of Bubba Wallace, who is another great superspeedway racer.
One other driver I wanted to mention was Brad Keselowski. The 2012 champion has had as much bad luck as any driver this season, and was actually the 32nd and final driver to qualify for the In-Season Challenge. That said, he has really seemed to turn things around the last several weeks and run a lot more competitively. The RFK Cars have found speed and all three run in or near the top-10 every week it seems like now. Keselowski has seven career wins at superspeedways and can't be ruled out at road courses.
Bottom Left (Christopher Bell Quadrant):
Obviously anything can happen, especially given the first three tracks in the In-Season Challenge, but it does feel like Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott are on a collision course for Sonoma to reach the Final 4. Both drivers have been inside the top-5 in points all season it feels like and are two of the best road course racers in the sport. Both Bell and Elliott are also former winners at Atlanta since it was reconfigured.
Ross Chastain would be the driver that could challenge Bell and Elliott, however. Chastain is great at getting everything you can out of a car and finishing better that where he runs most races. He is dangerous in this type of format because he is great on restarts and able to capitalize when drivers in faster cars have issues. Chastain is capable of running well at a superspeedway style track like Atlanta and also has shown a lot of speed in the NextGen car on road courses.
Both the Legacy Motor Club cars find themselves in this quadrant of the bracket, and much like RFK, both John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones have taken big strides in recent weeks. It's been a tough last couple years for Legacy to get off the ground, but it appears they have found something and both cars have been qualifying better then translating that into solid race pace. Neither driver is really known for their road racing abilities, but they shouldn't be completely dismissed in this quadrant.
Top Right (Chase Briscoe Quadrant):
This quadrant is without question the strongest of all. You have points-leader William Byron, Kyle Larson who has won three times this season, and Ryan Blaney who is up front every week as long as something crazy doesn't happen. Chase Briscoe is also coming off a win at Pocono, Carson Hocevar and Tyler Reddick have shown winning speed on multiple occasions this season, and Ryan Preece has been one of the biggest surprises in the first year with a new team at RFK.
Let's try to handicap all this strength into these first three races of the In-Season Challenge. Byron is likely the favorite to come out of this quadrant because he has won twice at Atlanta since it was reconfigured and has been arguably the best road course racer in the NextGen era. Larson has historically struggled on superspeedway style tracks, but he did run very well earlier this year at Atlanta and has six career road course wins, including two at Sonoma. There's a feeling that it could be a battle between those two Hendrick Motorsports drivers to advance to the Final 4, where the winner would likely be favored against anyone they might see at Dover or Indianapolis.
Chase Briscoe is the top seed in this quadrant of the bracket, but he might be going overlooked. That No. 19 team is executing well right now and brining fast cars to the track. Briscoe leads the Cup Series with four poles, including three in the last five races. It's not secret that it's tough to pass in these NextGen cars, and qualifying up front can be a big key to finishing ahead of your matchup.
Bottom Right (Chris Buescher Quadrant):
If the top right quadrant is the strongest, the bottom right is the weakest. Chris Buescher is the highest ranked driver in the Cup Series standings at 11th. For context the top right quadrant had five of the top-9 in the standings. That said, Buescher has been one of the fastest cars in the series of late, especially at recent races at Michigan and Pocono where he had chances to win. Buescher also leads the Cup Series in average starting position and in average finish on road courses in the NextGen era.
The one thing that could stop Buescher is the other road course aces in his quadrant. Michael McDowell, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric all grew up racing sports cars on road courses and have carried those skills into NASCAR. Ty Gibbs has also been very quick on road courses throughout his young career and was really the only driver to give Shane van Gisbergen a challenge two weeks ago at Mexico City.
Two of the three Front Row Motorsports cars find themselves in this quadrant in Todd Gilliland and Zane Smith. Buescher probably has to be a little disappointed when he saw that he was going to draw Gilliland at Atlanta where he has been very fast recently. The 25-year-old has qualified inside the top-5 the last three races at Atlanta and led 65 laps in that span.
Final 4 Picks at Dover
Daniel Suarez vs Chase Elliott:
Daniel Suarez might be a bit of a surprise to make it this far, but the first three tracks set up very well for him. I also think the heavy hitters in his quadrant of Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano both have struggled to produce consistent finishes at road courses in the NextGen era. Unfortunately, I think the Final 4 is where Suarez's run comes to an end. Chase Elliott has been one of the most consistent drivers in NASCAR over the last few seasons. Even when the car doesn't have winning speed, he always seems to be able to battle for a top-10 finish. After back-to-back top-5 finishes at Mexico City and Pocono, Elliott and team seem to be building a lot of confidence and it wouldn't surprise me if that first win of 2025 comes during this In-Season Challenge. Elliott is set up to be in prime position in this round should he advance past the first three races. Dover has been one of his best tracks with two wins and 10 top-5 finishes in 14 career starts.
William Byron vs Chris Buescher:
There's a reason why Byron has the points lead and its because he and the No. 24 team are fast and execute well at every style of track. That should be able to help Byron through the gauntlet that is the top right quadrant. It's not going to be easy for Buescher, but I do think he has the cleanest path to the Final 4 of any top driver. Should he keep qualifying like he has been this year and racing up front on the road courses, the No. 17 should be able to get there. It sets up an interesting matchup with Byron heading to Dover where both drivers should be in the mix for the win given the speed they've shown the last several weeks. That said, Byron has to be the pick given his recent history at the track with three top-5s and 250 laps led over his last five races there.
Championship Pick at Indianapolis
Chase Elliott vs William Byron:
This would certainly be a heavyweight matchup between two teammates for the first NASCAR In-Season Challenge. Both drivers rank inside the top-3 this season in best average finish. Byron has been faster at most places this year and done a great job at collecting a ton of stage points, which is why he has the 80-point edge over Elliott in the standings. That said, the name of this game is finishing better and Elliott holds the top spot this season with a 10.8 average finish. Byron ranks third in average finish at 11.4. When it comes to Indianapolis neither driver has been all that great through the years. Elliott has a best finish of 9th to Byron's best finish of 4th, but Elliott does hold five top-15s in seven starts while that 4th is Byron's only finish better than 19th in four career starts.
It'll be an interesting dynamic given that both these drivers will have aspirations of winning the Brickyard 400, and will likely be willing to take a big risk to do so, even if it means perhaps giving up the $1 million. Elliott would be my championship pick for the In-Season Challenge because of his floor, even if Byron has the higher top-end speed. That said, Elliott outran Byron pretty much the whole race last week at Pocono, which probably is the track with the most similarities to Indy on the NASCAR schedule.
