Todd Gilliland pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the 2026 NASCAR season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, surviving a five-week, 32-driver knockout tournament and defeating Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney to win $1 million.
For perspective, the Front Row Motorsports driver entered the In-Season Challenge as the No. 25 seed, while Blaney was seeded No. 3. Their routes to the championship round were very different, though.
Sonoma opened the tournament with a road-course battle, followed by Chicagoland, EchoPark Speedway, and North Wilkesboro before the championship finale at the Brickyard 400.
Blaney dominated much of his bracket, winning at EchoPark Speedway after leading 171 laps to eliminate William Byron before beating Christopher Bell at North Wilkesboro.
Gilliland’s run began with a 29th-place finish at Sonoma Raceway, where he advanced by beating eighth-seeded Daniel Suarez, who finished 31st.
He then defeated Carson Hocevar at Chicagoland Speedway and advanced past Alex Bowman at EchoPark after a late-race crash. His biggest upset came at North Wilkesboro, where he beat fourth-seeded Chase Elliott to secure his place in the championship.
At Indianapolis, Blaney controlled much of the race and appeared to have the upper hand until contact with John Hunter Nemechek triggered a nine-car crash with 40 laps remaining. The incident damaged both ends of Blaney’s Ford and forced him to pit for repairs, restarting 30th with 35 laps left.
Gilliland also struggled during the closing stint, dropping back after restarting 15th. Blaney worked his way through the field and came within two positions of his opponent, but his recovery stalled at 26th.
Meanwhile, Gilliland finished 24th, securing the In-Season Challenge title by two positions and earning the $1 million prize.
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