Week One Matchups for NASCAR’s $1 Million In-Season Challenge

What’s Happening?

This week is the first race of NASCAR’s five-race in-season tournament, dubbed the “In-Season Challenge.” NASCAR has already set the field for week one, so here’s what you need to know.

• The field is set at 32 drivers, then sixteen, then 8, then four. The final race will be a one-on-one race battle between the final two drivers at the 2025 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
• NASCAR seeded the bracket based on finishes from drivers over the past three NASCAR Cup Series races.
• This bracket will pit drivers against one another over the next five races on TNT Sports. A driver advances by simply finishing higher than their opponent on that given race weekend.

No. 1 Denny Hamlin v. No. 32 Ty Dillon

Denny Hamlin

• 2025 Avg Finish: 12.8
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 18.1

Ty Dillon

• 2025 Avg Finish: 23.7
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 27.0

No. 2 Chase Briscoe v. No. 31 Noah Gragson

Chase Briscoe

• 2025 Avg Finish: 13.7
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 23.9

Noah Gragson

• 2025 Avg Finish: 23.2
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 31.4

No. 3 Chris Buescher v. No. 30 Todd Gilliland

Chris Buescher

• 2025 Avg Finish: 14.0
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 23.6

Todd Gilliland

• 2025 Avg Finish: 20.5
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 20.4

No. 4 Christopher Bell v. No. 29 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Christopher Bell

• 2025 Avg Finish: 11.0
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 15.3

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

• 2025 Avg Finish: 19.7
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 16.3

No. 5 Chase Elliott v. No. 28 Austin Dillon

Chase Elliott

• 2025 Avg Finish: 10.8
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 10.5

Austin Dillon

• 2025 Avg Finish: 20.1
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 24.1

No. 6 Ty Gibbs v. No. 27 Justin Haley

Ty Gibbs

• 2025 Avg Finish: 19.4
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 20.4

Justin Haley

• 2025 Avg Finish: 22.3
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 14.9

No. 7 Ryan Blaney v. No. 26 Carson Hocevar

Ryan Blaney

• 2025 Avg Finish: 16.5
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 6.7

Carson Hocevar

• 2025 Avg Finish: 22.5
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 12.3

No. 8 Alex Bowman v. No. 25 Joey Logano

Alex Bowman

• 2025 Avg Finish: 18.8
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 20.0

Joey Logano

• 2025 Avg Finish: 16.9
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 13.4

No. 9 Bubba Wallace v. No. 24 Daniel Suarez

Bubba Wallace

• 2025 Avg Finish: 19.3
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 17.4

Daniel Suarez

• 2025 Avg Finish: 20.6
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 11.0

No. 10 Kyle Larson v. No. 23 Tyler Reddick

Kyle Larson

• 2025 Avg Finish: 12.4
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 19.0

Tyler Reddick

• 2025 Avg Finish: 15.5
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 26.0

No. 11 Michael McDowell v. No. 22 A.J. Allmendinger

Michael McDowell

• 2025 Avg Finish: 19.2
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 15.3

A.J. Allmendinger

• 2025 Avg Finish: 20.3
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 11.0

No. 12 John Hunter Nemechek v. No. 21 Josh Berry

John Hunter Nemechek

• 2025 Avg Finish: 18.7
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 27.3

Josh Berry

• 2025 Avg Finish: 20.4
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 25.0

No. 13 Ross Chastain v. No. 20 Erik Jones

Ross Chastain

• 2025 Avg Finish: 13.4
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 11.4

Erik Jones

• 2025 Avg Finish: 19.2
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 17.0

No. 14 Zane Smith v. No. 19 Austin Cindric

Zane Smith

• 2025 Avg Finish: 20.3
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 22.3

Austin Cindric

• 2025 Avg Finish: 18.5
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 14.3

No. 15 Ryan Preece v. No. 18 William Byron

Ryan Preece

• 2025 Avg Finish: 18.0
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 20.8

William Byron

• 2025 Avg Finish: 11.4
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 16.7

No. 16 Kyle Busch v. No. 17 Brad Keselowski

Kyle Busch

• 2025 Avg Finish: 18.2
• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 12.1

Brad Keselowski

• Avg Finish at EchoPark: 18.4
• 2025 Avg Finish: 23.4

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