The first two rounds of NASCAR's second annual In-Season Challenge at Sonoma Raceway and Chicagoland Speedway are in the books, and the quarterfinal round this weekend at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway) is set to set the stage for next weekend's semifinal action at North Wilkesboro Speedway, which hasn't even hosted a points race in three decades.
The whole tournament concept is based strictly on head-to-head results, so the bracket began with 32 drivers and 16 matchups. The three full-time drivers who were excluded were excluded based on the point standings after the mid-June race at Pocono Raceway.
Sonoma eliminated 16 drivers, even though some of them actually recorded top 16 finishes (among tournament drivers) which placed them ahead of some drivers who did manage to advance simply because they drew more favorable matchups against drivers who happened to record poor finishes.
The same was true for one driver, reigning tournament champion Ty Gibbs, at Chicagoland. He was eliminated despite finishing eighth (seventh among tournament drivers), as Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe won the race to beat him and advance, as did seven others.
NASCAR tournament quarterfinals set
This weekend's race at Atlanta might very well be the biggest wild card of the tournament, and the fact that it was moved from round one in 2025 to round three this year could make things even more interesting with just four matchups, rather than 16, to focus on.
No. 32 seed Alex Bowman is set to take on No. 25 seed Todd Gilliland. Bowman eliminated No. 1 seed Tyler Reddick at Sonoma and No. 16 seed Austin Cindric at Chicagoland, while Gilliland eliminated No. 8 seed Daniel Suarez at Sonoma and No. 9 seed Carson Hocevar at Chicagoland.
No. 12 seed Briscoe is set to take on No. 4 seed Chase Elliott after eliminating No. 21 seed A.J. Allmendinger at Sonoma and No. 8 seed Gibbs at Chicagoland. Elliott beat No. 29 seed Noah Gragson at Sonoma and No. 20 seed Michael McDowell at Chicagoland.
On the opposite side of the bracket, a quarterfinal matchup between teammates is set, with No. 2 seed Denny Hamlin, who eliminated No. 31 seed Ty Dillon at Sonoma and No. 15 seed Erik Jones at Chicagoland, set to take on No. 10 seed Christopher Bell, who eliminated No. 23 seed Ross Chastain at Sonoma and No. 7 seed Chris Buescher at Chicagoland.
Finally, No. 11 seed William Byron is set to take on No. 3 seed Ryan Blaney, after Byron knocked out No. 22 seed Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at Sonoma and No. 6 seed Kyle Larson at Chicagoland and Blaney knocked out No. 30 seed Josh Berry at Sonoma and No. 14 seed Shane van Gisbergen at Chicagoland.
Who will advance to the semifinals? Tune in to TNT Sports at 7:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, July 12 for the live broadcast of the Quaker State 400 from Atlanta and don't miss the quarterfinal round of the second annual In-Season Challenge.
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