NASCAR Cup Series points leader Denny Hamlin finished Monday morning's Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway) in the third-highest position among the eight drivers remaining in the sport's second annual In-Season Challenge.
It wasn't good enough to advance.
Hamlin finished 12th, but he was beaten by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell, who was promoted from third to second after the post-race penalty issued to 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace.
Hamlin, Byron, Briscoe, Bowman eliminated in Atlanta
Bell is set to match up against Team Penske's Ryan Blaney, who beat Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron by winning the 263-lap race around the four-turn, 1.54-mile (2.478-kilometer) Hampton, Georgia oval, in the semifinal round at North Wilkesboro Speedway this coming Sunday night. Byron finished the Quaker State 400 in 16th.
The following weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the winner of that matchup is set to take on the winner of the Chase Elliott vs. *checks notes* Todd Gilliland matchup.
With a 13th place finish in Atlanta, Elliott eliminated the other Chase, Chase Briscoe, after Briscoe was involved in a late incident.
As for Gilliland, he has yet to finish a tournament race inside the top 15; he was 19th in Atlanta. But thanks to favorable matchup after favorable matchup, he has advanced all the way to the final four. On Monday morning, it was Alex Bowman who fell just shy of Gilliland in 22nd.
After Ty Dillon advanced all the way to the championship round a year ago, and Ty Gibbs won it all with a 21st place finish, despite having never won a Cup race in his career at that point, this tournament has truly epitomized the saying that anything is possible.
Those who jumped on the Todd Gilliland hype train early on are still feeling that unpredictability.
The semifinal tournament round is set to be broadcast live on TNT from North Wilkesboro Speedway beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 19. The Window World 450 is set to be the first NASCAR Cup Series points race at the track since 1996.
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