There are three types of NASCAR fans. Fans who were actually aware of the inaugural in-season tournament (before this week) make up two of those types, those being the fans who actually understand it and the fans who don't. The others simply have no idea what's going on.
All three groups were totally predictable when NASCAR announced the 32-driver tournament for the summer stretch, starting with Saturday night's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Perhaps most predictably, confusion was always inevitable.
And we totally expect there to still be an abundance of confusion even when the tournament ends, but such is the case when NASCAR introduces something new in the middle of a season.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin was awarded the No. 1 seed following the three seeding races at Michigan International Speedway, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, and Pocono Raceway, and some fans aren't happy about it since he missed the race in Mexico for the birth of his third child.
However, that missed start did not affect him at all. He did not benefit from the missed start because seeding was not based on average finish during this three-race stretch; it was based on best finish.
If anything, it cost him an opportunity (that he didn't end up needing anyway).
Hamlin won the race at Michigan and finished in second place at Pocono. Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen won in Mexico, but because he didn't start this three-race stretch in the top 32 in points, he was not eligible for the tournament to start with. Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe won the race at Pocono Raceway.
The tiebreaker between Hamlin and Briscoe was second-best finish during that stretch, and Hamlin's runner-up result at Pocono beat Briscoe's seventh place finish in Mexico.
Here are the in-season tournament seedings pic.twitter.com/yPtyKBDQZV
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 23, 2025
Hamlin could have finished 37th in Mexico with a lap one DNF, and he'd still be the No. 1 seed.
And of course, as long as he didn't tweet anything bad about his experience in the country, he'd be fine. But let's not go down that path (for now), considering he didn't actually go.
As the No. 1 seed, Hamlin is set to take on the No. 32 seed, Kaulig Racing's Ty Dillon, at Atlanta. The 16 individual matchup winners are set to advance to round two at the Chicago Street Course.
The eight individual matchup winners in Chicago are set to advance to the quarterfinals at Sonoma Raceway. The four individual matchup winners at Sonoma are then set to advance to the semifinals at Dover Motor Speedway. From there, the two individual matchup winners are set to square off in the "championship" at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
A driver can technically win the tournament with five straight 35th place DNFs, but that's a story for another day. Nobody said the tournament would be free of gimmicks. In fact, it literally is one big gimmick, just to spice things up from late June to late July. Most fans can take it or leave it.
Each race is still a typical regular season race which is weighted the same as the other 21 on the 26-race schedule before the four-round, 10-race playoffs. And when drivers are "eliminated" in their tournament matchups, they still get to compete the rest of the way.
TNT Sports is set to broadcast the tournament-opening Quaker State 400 live from Atlanta Motor Speedway starting at 7:00 p.m. ET this Saturday, June 28.