The In-Season Challenge’s $1 million, NASCAR championship is on the line at the Brickyard 400
The Brickyard 400 returns to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend for the third year since NASCAR returned to the track’s oval. Bubba Wallace has won the 160-lap race since Kyle Larson won it in 2024.
Ahead of the race, which starts at 2 p.m. on TNT Sunday, IndyStar caught up with North Central grad Adam Alexander, who is in his second season as the voice of the NASCAR Cup Series on TNT.
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The Season Challenge is back
IMS is also the site of NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge championship, which began last year. Created by driver and team owner Denny Hamlin, the In-Season Challenge pits the top 32 drivers in a five-race, one-on-one bracket (with No. 1 competing against No. 32, etc.) that awards $1 million to the last driver standing.
The tournament is similar to the NBA’s annual NBA Cup, a midseason tournament that began in 2023. In five races throughout the 26-race regular season, drivers can race to not only score points and win, but work for prize money for themselves and the team.
“I think it’s great because I feel like it’s something that all sports fans can relate to, especially since we’re coming to Indiana this weekend and we know the power of basketball in that state,” Alexander said.
Ryan Blaney and Todd Gilliland advanced to the championship round in a David vs. Goliath. It’s no surprise that Blaney, the 2023 Cup Series champion who won at Atlanta Motor Speedway on July 12, has made it this far for his Penske Ford team. Gilliland, on the other hand, has never won a Cup race and entered the In-Season Challenge as the No. 25. An eighth-place finish in the Window World 450 is 17 ahead of Chase Elliottth advanced to Gilliland in the competition.
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Gilliland, who recently signed a contract extension with Front Row Motorsports, finished sixth in the second-to-last Brickyard 400s. Blaney finished seventh last year and third in 2024.
“There’s no doubt that Ryan Blaney is the favorite, and if you were to bet on a millionaire, Blaney would be him,” Alexander said. “But I feel like this is a sneaky good game as we get to the finals this weekend.”
Hamlin on the hunt
Hamlin, who drives the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota while managing 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan, is the odds-on favorite to win the race. Hamlin has won four times this year and is first in the Cup Series standings. Hamlin plans to retire after the 2027 season and has never won a Cup championship, and the 45-year-old has never won the Brickyard 400. He has won three other NASCAR Crown Jewel (aka Grand Slam) races – the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500.
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“I think the confidence is there, the swagger is there,” Alexander said. “And I feel like if you want to look at a story that could play out and actually not just be a big picture story because he can finally check the box and get a Grand Slam career, but he can take another step toward putting himself in a position to win a title.”
A win this weekend would put Hamlin well into the postseason NASCAR Chase, with just four regular-season races to go after the Brickyard 400. The regular-season points leader enters the Chase 25 points ahead of the second-place driver, equaling the distance between second and sixth.
Hamlin’s pursuit of the championship (and he needs to hold off Tyler Reddick, Blaney and others to do so) and $1 million on the line make for a lot of interesting stories about this year’s Brickyard 400.
Zion Brown is an IndyStar automotive reporter. Follow him on @z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar car sports coverage delivered straight to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
This article appeared on the Indianapolis Star: In-Season Challenge’s $1 million, NASCAR championship on the line at the Brickyard 400.
