NASCAR In-Season Tournament 2025 Bracket Picks, Rules, Format, Schedule, Prize Money

A first-of-its-kind event begins in NASCAR on Saturday night in Georgia.

Thirty-two drivers have been bracketed into the NASCAR in-season challenge, which takes place over the next five races.

Denny Hamlin earned the No. 1 overall seed in the bracket based on his results in the last three races. He won at Michigan and took second at Pocono.

The winner of the five-week event takes home $1 million in prize money.

Format and Rules

The in-season challenge rules are simple.

Thirty-two drivers were placed in a bracket based on their results over the last three races at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono.

The winner of each matchup is determined by the higher finish at a specific race.

For example, the round of 32 winners will be whichever driver in the 16 matchups has a higher finish at Atlanta.

In-Season Challenge Schedule

Round 1: Atlanta (June 28)

Round 2: Chicago Street Race (July 6)

Round 3: Sonoma (July 13)

Round 4: Dover (July 20)

Round 5: Indianapolis (July 27)

Bracket Picks

The presence of a street race and a road course in the second and third rounds means the best drivers of 2025 may not make it into the semifinals at Dover.

Chase Elliott, the No. 5 seed, and Chris Buescher, the No. 3 seed, have been NASCAR's two best road-course drivers over the last few years.

Elliott has four straight top-eight finishes at Sonoma, while Buescher's finished in the top four at Sonoma in each of the last three years.

There isn't a large sample size on Chicago since the inaugural event occurred last season.

As long as Elliott and Buescher have solid races at Atlanta, each driver should cruise into the final four thanks to their road-course talents.

No. 2 seed Chase Briscoe, who won last week at Pocono, is the most vulnerable top seed to an early upset.

Briscoe finished outside the top-20 at Atlanta in each of the last five years and he doesn't have a great non-oval record with two top-10s in his last 12 road-course starts.

No. 7 seed Ryan Blaney owns six straight top-10 finishes at Atlanta and he's finished in the top 10 at Sonoma in four of the last five seasons. As long as he survives in Chicago, Blaney could be the driver that emerges from the top-right quadrant of the bracket.

Hamlin could be in trouble as the No. 1 seed as well since his best road course finish since the start of 2024 is 14th.

Alex Bowman is the driver to watch to potentially upset Hamlin. He hasn't finished worse than 16th at Sonoma since 2018 and he's got five top-five finishes in the last seven races held at Dover.

Between Bowman, Elliott, Blaney and Buescher, Blaney owns the best recent numbers at Indianapolis, including a third in 2024 and a seventh in 2022. None of the other three drivers have finished better than ninth at Indy across the last three seasons.

Bowman's strong form at Dover should get him to the final, but Indy is a course that suits Blaney much better.

Pick: Ryan Blaney over Alex Bowman