NASCAR In-Season Tournament Bracket 2025 Updated Point Standings After Atlanta

What in the world happened Saturday?

Night 1 of the In-Season Challenge was pure chaos, as the leaderboard was turned upside down at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Several of the bracket’s top seeds were caught in wrecks, resulting in early exits and DNFs that shook up the tournament picture.

Amid the mayhem, Chase Elliott nearly edged out a 0.168-second win over Brad Keselowski at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, taking the checkered flag in Round 1 of the Challenge — Quaker State 400.

Behind the wheel of the No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendricks Motorsports, Elliott delivered a statement performance, knocking off #28 seed Austin Dillon and setting the tone for what’s shaping up to be a wild, unpredictable tournament.

In a chaotic race, Christopher Bell spun out toward the end of Stage 1, triggering a multi-car crash that involved Ryan Blaney who DNF’d. Shortly after, contact between Denny Hamlin and John Hunter Nemechek set off a massive wreck as Stage 2 got underway, collecting a large group of cars in the chaos.

With a whopping 68 caution laps across 10 cautions, a flurry of DNFs and an eye-popping 41 lead changes, the inaugural night of In-Season Challenge racing delivered nonstop action and unpredictability from start to finish.

Final Race Standings

1. Chase Elliott
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Alex Bowman
4. Tyler Reddick
5. Erik Jones
6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
7. Zane Smith
8. Ty Dillon
9. Chris Buescher
10. Carson Hocevar

Bracket

Challenge Round 1 Results

No. 1 Denny Hamlin vs. No. 32 Ty Dillon (Dillon Advances)
No. 16 Kyle Busch vs. No. 17 Brad Keselowski (Keselowski Advances)
No. 8 Alec Bowman vs. No. 25 Joey Logano (Bowman Advances)
No. 9 Bubba Wallace vs. No. 24 Daniel Suarez (Wallace Advances)
No. 12 John H. Nemechek vs. No. 21 Josh Berry (Nemechek Advances)
No. 5 Chase Elliott vs. No. 28 Austin Dillon (Elliott Advances)
No. 13 Ross Chastain vs. No. 20 Erik Jones (Jones Advances)
No. 4 Christopher Bell vs. No. 29 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Stenhouse Jr. Advances)
No. 2 Chase Briscoe vs. No. 31 Noah Gragson (Gragson Advances)
No. 15 Ryan Preece vs. No. 18 William Byron (Preece Advances)
No. 7 Ryan Blaney vs. No. 26 Carson Hocevar (Hocevar Advances)
No. 10 Kyle Larson vs. No. 23 Tyler Reddick (Reddick Advances)
No. 11 Michael McDowell vs. No. 22 A.J. Allmendinger (Allmendinger Advances)
No. 6 Ty Gibbs vs. No. 27 Justin Haley (Gibbs Advances)
No. 14 Zane Smith vs. No. 19 Austin Cindric (Smith Advances)
No. 3 Chris Buescher vs. No. 30 Todd Gilliland (Buescher Advances)

Challenge Round 2

No. 3 Chris Buescher vs. No. 14 Zane Smith
No. 5 Chase Elliott vs. No. 12 John Hunter Nemechek
No. 6 Ty Gibbs vs. No. 22 A.J. Allmendinger
No. 8 Alex Bowman vs. No. 9 Bubba Wallace
No. 15 Ryan Preece vs. No. 31 Noah Gragson
No. 17 Brad Keselowski vs. No. 32 Ty Dillon
No. 20 Erik Jones vs. No. 29 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
No. 23 Tyler Reddick vs. No. 26 Carson Hocevar

Cup Series Standings After Atlanta Motor Raceway

1. William Byron (leader)
2. Chase Elliott (-37)
3. Kyle Larson (-42)
4. Deny Hamlin (-80)
5. Christopher Bell (-80)
6. Tyler Reddick (-98)
7. Ryan Blaney (-127)
8. Ross Chastain (-173)
9. Chris Buescher (-174)
10. Chase Briscoe (-179)

In-Season Challenge Breakdown

The inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge pits 32 drivers in a head-to-head bracket for a chance to win $1 million over five races in five weeks, with the winner of each matchup advancing to the next round.

The top 32 drivers in points following the NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville make up the tournament field. Bracket seeding was based on results from the three most recent Cup Series races at Michigan International Speedway, Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City and Pocono Raceway.

Schedule

June 28 – 32 drivers at Atlanta Motor Speedway 

July 6 – 16 drivers at Chicago Street Course

July 13 – eight drivers at Sonoma Raceway

July 20 – four drivers at Dover Motor Speedway

July 27 – two drivers at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The green flag is set to wave next Sunday, July 6 at 2:00 p.m. ET in Chicago, Illinois, for Challenge Round 2 — the Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Race.