NASCAR In-Season Challenge: Bracket, Format, and More
Following a thrilling debut in 2025, the NASCAR In-Season Challenge is roaring back. Here’s a look at the format, bracket, and how to watch all five races live with Sling.
The NASCAR In-Season Challenge is off to the races.
The 2026 NASCAR In-Season Challenge begins on Sunday, June 28 with the Toyota / Save Mart 350 from California’s Sonoma Raceway. Now in its second year, the NASCAR In-Season Challenge is a tournament-style head-to-head competition that takes place over five weeks, with the winner claiming a $1 million grand prize. Here’s a look at the full bracket, the details, and how to watch the races live with Sling.
How to watch the NASCAR In-Season Challenge with Sling
https://youtu.be/q39rDaGCGAQ?si=yLSbFwmqfePzdQ1v
The NASCAR In-Season Challenge begins on June 28 and crowns a champion at the Brickyard 400 on July 26. All five races will air live on TNT, which is available on Sling with a subscription to Sling Orange or Blue. If you just want to tune-in to one of the races, you can also watch with a 1, 3, or 7 Day Pass subscription. To watch the full In-Season Challenge with Sling, use the link below to purchase a monthly subscription to Sling Orange.
NASCAR In-Season Challenge Bracket and Format
The NASCAR In-Season Challenge is March Madness meets motorsports. Based on standings after the June 14 Pocono race, drivers were seeded 1 through 32. Starting June 28 at the Toyota / Save Mart 350, they will face off in head-to-head, single-elimination matchups (No. 1 vs. No. 32, No. 2 vs. No. 31, etc.), where the higher finisher advances. The July 5 race at Chicagoland Speedway hosts the Round of 16, narrowing to the Round of 8 the following week, and so on. Here’s a full look at the 2026 tournament schedule, with all races airing on TNT.
- Round 1 (Round of 32): 3:30 PM ET on Sunday, June 28 at Sonoma Raceway (Road Course).
- Round 2 (Round of 16): 6:00 PM ET on Sunday, July 5 at Chicagoland Speedway (Intermediate Oval).
- Round 3 (Elite Eight): 7:00 PM ET on Sunday, July 12 at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta (Drafting Oval).
- Round 4 (Final Four): 7:00 PM ET on Sunday, July 19 at North Wilkesboro Speedway (Short Track).
- Championship: 2:00 PM ET on Sunday, July 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400.
The winner takes home a $1 million prize and the race results still count toward the regular season and playoff standings. Here are the matchups for first round of the 2026 NASCAR In-Season Challenge:
Round 1 Matchups:
- No. 1 Tyler Reddick vs. No. 32 Alex Bowman
- No. 2 Denny Hamlin vs. No. 31 Ty Dillon
- No. 3 Ryan Blaney vs. No. 30 Josh Berry
- No. 4 Chase Elliott vs. No. 29 Noah Gragson
- No. 5 Ty Gibbs vs. No. 28 Austin Dillon
- No. 6 Kyle Larson vs. No. 27 Riley Herbst
- No. 7 Chris Buescher vs. No. 26 John Hunter Nemechek
- No. 8 Daniel Suárez vs. No. 25 Todd Gilliland
- No. 9 Carson Hocevar vs. No. 24 Zane Smith
- No. 10 Christopher Bell vs. No. 23 Ross Chastain
- No. 11 William Byron vs. No. 22 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- No. 12 Chase Briscoe vs. No. 21 AJ Allmendinger
- No. 13 Bubba Wallace vs. No. 20 Michael McDowell
- No. 14 Shane van Gisbergen vs. No. 19 Ryan Preece
- No. 15 Erik Jones vs. No. 18 Joey Logano
- No. 16 Austin Cindric vs. No. 17 Brad Keselowski
Like the NCAA basketball tournament, there is no reseeding following each round. Here is how the bracket shook out, per NASCAR:
Who won the 2025 NASCAR In-Season Challenge?
https://youtu.be/qlp43CGQx8Y?si=8j6xWxAy66-CNS-g
The very first NASCAR In-Season Challenge saw a Cinderella run validate the format. No. 32 seed Ty Dillon got all the way to the Championship before he was defeated by No. 6 seed Ty Gibbs. Also held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400, Gibbs finished 21st in the championship race, with Dillon finishing 28th.
What are the Changes to the NASCAR In-Season Challenge in 2026?
There are only two significant changes to this year’s In-Season Challenge compared to the inaugural event. First, NASCAR ditched the three specific seeding races, instead setting the seeds based on all drivers' regular season points standings following the race at Pocono (last week’s street race at San Diego's Naval Base Coronado did not count toward seeding). Secondly, NASCAR made a series of changes to the schedule and tracks:
- Round 1: Moved from Atlanta (EchoPark Speedway) to Sonoma Raceway, throwing drivers straight into a road-course test.
- Round 2: The series will stay in Illinois but swap the Chicago Street Course for Chicagoland Speedway, marking a return to the Joliet oval for the first time since 2019.
- Round 3: EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta, which opened the tournament in 2025, has been moved to the third round.
- Round 4: North Wilkesboro Speedway has replaced Dover Motor Speedway to serve as the penultimate round of the bracket.
For a complete look at all the changes to the 2026 NASCAR season, follow this link. Use the link below to watch the 2026 NASCAR In-Season Challenge on TNT with Sling Orange.