The 2026 NASCAR In-Season Challenge was a multi-stage motorsport tournament that was played during the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series. It was the second edition of the NASCAR In-Season Challenge. 32 full-time drivers in the series participated in the tournament and races counted toward the regular season and playoff standings as normal.
Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing was the defending winner of the tournament.
Following the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Todd Gilliland of Front Row Motorsports defeated Ryan Blaney of Team Penske to win the 1 million.
Format
The tournament consisted of five regular season races that would run during June and July. The top 32 drivers in driver points standings were seeded into the bracket based on their performance based on the regular season standings. The five races conducted in a single elimination bracket, with the first four rounds known as "Challenge Rounds". In each round, the driver in each matchup with the better finish advanced, while the other was eliminated. This process continues until only two drivers remain in the "Champions Round"; the driver with the better finish in that race would become the tournament champion. Cole Custer, Connor Zilisch, and Cody Ware failed to qualify for the In-Season Challenge following the Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, California. Austin Hill, who took over full-time duties in the Cup Series following the death of Kyle Busch, also did not qualify for the tournament, even though his car sits in 26th in owner's points, due to being ineligible for Cup Series points because he had registered to earn points in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Changes 2026 marked the first year of major rule changes that marked drivers being ranked off of regular season points rather than three seeding races used in 2025.
Schedule
Oval track Road course No Race name Track Location Date Time (ET) TV Radio Report 1 Toyota/Save Mart 350 Sonoma Raceway Sonoma, California June 28 3:30 pm TNT PRN Report 2 eero 400 Chicagoland Speedway Joliet, Illinois July 5 6 pm MRN Report 3 Quaker State 400 EchoPark Speedway Hampton, Georgia July 12 7 pm PRN Report 4 Window World 450 North Wilkesboro Speedway North Wilkesboro, North Carolina July 19 Report 5 Brickyard 400 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana July 26 2 pm IMS Report
Bracket
Broadcasting All tournament races were shown on TNT and streamed on HBO Max.
Notes
References