The next NASCAR In-Season Challenge starts on Sunday, July 4, 2027, at Iowa Speedway and ends on Sunday, August 1 on the street course at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, where the winner takes $1 million. No odds on it are posted yet, and this page will carry them when the bracket is set.
The last edition went to a long shot. Todd Gilliland, the No. 25 seed, beat Ryan Blaney in the final at Indianapolis on July 26, 2026, finishing 24th to Blaney’s 26th.
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How the In-Season Challenge works
It is a 32-driver, single-elimination bracket played inside five Cup Series races. Each round pairs drivers head to head, and the one who finishes higher in that week’s race advances, whoever wins the race itself. The field goes from 32 to 16, then eight, four and two.
In 2026 the seeds were the top 32 in the Cup Series points after Pocono on June 14. NASCAR has not yet said which race sets the 2027 bracket.
| Round | 2027 race | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | Iowa Speedway | Sunday, July 4 |
| Round 2 | Toyota / Save Mart 350, Sonoma Raceway | Sunday, July 11 |
| Round 3 | Dollar Tree 400, EchoPark Speedway | Sunday, July 18 |
| Round 4 | Brickyard 400, Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Sunday, July 25 |
| Championship | Anduril 250, Naval Base Coronado, San Diego | Sunday, August 1 |
All five races sit in the TNT Sports part of the season, and NASCAR says the 2027 tournament covers five different kinds of track, from Iowa’s short oval to the San Diego street course.
How the last one went
The 2026 bracket was set on June 14, with points leader Tyler Reddick as the No. 1 seed and Alex Bowman at No. 32. Reddick went out first: he finished last at Sonoma with a mechanical problem, and Bowman advanced with a 10th place.
Gilliland’s path to the $1 million:
- Round 1, Sonoma: beat No. 8 Daniel Suárez.
- Round 2, Chicagoland: beat No. 9 Carson Hocevar with a 16th-place finish.
- Round 3, EchoPark: beat No. 32 Alex Bowman, who finished 22nd.
- Round 4, North Wilkesboro: beat No. 4 Chase Elliott, eighth to Elliott’s 17th.
- Final, Indianapolis: beat No. 3 Ryan Blaney, 24th to 26th, after Blaney was caught in a multicar wreck early in the final stage.
Corey Heim won the Brickyard 400 itself. The first edition, in 2025, went to Ty Gibbs, the No. 6 seed, who finished 21st at Indianapolis to beat No. 32 Ty Dillon, 28th. Our pick for that final was “Bet: Ty Gibbs”, and it won.
Betting the In-Season Challenge
Books have offered three kinds of market on it: the outright winner of the tournament, the head-to-head matchup in each round, and the race winner. The head-to-head is the one the format is built around, and it rewards a different read from the race: a driver running 20th can still advance if the other one is 25th. Two long shots, a No. 32 seed in 2025 and a No. 25 in 2026, have now reached the final.
The fan bracket game is run by NASCAR at fantasygames.nascar.com. In 2026 it paid $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 to the top three entries, and $1 million for a perfect bracket.
For each week’s race, our NASCAR picks this week page names the current race, and the NASCAR betting guide covers how the sport is bet. All our race pages are in the NASCAR section. For picks from paid handicappers, see the top handicappers.