The second annual In-Season Challenge reaches its final stage with North Wilkesboro Speedway in the rearview and Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Championship Round ahead. Let’s check in to see where the tournament stands entering Sunday’s race, the Brickyard 400 (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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North Wilkesboro race winner: Talk about your mountainside revivals — Joey Logano did just that for his 2026 season by dominating the Window World 450 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, leading a career-high 323 laps en route to his 38th Cup Series victory. The Team Penske driver won for the first time in 46 races and shot above The Chase cutline by 49 points after entering the race 15 points to the bad. It was a monumental turnaround for the three-time champion who hadn’t shown many positive signs to this point in the season. Now, the competition has to wonder whether someone of Logano’s caliber could become a major obstacle in the championship run.
Who advances to Round 5?
But that’s not the championship we came here to talk about, because $1 million will be on the line between Ryan Blaney and Todd Gilliland in the In-Season Challenge Championship Round on Sunday at Indianapolis.
Blaney (No. 3 seed) got here by defeating Josh Berry (No. 30) in the opening round at Sonoma Raceway before getting past Shane van Gisbergen (No. 14) at Chicagoland Speedway, William Byron (No. 11) at EchoPark Speedway and Christopher Bell (No. 10) at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Blaney had to bounce back at North Wilkesboro after NASCAR sent him to the rear for unapproved adjustments, rising to eighth place after Stage 2 and eventually an 11th-place finish that put him comfortably ahead of Bell in 19th place.
Todd Gilliland, the No. 25 seed and a.k.a “The Toddfather,” upset Daniel Suárez (No. 8) in Round 1 at Sonoma before knocking off Carson Hocevar (No. 9) at Chicagoland, Alex Bowman (No. 32) at EchoPark and Chase Elliott (No. 4) at North Wilkesboro. Elliott got trapped laps down while he was on pit road when Alex Bowman collided with Tyler Reddick on Lap 183 and brought out a caution. But even with that advantage, Gilliland still was going to be hard to beat as he finished in eighth place to Elliott’s 17th-place showing.
Matchup of the week
(No. 3) Ryan Blaney vs. (No. 25) Driver: Todd Gilliland: There’s only one matchup this week, so, of course, we have to talk about it. And the difference between this year and last year is that it feels like the underdog driver has a legitimate chance to win this one. In two career Cup Series appearances at Indianapolis, Gilliland has finished in sixth place both times. If he can repeat that type of outing again, he’ll be tough to beat.
But Blaney is no slouch at Indianapolis, either, with three top-10 finishes in his last four outings there, including a third-place run in 2024 that would have been enough to beat Gilliland. Whoever comes out on top will make Ford proud as the manufacturer is riding a two-race winning streak into what is a home track for them thanks to Roger Penske’s ownership.