The first round of NASCAR’s maiden in-season tournament came to a thrilling end at the EchoPark Speedway on Saturday night. The chaotic race filled with breathtaking speeds and heart-stopping wrecks picked out 16 drivers from the 32-driver list and will test them against each other on the Chicago Street Course this coming weekend. Let’s go through who these contenders are.
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Several icons, like Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, did not advance to the next round following the Stage 2 wreck that ended their days prematurely. In their place, the likes of Ty Dillon and Alex Bowman made it forward safely. Other notable drivers who still stand to win the $1 million are Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott, and Chris Buescher.
In the next round, Keselowski will race against Dillon, Elliott will race against John Hunter Nemechek, Bowman will race against Wallace, Ryan Preece will race against Noah Gragson, and Tyler Reddick will race against Carson Hocevar. Ty Gibbs and A.J. Allmendinger have been pitted against each other, as are Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Finally, Buescher and Zane Smith round out the face-offs.
One wild round is complete.
Four more to go. pic.twitter.com/LwcLqtttPw
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 29, 2025
The Chicago Street Course will be a challenging venue for this lot. At the end of the race, eight drivers will progress. They will then be seeded to face each other at Sonoma Raceway. From there, the tournament will travel to Dover Motor Speedway and end at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27.
Chase Elliott secures his maiden win of the season at Atlanta
Elliott broke a 44-race winless streak on Saturday by reaching Victory Lane in Atlanta. It was the Hendrick Motorsports stalwart’s first taste of success since the win at Texas Motor Speedway in 2024. Now that his playoff spot is finalized, he can go all out to try and add a few dollars to his bank account by winning the in-season tournament.
Interestingly, multiple road course races fall in this part of the season and this could work to his advantage. After all, Elliott’s expertise on road courses is well-known across the motorsports world. On Saturday, he knocked out Austin Dillon to step forward to the second round of the tournament. And he is now pitched against Legacy Motor Club’s Nemechek.
Should he have a clean day in Chicago, it is likely that the No. 9 Chevy driver secures a better result than Nemechek. To dream a bit ambitiously, one more win would not only move Elliott forward in the tournament but also serve as yet another crucial turning point in his bid to become a two-time Cup Series champion.
