NASCAR In-Season Tournament: Which Drivers Are Left Standing After Round 3 at Sonoma?

NASCAR Cup Series driver Ty Dillon is introduced before the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., Sunday, June 1, 2025. © Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The NASCAR Cup Series race at the Sonoma Raceway on Sunday was the third round of the In-Season Tournament this season. Eight drivers competed against each other to move a step further towards the $1 million prize money at stake, and four prevailed at the end of the thrilling affair.

Here’s a brief look at which of them will be racing with purpose in Round 4 at Dover Motor Speedway next weekend.

Ty Dillon and Kaulig Racing keep wanting to play the spoiler to NASCAR’s best. After knocking out Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski in the first two rounds, Dillon knocked Alex Bowman out at Sonoma Raceway. He overcame the Hendrick Motorsports star by nudging him out of the way on the final lap of the race and crossed the checkered flag in 17th place.

The 33-year-old driver will race against John Hunter Nemechek at Dover. Nemechek made it to the penultimate round after getting the better of his Legacy Motor Club teammate, Erik Jones.

The duo spent most of the day around each other and even spun out at different points of the race. But Nemechek came out on top, in 28th place.

Drama ensued on the other side of the bracket as well, with RFK Racing driver Ryan Preece going up against 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, and, for a long while, it seemed like he might be the one to advance.

But a late crash damaged his car and dashed his hopes. He finished in 12th place, six spots behind Reddick. A spot behind Reddick in seventh place was Ty Gibbs.

Gibbs had to overcome Zane Smith to secure his spot in the semi-finals, and he did. He will race against Reddick in an all-out Toyota battle at Dover and hope to be the one to make it to the final round at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Their match-up is perhaps the most awaited one of all. Reddick told the press, “Two evenly matched cars. Obviously, we work very close together.”

“I have a feeling we’re going to be around each other all day long. It’s going to be a long battle,” he added. With Sonoma out of the way, the road course section of the In-Season Tournament is done. Dover and Indianapolis will now decide who the driver is who gets to take home a million dollars, along with a ton of respect.

Post Edited By: Rahul Ahluwalia
John Hunter Nemechek NASCAR Cup Series Ty Dillon Ty Gibbs Tyler Reddick

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Gowtham Ramalingam

Gowtham is a NASCAR journalist at The SportsRush. Though his affinity for racing stems from Formula 1, he found himself drawn to NASCAR's unparalleled excitement over the years. As a result he has shared his insights and observations by authoring over 3000 articles on the sport. An avid fiction writer, you can find him lost in imaginary worlds when he is not immersed in racing. He hopes to continue savoring the thrill of every lap and race together with his readers for as long as he can.

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