A victory in the Brickyard 400 presented by PPG is one of the most coveted accomplishments in the NASCAR Cup Series, but there also will be another prize on the line in this year’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Ty Gibbs and Ty Dillon are the last drivers standing in NASCAR’s inaugural In-Season Challenge, which ends with the Brickyard 400 presented by PPG on Sunday, July 27.
A field of 32 drivers was whittled to Ty vs. Ty in the single-elimination tournament, with the winner’s team owner earning a $1 million bonus at the checkered flag at IMS. Gibbs and Dillon will race at the same time as all the other competitors in the NASCAR Cup Series classic, with the driver finishing ahead earning the big bonus for his team.
The top 32 drivers in points after the Cracker Barrel 400 on June 1 at Nashville Superspeedway became eligible for the Challenge, with races June 8 at Michigan International Speedway, June 15 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and June 22 at Pocono Raceway determining the seeding by each driver’s best finish in those events.
Drivers advanced by finishing ahead of their opponent within each of the races. All competition took place within the regularly scheduled Cup Series race.
Gibbs, who drives the No. 54 Toyota for his grandfather’s Joe Gibbs Racing team, entered the competition as the No. 6 seed. Dillon, who drives the No. 10 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing, made a stirring advance to the final from the 32nd and final seed.
Last Sunday in the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway, Gibbs beat No. 23 seed Tyler Reddick to advance to the final, while Dillon continued his Cinderella story march to the final by beating No. 12 seed John Hunter Nemechek.
Besides Reddick, Gibbs also beat Justin Haley in the first round at Atlanta, AJ Allmendinger in the second round at Chicago and Zane Smith in the quarterfinals at Sonoma. Dillon upset top-seeded Denny Hamlin at Atlanta and then beat Brad Keselowski at Chicago and Alex Bowman at Sonoma.
Gibbs has been a stronger finisher than Dillon during the In-Season Challenge. He has placed 14th, second, seventh and fifth overall in the four races leading to the final, while Dillon finished eighth, 20th, 17th and 20th in those events.
Prior results in the Brickyard 400 are somewhat inconclusive when trying to predict a winner. Gibbs has made just one start in the annual NASCAR summer crown jewel, finishing 23rd after qualifying sixth in 2024. Dillon’s average Brickyard finish is 17.2 in five starts. He finished 19th last year, ahead of Gibbs.
As an interesting aside, neither Gibbs nor Dillon has won a Cup Series race. Sealing the In-Season Challenge crown with a first victory at IMS would be one of the most memorable moments of the 2025 NASCAR season.
Ticket information for the Brickyard Weekend, which includes the Brickyard 400 presented by PPG on Sunday, July 26 and the Pennzoil 250 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series, is available at IMS.com.
