NASCAR In-Season Tournament Begins at Atlanta Motor Speedway
The inaugural round of the NASCAR in-season tournament kicks off this Saturday night at EchoPark Speedway, also known as Atlanta Motor Speedway. The tournament format, designed to engage fans and teams, offers a $1 million bonus to the highest finisher in head-to-head matchups among drivers.
Four top seeds—Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, and Christopher Bell—were determined based on their best finishes in three previous races: Michigan, Mexico City, and Pocono. Hamlin emerged victorious at Michigan, while Briscoe claimed the win at Pocono.
First-Round Matchups
The opening matchups are as follows:
- (No. 1) Denny Hamlin vs (No. 32) Ty Dillon
- (No. 2) Chase Briscoe vs (No. 31) Noah Gragson
- (No. 3) Chris Buescher vs (No. 30) Todd Gilliland
- (No. 4) Christopher Bell vs (No. 29) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- (No. 5) Chase Elliott vs (No. 28) Austin Dillon
- (No. 6) Ty Gibbs vs (No. 27) Justin Haley
- (No. 7) Ryan Blaney vs (No. 26) Carson Hocevar
- (No. 8) Alex Bowman vs (No. 25) Joey Logano
- (No. 9) Bubba Wallace vs (No. 24) Daniel Suarez
- (No. 10) Kyle Larson vs (No. 23) Tyler Reddick
- (No. 11) Michael McDowell vs (No. 22) AJ Allmendinger
- (No. 12) John Hunter Nemechek vs (No. 21) Josh Berry
- (No. 13) Ross Chastain vs (No. 20) Erik Jones
- (No. 14) Zane Smith vs (No. 19) Austin Cindric
- (No. 15) Ryan Preece vs (No. 18) William Byron
- (No. 16) Kyle Busch vs (No. 17) Brad Keselowski
Broadcast Information
The tournament will be televised by TNT Sports, which begins its five-race Cup Series coverage this Saturday at 7 PM ET. Additionally, an alternate broadcast will be offered on truTV, hosted by analysts Larry McReynolds and Jeff Burton, who will provide weekly breakouts on storylines and the bracket progression.
As the tournament progresses, teams will aim not only for the glory of victory but also for the substantial financial incentive awaiting the ultimate winner.
