NASCAR In-Season Tournament bracket set as $1M challenge kicks off at Atlanta

The NASCAR mini-tournament within the regular NASCAR Cup Series season is set to kick off at Atlanta. This new format was introduced this year to increase competitiveness, viewership and fan engagement in the regular Cup Series season. The In-Season tournament is designed and inspired by keeping in mind similar successful events in other sports, like the NBA. The new tournament style format is expected to bring plenty of excitement and new storylines to the sport.

The In-Season tournament is a 32-driver tournament that will consist of five rounds, kicking off at the next race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The format involves three seeding races that set the 32 drivers in 16 different brackets. The results from the last three races at Michigan, Mexico and Pocono decided the seedings.

The driver who finishes higher in each head-to-head matchup advances to the next race. The winner of the tournament wins a whopping prize of $1 million. The tournament spans five races from the Atlanta Motor Speedway to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Here are the first-round driver pairings.

No. 1 seed Denny Hamlin vs. No. 32 seed Ty Dillon

No. 2 seed Chase Briscoe vs. No. 31 seed Noah Gragson

No. 3 seed Chris Buescher vs. No. 30 seed Todd Gilliland

No. 4 seed Christopher Bell vs. No. 29 seed Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

No. 5 seed Chase Elliott vs. No. 28 seed Austin Dillon

No. 6 seed Ty Gibbs vs. No. 27 seed Justin Haley

No. 7 seed Ryan Blaney vs. No. 26 seed Carson Hocevar

No. 8 seed Alex Bowman vs. No. 25 seed Joey Logano

No. 9 seed Bubba Wallace vs. No. 24 Daniel Suarez

No. 10 seed Kyle Larson vs. No. 23 Tyler Reddick

No. 11 seed Michael McDowell vs. No. 22 seed AJ Allmendinger

No. 12 seed John Hunter Nemechek vs. No. 21 seed Josh Berry

No. 13 seed Ross Chastain vs. No. 20 seed Erik Jones

No. 14 seed Zane Smith vs. No. 19 seed Austin Cindric

No. 15 seed Ryan Preece vs. No. 18 seed William Byron

No. 16 seed Kyle Busch vs. No. 17 seed Brad Keselowski

All five races of the In-Season challenge will be aired on TNT Sports. The new format will surely create a buzz among the fans and excitement in the sport.

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Denny Hamlin leads NASCAR's new tournament clash

NASCAR's newest adventure has left the sporting world in a frenzy. The new In-Season tournament is designed to increase excitement among the fans and competitiveness among the drivers. The high-stakes competition involves a staggering $1 million prize for the winner.

The tournament involved three seeding races based on which the 32 drivers were divided into the 16 brackets formed based on their performances. Denny Hamlin secured the top billing for his win in Michigan and runner-up finish at the recent race in Pocono.

The 44-year-old certainly makes a statement, earning the top seeding for his performances in a field of much younger drivers compared to him. He also welcomed the newest member of his family a few days back, a son named 'Jameson'.

NASCAR- Denny Hamlin at Pocono Raceway - Source: Imagn

The four drivers who weren't able to make it to the NASCAR In-Season tournament are Shane Van Gisbergen, Cole Custer, Riley Herbst and Cody Ware.