Steve Letarte reveals his top pick among Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, and William Byron to win NASCAR’s $1M in-season tournament

During a recent interview, NASCAR analyst Steve Letarte named Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott as his top pick for NASCAR's $1M in-season tournament. Letarte had a tough decision to make, as he had to choose between Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, and William Byron.

The governing body introduced the new program for the 2025 season to increase competitiveness, viewership, and fan engagement for the sport. The sanctioning body took inspiration from multiple successful sports, like the NBA, to design the in-season tournament format.

The tournament includes five rounds starting from the EchoPark Speedway race this weekend. Reflecting on the same, the NASCAR analyst picked Chase Elliott for delivering a consistent performance this season. Letarte explained:

"Nobody likes this pick, but I have Hamlin upsetting Kyle Busch and advancing Elliott. He's my guy. He's still grinding back here. He's going to move forward Byron Reddick, Gibbs Gillen, then we head to the hills of Sonoma, who outruns, who at Sonoma a few upsets. Hamlin somehow gets through both road courses. Not many people are gonna like that." [00:30]

"So my championship for my final four drivers, Hamlin, Elliott, Byron Gibbs at Dover, who moves forward to Indianapolis. Elliott and Byron and Byron, and then my champion. Mr. Consistent hasn't been outside the top 20 all year long. You don't have to win to advance. You just have to beat the guy you're against, so I had Chase Elliot, it is my guy," he added. [00:49]

Chase Elliott last competed in the Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.COM on June 22, 2025, at Pocono Raceway. He had an unsatisfactory start in the 160-lap race and began the event from P18. However, he paved his way up to the top five and wrapped the race in P5.

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Former NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott continues his winless season despite scoring consistent results

Hendrick Motorsports ace Chase Elliott found himself in a situation this year that he experienced two years ago. In 2023, Elliott wrapped up the season with zero wins and later snapped his winless streak at Texas Motor Speedway in 2024. However, things just got difficult for the driver after his Texas triumph, and he has been winless since then.

The former Xfinity Series champion has been continuing his winless streak for over 40 races. Despite having a solid start in the 2025 season, Elliott still struggles to find a win to end the no-win drought.

Despite securing zero wins, Chase Elliott ranks among the top five drivers in the Cup Series points table. With 543 points to his name, the #9 Chevy Camaro ZL1 driver ranks fifth on the points table.

Elliott has secured nine top-ten finishes and five top-five finishes in 17 starts. Additionally, he has led 95 laps with an average finish of 10.824 this season.