What is NASCAR's $1M In-Season Challenge? Exploring format, rules, and more

The NASCAR Cup Series' In‑Season Challenge is a new 32‑driver, single‑elimination tournament, which will be held over five consecutive Cup races airing on TNT Sports and Max from June 28 to July 27, 2025.

The 32 drivers seeded into the tournament are the top 32 ranked drivers before the three races at Michigan International, Mexico City, and Sunday's The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway (June 22). Race winners from these three seed races, plus the next-best performers based on best finishes, will qualify for the challenge until the 32-grid is filled.

NASCAR announced the tournament last year as part of its new media rights deal (seven-year agreement) with Prime and TNT.

In each pairing, the driver who finishes higher advances and the other is eliminated. The field is cut as 32, 16, 8, 4, final 2, and the champion.

The tournament races included four challenge rounds at EchoPark Speedway (June 29), Chicago Street Course (July 6), Sonoma Raceway (July 13), and Dover Motor Speedway (June 20). The two drivers after the semifinal round will face off in the final championship round on July 27 at Indy’s Brickyard 400 with the $1 million prize.

If there is a tie, the rules state to compare each driver's second-best finish in the three seeding races. The third-best finish will be considered if the drivers are still tied. Then it all falls back to cup-points standing following Pocono.

Four drivers, Shane van Gisbergen, Riley Herbst, Cole Custer, and Cody Ware, failed to qualify for the challenge as they were ranked outside 32 in the points standings before the Michigan race.

Why did NASCAR launch the In-Season Challenge?

NASCAR introduced the In-Season Challenge to bring more excitement and attract younger fans. However, the new format has not clicked with many fans despite the $1 million prize and a head-to-head bracket format to shake up the usual racing schedule.

Since the challenge involves the top 32 drivers competing over five races and qualifying performance in three earlier races, critics argue it does not prioritize overall season standings. This has raised concerns about fairness.

The Athletic's Jeff Gluck also criticized the seeding format for the $1M In-Season challenge on X.

"NASCAR is going to seed the in-season tournament by best finish plus tiebreakers over the next three races. It's not even points. Lmaooo WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS??? JUST USE THE STANDINGS!"

The current playoff format has been criticized by some fans and debated for some time now. The format of playoff races was also brought in to make the races more exciting and get more people watching during the mid-2010s.