Examining the NASCAR Cup In-Season Challenge semifinal matchups at Dover
Tyler Reddick goes against Ty Gibbs. John Hunter Nemechek is paired against Ty Dillon. They seek to advance to next weekend's finals at Indianapolis. The winner will receive $1 million.
Here is a look, with the help of Racing Insights, at the second-round pairings for Sunday's race:
No. 6 Ty Gibbs vs. No. 23 Tyler Reddick
How they got here
Ty Gibbs eliminated Justin Haley (seeded 27th) at Atlanta, AJ Allmendinger (22) at Chicago and Zane Smith (14) at Sonoma
Tyler Reddick eliminated Kyle Larson (10) at Atlanta, Carson Hocevar (26) at Chicago and Ryan Preece (15) at Sonoma.
On a roll: Tyler Reddick has finished sixth or better in each of the last three races.
Close matchup: Gibbs and Reddick have finished within one position of each other in the past two races and finished within three spots of each other in five of the last 11 races.
Dover stats: Reddick's best finish at Dover is seventh in 2023. He has finished 11th or better in three of the last four races. Gibbs' best finish at Dover came last year when he placed 10th. He has finished 10th and 13th in his two Cup starts at Dover.
Winner ... advances to meet winner of John Hunter Nemechek - Ty Dillon matchup in finals at Indianapolis for the $1 million prize.
No. 12 John Hunter Nemechek vs. No. 32 Ty Dillon
John Hunter Nemechek eliminated Josh Berry (21) at Atlanta, Chase Elliott (5) at Chicago and Erik Jones (20) at Sonoma.
Ty Dillon eliminated Denny Hamlin (1) at Atlanta, Brad Keselowski (17) at Chicago and Alex Bowman (8) at Sonoma.
Cinderella story: Dillon, the last seed in the 32-driver event, has posted three consecutive top-20 finishes. That's the first time he's done that since August 2022. Dillon trailed Bowman on the final corner of the final lap before he bumped him out of the way to finish ahead of him at Sonoma and advance.
Close calls: Nemechek finished one spot ahead of Chase Elliott to eliminate him at Chicago. Nemechek passed Legacy Motor Club teammate Erik Jones for position with two laps left at Sonoma to advance to the semifinals.
Dover stats: Nemechek's best Dover finish is 20th, which he did last year and in 2020. Nemechek has finished no worse than 24th in three Cup starts at Dover. Dillon last ran a Cup race at Dover in 2023, finishing 36th. Dillon's best Dover finish is 14th in June 2017.
Winner ... advances to meet winner of Tyler Reddick - Ty Gibbs matchup in finals at Indianapolis for the $1 million prize.
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