$1 million In-Season Challenge prize sets up the Brickyard 400 for split-screen racing

Associated Press

19 hours ago

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Brickyard 400 viewers will be tuning into pure split-screen racing Sunday.
On one side, they'll monitor whether Kyle Larson can defend his Brickyard 400 title or if Denny Hamlin can charge from the back of the field to become the fifth driver to complete a career sweep of the Cup's four crown jewel races.
On the other side, they'll see whether Ty Gibbs or Ty Dillon or collects the $1 million prize that goes to the first In-Season Challenge champion. And, fittingly, this March Madness-like tournament concludes on one of the sport's grand stages — Indianapolis Motor Speedway's historic 2.5-mile oval.
It's a made-for-television moment.
'This is going to be a special moment no matter what happens,' Dillon said before qualifying started Saturday. 'I do, ultimately, want to win in the Cup series, and I hope (winning) feels as great as these five weeks have. I don't know how to compare it because it's the first time anybody has really gone through this round by round.'
The concept comes straight out of Indiana's other favorite sport, basketball.
Series officials wanted a solution for the series' midsummer blues and chose a combination of the NBA's In-Season Tournament and college basketball's single-elimination NCAA Tournament.
Race results at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono set up a 32-driver field. Head-to-head results in Chicago eliminated 16 drivers, which was down to the Elite Eight after Sonoma. Gibbs and Dillon advanced from last week's Final Four and now they are here in Indy, getting as much attention Larson, Hamlin and the array of other big-name drivers.
Larson and Hamlin spoke with reporters Friday. Gibbs and Dillon waited until just before a brief, rescheduled practice session took place at Indy.
'This is race car country is what we would call it, so being able to race here is an honor,' Gibbs said. 'The main goal, of course, is to go win the race and we're going to do everything we can to put ourselves in position to do that, and maybe if we don't do that, try to finish as best we can and if that's better than (Dillon), we'll take it.'
The championship looks like a classic between Dillon, a 12-year veteran who is winless in 266 career Cup starts, and Gibbs, the 2022 Xfinity Series winner in his third full Cup season and the grandson of three-time Super Bowl champion and team owner Joe Gibbs.
Like so many NCAA Tournament brackets, the bracket results defied expectations. Gibbs went into the five-race challenge seeded No. 6. Dillon took on the role of Cinderella after starting No. 32. And Gibbs has an edge after qualifying fifth. Dillon starts 26th.
Along the way some of the favorites such as Hamlin, William Byron, Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson fell out. Hamlin, who is seeking his first Brickyard win in 17 starts, first introduced the notion of a tournament on his 'Actions Detrimental' podcast and gave the series good marks for how it's played out.
'I think you get more buy-in from drivers if, you know, they're financially motivated,' said Hamlin, who lost to Dillon in the first round. 'I know a lot of people kind of played it off this year, but everyone knew about it, everyone knew who they had to beat. Everyone did care about it. I feel like it was implemented fairly well this year.'
Hamlin faces an even bigger hurdle after crashing hard in qualifying. He'll start 39th after Chase Briscoe claimed the pole.
Now the question becomes who will take home the big prize?
While Gibbs is trying to race his way into the playoffs and Dillon continues to chase his first Cup win, the two drivers also will be paying attention to the race inside Sunday's race. And so will the fans.
'It feels like the last three or four weeks, I've done enough media and talked to enough people and had fan growth like I've never seen before, that felt like I had won the last three weeks,' Dillon said. 'So it's a weird conundrum. It's not a win, but it has felt so special to be a part of.'
Bubba's story
When Bubba Wallace drove the No. 23 car onto the track for his qualifying run Saturday, he didn't have any expectations.
When he climbed out of the car, he had the provisional pole and it stayed there — until Briscoe's late attempt. And while Wallace will start on the front row, he wasn't satisfied with how it played out.
'It's a weird feeling right now,' Wallace said. 'I had no idea what kind of lap I put together and obviously, man, so close. You know no one wants to finish second in motorsports or whatever it is. I sure don't want to. So if it's qualifying, it's a little kick in the groin but aside from that, a pretty good day.'
Family celebration
Briscoe's pole-winning run was the second leg of a celebratory weekend for his family, which still calls Mitchell, Indiana, home. That's about 85 miles southwest of Indy.
The first part came Friday when Briscoe's sister got married. And Briscoe has a chance to complete the third leg by winning his first Brickyard title.
But he's also wary about a potential sibling rivalry.
'I would love to cap it off with the Brickyard 400, but I'm sure my sister would be mad if I went and kind of topped the wedding,' Briscoe said. 'But, yeah, it's been a fun week to come up here and get to do all the things we've done.'
Double duty
After qualifying 38th for Sunday's race, Katherine Legge took a short break before jumping in her car for the start of the Xfinity race.
The longtime IndyCar driver is doing double duty this weekend on a track she knows well. Legge has started four Indianapolis 500s, most recently in 2024. This season, she's made six starts on the stock car circuit — two in the Xfinity Series and four, so far, in the Cup Series.
And on Sunday, she'll hit another milestone — becoming the 21st driver to compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard.
Odds and ends
Shane van Gisbergen will make his first career start on Indy's oval after qualifying 11th. ... Points leader Chase Elliott starts from the No. 30 spot on the grid. ... Despite the qualifying crash, Hamlin remained the betting favorite in Indianapolis with Larson and Briscoe not far behind, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. The trio has just one win on Indy's oval.
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