In-Season Tournament’s Second Round Stays Crazy

The field is down to eight for NASCAR's inaugural in-season tournament. (David Rosenblum/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

CHICAGO – The second round of the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge brought forth the same intensity and chaos as the opening round a week prior at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta.

Shane van Gisbergen, who was not in the tournament, won the race while a collection of million-dollar hopefuls populated the top five behind him on the streets of downtown Chicago.

Ty Gibbs (6) finished runner-up in the Grant Park 165, besting road-course ace AJ Allmendinger (22), who finished sixth in arguably the most anticipated matchup of this round.

Both drivers have successful histories in road racing, and both drove to top-10 finishes.

Gibbs will face Zane Smith (14) in round three after Smith capitalized on engine issues for Chris Buescher (3) to advance for Front Row Motorsports.

Tyler Reddick (23) was comfortably in the third round before the conclusion of the first stage, as his opponent Carson Hocevar (26) was eliminated in a lap-three crash.

Reddick will advance to face Ryan Preece (15), who defeated former teammate Noah Gragson (31).

Over on the left side of the bracket, Ty Dillon (32) kept his Cinderella run alive, once again pulling off the improbable upset over Brad Keselowski (17), who was also taken out in the lap-three melee.

Dillon will face Alex Bowman (8), who got physical with his opponent Bubba Wallace (9) late in the race. That pair traded jabs for more than a lap, which ultimately resulted in Bowman’s Chevy turning Wallace’s Toyota and effectively eliminating the 23XI driver from the In-Season Challenge.

John Hunter Nemechek (12) pulled off the upset over last week’s winner, Chase Elliott (5), by one position on track. Nemechek finished 15th over Elliott’s 16th-place effort on Sunday.

Nemechek’s opponent for round three comes within familiar walls, as he will face his Legacy Motor Club teammate Erik Jones (20) with a berth in the top four (semifinals) on the line.

Jones advanced after his opponent, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (29), crashed following a restart in the waning laps of the race.

Gibbs stands as the highest remaining seed at six, and could be seen as a race favorite for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, given his recent performances at Mexico City and Chicago this season.

Plenty of eliminated drivers will have something to say, however, as Kyle Larson is always one to watch in Wine Country.

Alex Bowman has also been good at road courses recently, and could put an end to Dillon’s spectacular tournament run, while friendly fire may be spawned from the Legacy camp between Jones and Nemechek.

The intensity and storylines pick up for round three of the In-Season Challenge, as the Cup Series is down to its ‘elite eight’.

Coverage from Sonoma begins Sunday, July 13 at 3:30 p.m. ET on TNT, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90, with in-car cameras and scanner audio streaming exclusively on MAX.