Overview
- On Sunday at Sonoma Raceway, No. 32 Alex Bowman upset No. 1 Tyler Reddick after Reddick suffered power-steering and engine trouble that left him well off the pace.
- Shane van Gisbergen won the Toyota/Save Mart 350 and advanced in the bracket, recording his second victory of the season.
- Single-race mechanical failures produced other surprises in Round 1, including Todd Gilliland and Michael McDowell knocking out higher seeds and Ty Dillon losing power steering late, which allowed Denny Hamlin to advance.
- The Round 2 bracket for July 5 at Chicagoland Speedway is set with eight head-to-head matchups including Alex Bowman vs. Austin Cindric and Shane van Gisbergen vs. Ryan Blaney.
- The In-Season Challenge is a separate, $1 million knockout tournament that runs alongside the regular season, so drivers eliminated from the bracket keep their regular-season points and championship eligibility and the format raises the stakes of single mechanical failures.