Todd Gilliland Wins NASCAR In-Season Challenge at Brickyard

A late restart collision that damaged Ryan Blaney’s car decided the final outcome, resulting in a $1 million payout to Front Row Motorsports.

Overview

Todd Gilliland secured the In-Season Challenge title at the Brickyard 400 on Sunday, July 26, by finishing 24th to Ryan Blaney’s 26th.
Ryan Blaney spun after contact with John Hunter Nemechek on a Lap 120 restart and his No. 12 suffered splitter damage that forced a lengthy pit stop and left him unable to recover position.
Gilliland reached the final as a 25-seed after finishing ahead of higher-seeded rivals Daniel Suárez, Carson Hocevar, Alex Bowman, and Chase Elliott in earlier rounds.
The result awards Gilliland and Front Row Motorsports a $1 million prize and underscores the team’s recent decision to extend his contract.
The seeded, head-to-head In-Season Challenge format makes finishing position the decisive factor, so late-race incidents and pit timing can produce underdog winners and shift team finances and momentum.