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NASCAR Insider Blasts 'Dumb' Idea For In-Season Tournament

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Jun 3, 2025 4:53 PM ET

NASCAR will begin its inaugural in-season tournament later this month. Those still confused about the format can take solace in the fact that a NASCAR insider didn't realize the seeding process until someone explained it on social media.

NASCAR's first In-Season Challenge will feature five races, starting at Atlanta on June 28. The next three races will determine the bracket for the 32-driver, single-elimination tournament.

On Friday, NASCAR.com published an explainer on the In-Season Challenge. The article notes that drivers will be seeded based on their best finish in the ensuing three Cup Series events.

Furthermore, the next-best finish in the same three races will serve as the first tiebreaker. Points standings would determine the seeding in the unlikely event of both drivers securing the same positions in the three races.

The Athletic's Jeff Gluck was among many NASCAR observers who didn't know those guidelines. He wrote, "Wait what!?!?" in response to a post from data analyst Daniel Céspedes about the format.

Gluck was even more incredulous when Céspedes shared a screenshot from the NASCAR explainer about seeding.

"NASCAR is going to seed the in-season tournament by best finish plus tiebreakers over the next three races. It's not even points," Gluck wrote. "Lmaooo WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS??? JUST USE THE STANDINGS!"

Gluck added that the format is worse than the suboptimal system he anticipated.

"I thought they were going to take total points over the next three races, which is still dumb, but it's not even that," he said. "Again, just use the actual standings!"

Denny Hamlin seemed to be under the same impression as Gluck. On his latest Actions Detrimental podcast, he argued that NASCAR should use overall points for the season instead of three races.

"That's not the right way," Hamlin said. "I understand why they did it, but I don't think they thought this through."

Hamlin said the seeding will create "too many false narratives" with better drivers deceivingly positioned as underdogs. However, he expects drivers to get invested in the tournament, which pays $1 million to the victor.

TNT will televise all five In-Season Challenge races, culminating in a head-to-head clash for the title at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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