Crashes take out multiple top seeds in first race of NASCAR's In-Season Challenge

Bell and Blaney will finish 39th and 40th, respectively. Bell entered the In-Season Challenge as the No. 4 seed in a matchup with No. 29 seed Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who remains in the race. Blaney, meanwhile, is the No. 7 seed. He's matched up with No. 26 seed Carson Hocevar, who was involved in a crash on Lap 69. 

On Lap 69, a stack-up at the front of the field started another huge chain reaction. Denny Hamlin, Noah Gragson, John Hunter Nemechek, Hocevar, polesitter Joey Logano and William Byron, among a host of others, were involved. 

Hamlin is the No. 1 seed in the Challenge in a matchup with No. 32 seed Ty Dillon, who was unscathed in both incidents. No. 2 seed Chase Briscoe was also involved in the Lap 69 melee, as was his matchup in the No. 31 seed of Gragson. 

While it's still possible for the drivers involved in these incidents to repair the crash damage and keep racing, every driver involved will be facing an uphill battle. It's safe to say plenty of brackets for the inaugural In-Season challenge have already been busted.