Here's who advanced to Round 3 of NASCAR's In-Season Challenge

Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway was the second race of the 2026 NASCAR In-Season Challenge. Here's who advanced to round 3 at Atlanta after the eero 400. 

(32) Alex Bowman vs. (16) Austin Cindric

Bowman, who won at Chicagoland in 2019, drove a great race and finished fifth to advance. Cindric was solid all night and finished 13th, but it wasn't enough to advance. 

(25) Todd Gilliland vs. (9) Carson Hocevar

This may have been the biggest upset of the second round, as Gilliland finished 16th and knocked out Hocevar, whose No. 77 was damaged early and finished 22nd. 

(12) Chase Briscoe vs. (5) Ty Gibbs

Gibbs had a good night and brought home an eighth-place finish, but he was no match for Briscoe, who scored his first win of 2026 and easily advanced to round 3. 

(20) Michael McDowell vs. (4) Chase Elliott

McDowell had to serve an early drive-through penalty and never truly recovered, finishing 29th. Elliott, meanwhile, comfortably advanced on the strength of an 11th-place run. 

(14) Shane van Gisbergen vs. (3) Ryan Blaney 

Van Gisbergen's only highlight of the evening was getting caught up in a dust-up with Austin Hill. The Sonoma winner finished 25th, while Blaney advanced with a seventh-place finish. 

(11) William Byron vs. (6) Kyle Larson

Arguably the most intriguing matchup of the In-Season Challenge so far ended with Byron, who finished fourth, easily advancing after Larson spun and finished two laps down in 34th. 

(7) Chris Buescher vs. (10) Christopher Bell

Bell's runner-up saw him easily beat Buescher, who ran up front early but faded and finished 19th. 

(2) Denny Hamlin vs. (15) Erik Jones

Hamlin easily moved on after finishing third, while Jones was never a factor but rebounded to finish 15th after an apparent steering issue.