Todd Gilliland beats Ryan Blaney for $1M in NASCAR In-Season Challenge

The finale of the 2026 NASCAR In-Season Challenge took a wrong turn for Ryan Blaney when he was spun in Turn 3 by John Hunter Nemechek in Sunday's Brickyard 400. 

With Blaney suddenly driving a wounded race car, that opened up the door for Front Row Motorsports driver Todd Gilliland to swoop in and steal the In-Season Challenge title and $1 million out from under his fellow Ford driver with a 24th-place finish. Blaney finished 26th. 

How Todd Gilliland held off Ryan Blaney

"It was nerve-wracking," Gilliland told TNT. "Even though we were 24th and 26th, it was good; it felt good to feel those nerves, like someone chasing you down for something meaningful. Seemed like we just barely skated by every single round. We weren't great today, but we made the most of it."

Gilliland was the underdog story throughout the In-Season Challenge, but it looked like his Cinderella run was going to come to an end for much of the day. Blaney far outpaced Gilliland, who started 36th and had to claw his way into the top 30 early in the race. 

But Blaney's crash cracked the door for an opportunistic No. 34 team, which went on to claim $1 million that will do wonders for morale around the FRM shop.