Three rounds remain in the inaugural NASCAR in-season tournament, and some shocking names are still sticking around. Meanwhile, looking at the standings and playoff bubble, those drivers looking to get in on points will be thankful that Shane van Gisbergen was able to hold off Ty Gibbs.
Van Gisbergen, despite his 27th place in the overall standings, continues to tack on playoff points with his second win.
NASCAR in-season bracket cuts the field down to 8 heading to Sonoma
Just eight drivers remain in the running for the $1 million. And thanks to the chaos that we've seen at Atlanta and Chicago, some of the names remaining for the In-Season Tournament are going to shock you.
Ty Dillon, currently 32nd in the Cup standings and the lowest seed in the tournament, advanced once again. Last week, Denny Hamlin's wreck in Atlanta put Dillon through, while this week, Brad Keselowski's early invovlement in Carson Hocevar's pile-up meant 20th was good enough.
Dillon will face Alex Bowman, who got into a physical battle with his bracket matchup Bubba Wallace, which ended with Wallace turned off Bowman's bumper.
John Hunter Nemechek bested Chase Elliott in a tight battle that saw Nemechek finish 15th to Elliott's 16th. The Erik Jones-Ricky Stenhouse matchup was lackluster (as expected), with Jones' 25th-place, one-lap-down effort being enough.
Ryan Preece and Tyler Reddick both took top 10s this week to earn a matchup against each other next week.
Ty Gibbs finished P2 to go versus Zane Smith, with the young drivers winning against AJ Allmendinger and Chris Buescher, respectively.
Here's the third round bracket:
32 has quickly become eight. pic.twitter.com/bnp2nETEDs
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 6, 2025
NASCAR regular season points and playoff picture after Chicago
Seven races remain in the NASCAR Cup regular season, a slate that includes:
- Two road courses (Sonoma, Watkins Glen)
- Two under-1-mile ovals (Iowa, Richmond)
- One 1-mile oval (Dover)
- One 2.5-mile track (Indy)
- One superspeedway (Daytona)
Regular season points after Chicago (round 19/36)
Keep in mind, this is the race for regular season points -- the playoff bubble is featured below.
Position | Driver | Points/points back |
|---|---|---|
1 | William Byron | 632 points |
2 | Chase Elliott | -13 |
3 | Kyle Larson | -19 |
4 | Denny Hamlin | -43 |
5 | Tyler Reddick | -49 |
6 | Christopher Bell | -67 |
7 | Ryan Blaney | -93 |
8 | Ross Chastain | -142 |
9 | Chase Briscoe | -150 |
10 | Alex Bowman | -152 |
11 | Chris Buescher | -156 |
12 | Joey Logano | -161 |
13 | Bubba Wallace | -189 |
14 | Ryan Preece | -191 |
15 | AJ Allmendinger | -232 |
Not much movement this week - Byron's last place effort allows teammates Elliott and Larson to get closer.
Reddick got past Bell for fifth, while Bowman went from 12th to 10th.
Reddick and Bowman are the only drivers in the top 10 without a win so far.
NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture after Chicago (round 19/36)
With two wins to his name and more road racing to come, could Shane van Gisbergen be building up a haul of points to allow him a deeper-than-expected playoff run?
Reminder: Drivers below 16th place are outside of the playoff bubble. All drivers without a win but who are "+" points are in the playoffs on points, but can be bumped by new winners.
Position | Driver | Wins/points above or below cut line |
|---|---|---|
1 | Kyle Larson | 3 wins |
2 | Denny Hamlin | 3 wins |
3 | Christopher Bell | 3 wins |
4 | Shane van Gisbergen | 2 wins |
5 | William Byron | 1 win |
6 | Ryan Blaney | 1 win |
7 | Austin Cindric | 1 win |
8 | Joey Logano | 1 win |
9 | Chase Briscoe | 1 win |
10 | Josh Berry | 1 win |
11 | Chase Elliott | 1 win |
12 | Ross Chastain | 1 win |
13 | Tyler Reddick | +143 points |
14 | Alex Bowman | +39 points |
15 | Chris Buescher | +35 points |
16 | Bubba Wallace | +2 points |
17 | Ryan Preece | -2 points |
18 | AJ Allmendinger | -43 points |
19 | Kyle Busch | -46 points |
20 | Erik Jones | -51 points |
Observations from the NASCAR playoff picture
- Despite a 27th place in the regular season standings, SVG moves up to fourth on playoff points.
- Reddick extends his large advantage on the bubble while still looking for a 2025 win.
- Wallace's late-race hijinks put his bubble advantage to just three points, when he could've settled for a top 10.