Remember back in 2018 when, for the first time in March Madness history, a No. 16 seed (UMBC) beat a No. 1 seed (Virginia)?
It was a completely unprecedented event -- an undermanned, undersized team from one of the worst conferences in college basketball went head-to-head with a national powerhouse, and won.
Now take that concept and have that team advance all the way to the championship game. That's what is going on in NASCAR right now ... sort of?
In DI college basketball there are 364 teams and in NASCAR Cup there are only 36 full-time drivers. And a laundry list of other massive differences. But follow along with me here.
Ty Dillon: Where did he come from, and how did he get here?
Ty Dillon is a 33-year-old driver in NASCAR's top level series. He drives the No. 10 car for Kaulig Racing, not the worst team in the field, but certainly towards the back.
Dillon has been in racing his whole life and has bounced around. His grandfather is Richard Childress, owner of one of NASCAR's most prestigious teams (former home to Dale Earnhardt and Kevin Harvick).
Dillon's brother races for his grandfather. But Ty does not, as he has had a bit less success than brother Austin. In 264 Cup starts, he's never won, and very rarely even come in the top quarter of the field (a 3% conversion rate on finishing 10th or better).
Last season, Dillon was shipped off to the third-tier Craftsman Truck Series after a poor season with his previous Cup team. Even in the Truck Series, Dillon didn't do very well, but he somehow has found his way back into the Cup Series full-time in 2025. I'll let you connect the dots.
Dillon goes from bottom seed to chance for $1 million
This year, NASCAR is trying its first-ever in-season tournament: 32 drivers qualify, they go head-to-head, best finisher of the two advances. Whoever is left standing gets $1 million.
Dillon grabbed the final spot in the tournament based on his 32nd spot in the standings. Then, during the three weeks of "qualifying" races that set seeding, Dillon did nothing, and earned a 32nd and lowest seed.
That means he had to go up against the top seed - #1 Denny Hamlin, a 58-time winner in the Cup Series. A perennial winner vs. someone who had zero top 10s on the season coming into the tournament.
But NASCAR's tournament was made for chaos. It included a drafting track where anything can happen, then two road courses.
Round 1: With a massive wreck for Hamlin and a rare top 10 finish for Dillon, he inexplicably moved on.
Round 2: Up against Brad Keselowski in Chicago (a former champion), Dillon advanced thanks to an early wreck that the No. 6 got caught up in. Dillon only needed a P20 finish to move on.
Round 3: He faces Alex Bowman, a great road racer, on a road course. Dillon is right behind Bowman in the final turns of the race. He bumps him out of the way and moves on.
Round 4: This week, Dillon is running outside the top 20 all race long. But his competition is actually his weakest of the whole tournament and isn't doing any better. Once again, just a 20th was enough.
It's crazy, it barely makes sense, but he's here in the championship. He did it finished no better than 8th and with an average finish of about 16th. Whether you call it luck or skill, it's been something to see.
He's not competing for a real championship, but he sure as heck has people talking and has something on the line.
Two winless wonders to vie for the title
So the stage is set for next week at the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
It'll be Ty Dillon -- zero wins, 30th in Cup points vs. Ty Gibbs -- zero wins (in a much shorter career albeit), 19th in Cup points.
In a sport filled with heavyweights like Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney, none of them came even close to this new prize that NASCAR has created.
Coming into the semifinal round, only one guy among the four had ever even won in Cup before, and he got eliminated!
To put it in basketball terms, Sunday could be seen like a 16 seed playing a 12 seed for a title.
The metaphor doesn't exactly align since it's just more cash prize and minimal amounts of glory. Maybe it's more like two mid-majors playing in the championship game at the Battle 4 Atlantis or something. The comparison still needs some work.
The In-Season Tournament championship race is on TNT next Sunday, July 27, at 2 p.m.