The NASCAR In-Season Tournament is here! It’s a 32-driver bracket that pits drivers head to head against each other over the next five weeks, with one driver remaining at the end of the Brickyard 400. That driver wins a cool 1 million dollars. It’s simple: beat the driver you are matched up against and move on to the next week. Let’s look at the NASCAR In Season Tournament format, picks, best bets, and free bracket challenge.
The seeding for the tournament was done over the last three races, taking the top 32 drivers in the driver point standings after Nashville. They then used their best finish in each of the last three races to seed them. Denny Hamlin gets the #1 overall seed based on his Michigan win. Shane Van Gisbergen wasn’t in the top 32, so Chase Briscoe secured the #2 seed. This seeding format led to some oddities, like points leader William Byron being the #18 seed.
There are odds available for who will win the tournament overall, and all 16 head-to-head matchups are available on multiple sports books for this weekend’s race in Atlanta. Keep in mind there are some wild card tracks in this round, so why Denny Hamlin may seem like the obvious choice over Ty Dillon, they square off at a drafting style track at Atlanta. The Chicago Street Course is the second round, followed by Sonoma in the third round. The “final four” and Championship rounds will be at Dover and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, respectively. Remember, this week’s race is Saturday night, so get your bets and bracket in beforehand!
NASCAR In-Season Tournament: Format, Picks, Best Bets, and Free Bracket Challenge
Odds to Win the In-Season Tournament
Denny Hamlin +500
William Byron +500
Kyle Larson +550
Christopher Bell +700
Tyler Reddick +700
Chase Briscoe +900
Ryan Blaney +1400
Chase Elliott +1400
Joey Logano +1600
Chris Buescher +1600
Ross Chastain +2000
Kyle Busch +2500
Carson Hocevar +2500
Austin Cindric +3000
Alex Bowman +3000
Brad Keselowski +3500
Ty Gibbs +3500
AJ Allmendinger +4000
Michael McDowell +5000
Josh Berry +5000
Daniel Suarez +7000
John Hunter Nemechek +8000
Bubba Wallace +9000
Ryan Preece +10000
Zane Smith +10000
Noah Gragson +13000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr +15000
Erik Jones +15000
Austin Dillon +17500
Todd Gilliland +20000
Justin Haley +25000
Ty Dillon +30000
NASCAR In-Season Tournament: Format, Picks, Best Bets, and Free Bracket Challenge
AJ Allmendinger Over Michael McDowell (+120)
Whichever of these drivers survives this weekend and advances could be very dangerous with Chicago and Sonoma up next. Both are good drafting track racers as well. The first thing I’m looking for on a drafting track head-to-head is plus money. Allmendinger checks that box. In his three NextGen races here, Allmendinger has finishes of 16th, 3rd, and 14th, respectively. He’s finished better than McDowell in all but one race this spring, where McDowell beat him by a single spot. Allmendinger also has the momentum, beating McDowell in four of the last five races this season.
John Hunter Nemechek Over Josh Berry (+130)
Nemechek also checks the plus money box for us. He’s also been good on drafting tracks, including a fifth-place finish in the Daytona 500 and 10th place here at Atlanta in the spring. Both races, he easily beat Berry, who finished 37th and 25th, respectively. Berry did get the better of Nemechek at Talladega, but only by four positions. Overall, in nine drafting track races against each other, Nemechek holds a 6-3 lead over Berry. Nemechek is also coming off back-to-back top 10s, and Legacy Motor Club is firing on all cylinders. Nemechek is a fun longshot who, if the cards fall right, could cash an 80/1 outright on this whole tournament.
Chris Buescher to Win (+1600)
I think you have to treat this like a super speedway race, and avoid the favorites. There are too many things that can go wrong between Atlanta and Chicago to bet one of the guys atop the board. Buescher is a great spot to get in at a respectable number. He’s good on drafting tracks, he’s good on road courses, and honestly, he’s good everywhere. We’ve seen RFK figure things out well here lately, and it all seems to be clicking for Buescher. Give me the #17 at 16/1.
AJ Allmendinger to Win (+8000)
In this inaugural tournament, I’m spreading my outrights in guys who can tick off good races and may be able to knock down their head-to-heads one at a time. Allmendinger is a good drafting track racer. Chicago and Sonoma play into his strengths. He had a solid 13th-place run at Dover last year. If he could get to Indianapolis and put together a better race than his opponent, at 80/1, it’s worth a shot.
Erik Jones to Win (+15000)
For a driver who has six top 13 finishes in the last eight races at 150/1, why not? He’ll probably need some help at Chicago and Sonoma. But, he could have matchups against Stenhouse and Austin Dillon in those races that paved the way for him. If he can get to Dover, he could put together two good enough races, and you’d have the opportunity to hedge with the head-to-head matchups against his opponents in those last few races. If chaos ensues, we could get a long-shot winner for this!
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