When the 2026 NASCAR In-Season Challenge bracket was unveiled, few expected Todd Gilliland to still be standing with just four drivers remaining.
The Front Row Motorsports driver entered the tournament without the fanfare surrounding championship contenders like Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell. Three races later however, Gilliland has become the bracket’s biggest surprise, putting together an unlikely run that has him one victory away from racing for the $1 million prize and two victories away from winning it all.
Round 1: Upsetting Daniel Suárez at Sonoma
Gilliland opened the tournament against Spire Motorsports Daniel Suárez, a former winner at Sonoma Raceway in 2022. Suarez proven to be better at this track with an average finish of 13.88 at Sonoma vs Gilliland’s 20.00 average finish at Sonoma. What seemed like an impossible task to some, Gilliland was able to finish ahead of Suarez after some issues throughout the race.
Round 2: Upset over NASCAR’s newest star Carson Hocevar at Chicagoland
Heading into the race it was known that Carson Hocevar was going to have speed and a great chance to advance. However late into the first stage, Todd Gilliland’s teammate Zane Smith would give him some help by putting Carson Hocevar’s right rear into the fence. This slowed Hocevar down for the rest of the race, and put Todd Gilliland into the next round, making it two upsets in a row.
Round 3: Defeats Alex Bowman at EchoPark Speedway
After qualifying it looked like it was going to be another challenging task for Todd Gilliland again in this round. Alex Bowman qualified 6th while Todd Gilliland qualified 21st, but you knew Gilliland was going to find his way up to Bowman as it is known that he performs well at drafting tracks. It was a close battle as Todd Gilliland finished 19th and Alex Bowman finished 22nd, continuing the Cinderella run for the driver of the No. 34.
Standing between him and the championship round is Chase Elliott, one of NASCAR’s biggest stars and a former Cup Series champion. Elliott advanced through his side of the bracket by defeating Noah Gragson, Michael McDowell and Chase Briscoe.
On paper, Elliott is the favorite.
But that has been the case in every round Gilliland has raced.
