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INDIANAPOLIS - Ryan Blaney and Todd Gilliland arrived at the NASCAR In-Season Challenge from opposite ends of the competitive spectrum.
Blaney is a Cup Series champion, a perennial title contender and a driver preparing to make his 400th career NASCAR Cup Series start this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Gilliland, meanwhile, drives for Front Row Motorsports, sits outside the playoff picture and entered the summer searching for momentum in a difficult season.
Now, both drivers find themselves with the same opportunity.
When the green flag waves Sunday at Indianapolis, the two Ford drivers will battle head-to-head for the $1 million prize awarded to the winner of NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge.
“It’s only one person standing between us and winning this thing,” Gilliland said. “I’m excited about it.”
The tournament has become one of NASCAR’s surprise success stories this season, creating a March Madness-style bracket within the Cup Series schedule. Drivers still compete for race victories, but simultaneously advance through a separate elimination tournament based on their finish relative to a designated opponent.
For Blaney, the challenge has been an added bonus rather than a primary focus.
“If you win the race, you beat the other driver,” Blaney said. “That’s how I’ve looked at it.”
The Team Penske driver admitted he rarely thinks about the bracket once race day begins.
“At North Wilkesboro, I didn’t really pay attention to where the 20 was,” Blaney said of semifinal opponent Christopher Bell. “I asked after the race if we beat the 20 car because I didn’t really know where he finished.”
Gilliland’s perspective has evolved dramatically over the course of the tournament.
When the challenge began, he viewed his chances the same way many outsiders did.
“There’s one guy that’s gonna win all of this,” Gilliland said. “Chances are pretty low that it’s gonna be me.”
But as the rounds progressed, the possibility became more realistic.
“Once we started clicking them off, I was like, ‘Man, we’re getting a little bit closer,'” he said.
The matchup is fascinating because it pits two drivers with vastly different expectations against each other.
Blaney enters as one of the favorites whenever the Cup Series races at Indianapolis. Team Penske has historically excelled at the Brickyard, and Blaney nearly won there in 2024.
Gilliland acknowledges the challenge ahead.
“I would probably agree with all of those people who say we’re fighting an uphill battle,” Gilliland said. “But we’ve been the underdogs in however many matchups there’s been.”
Some have compared the finale to David versus Goliath.
Blaney laughed when asked about that comparison.
“If they’re making it a David versus Goliath story, that’s not good news for me,” he said. “I recall that David won that battle.”
Neither driver is underestimating the other.
Blaney praised Front Row Motorsports’ recent progress and cautioned against assuming Sunday’s outcome is predetermined.
“Todd is a great driver and they have a really good team over there,” Blaney said. “It’s going to be tough. I don’t think people should write anything off.”
For Gilliland, making the final has already provided a boost to a team seeking motivation during the grind of a long season.
“It’s been cool to see my team grab another gear and just push that little bit extra,” Gilliland said. “When you’re mid-20s in points and a good bit out of the Chase bubble, it’s sometimes hard for those guys to continue to stay motivated.”
The challenge has changed that dynamic.
“My team is probably the most focused on it of anybody,” Gilliland said. “It would be fun. It’s been a while since we’ve won anything.”
The finale also carries an interesting family connection.
Both drivers are third-generation racers. Blaney’s father, former Cup Series winner Dave Blaney, raced against Todd Gilliland’s father, David Gilliland.
Though neither driver sees the matchup as a family rivalry, both recognize the significance.
“We’re both very lucky to do what our fathers did,” Blaney said.
Away from the tournament, Blaney enters a milestone weekend.
Sunday will mark the 400th Cup Series start of his career, a number that surprised even him.
“I had no idea it was 400 this weekend,” Blaney said. “It does not feel like 400.”
The milestone has prompted reflection on a career that began when Roger Penske took a chance on an 18-year-old prospect.
“I owe Roger everything,” Blaney said. “He took a chance on an 18-year-old kid and here we are now.”
Blaney’s focus, however, remains fixed on Indianapolis.
He considers the Brickyard one of NASCAR’s premier events.
“The Daytona 500, Southern 500, Coke 600, Indianapolis and the Bristol Night Race,” Blaney said. “Those are my five majors.”
Winning at Indianapolis would be meaningful on its own. Winning there while claiming the In-Season Challenge and its seven-figure payday would make the accomplishment even sweeter.
For Gilliland, the goal is much simpler.
“Put the house on us,” he joked. “Why not us?”
After weeks of advancing through the bracket, the tournament has come down to one final matchup. One driver will leave Indianapolis with a million dollars. The other will leave wondering how close he came.
As Gilliland put it: “We’re all such hardcore competitors. That’s what makes this fun.”
