Chase Elliott’s Atlanta win started up a frenzy; critics cheered, dictators grumbled, and everyone heatedly debated his approach to the brand-new in-season challenge. With $1 million dangling in front of him, every tick of the clock became magnified. But Elliot remains unfazed even after advancing to round two, insisting that he is focused on the long game and not on the flash-in-the-pan subplots.
Despite the drama and the buzz, Elliott has said he’s unbothered by the bracket gambit. His eyes are on consistency. As round one of the top contenders goes boom, Elliott neutralizes his match-up, stays calm, and looks ahead to the bigger picture.
Chase Elliott is unfazed by the $1 million bracket
On The Dale Jr. Download, Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke down the mentality behind drivers entering round one. “It’s $1 million, you know, sitting out there,” he said, pointing out that round one’s lineup is no small matter: “You can look at Chicago, Sonoma, Indy … and understand… we’re whittling this down quickly.” Chase Elliott’s response? His internal drive didn’t suddenly need the bracket to kick in.
When asked if chasing the million had shifted his ambition, the Hendrick Motorsports driver was crystal clear. “My mindset of wanting to win was already there. Even going into the race last weekend. And it’s kind of one of those things where at least my viewpoint on it is not that I didn’t want to win it—it’s just that it’s not going to make me try any harder than I’m already trying.”
Round one was no breeze. A massive 23-car wreck on lap 69 decimated the field, crushing favorites like top-seeded Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe and cutting deep into NASCAR’s bracket hopes. Drivers like Logano, Byron, Larson, Wallace, and McDowell are all knocked out in the chaos. However, this round also secured some positives. Despite crashing, Carson Hocevar still goes on to advance to Round 2, giving chances to the underdogs like Gibbs, Allmendinger, and Preece to take home one million dollars.
The No. 9 driver doubled down when asked if the bracket spike in intensity added stress or motivation. He said, “So, I don’t need another factor to help make me want to perform. That’s just not how I am. But of course, I want to win it. I mean, a million dollars or not, I still want to win it. And I feel like we have a real shot to do that. We’re going to race hard over—I don’t know how many more weeks are in that deal—but however many it takes. And hopefully, we’re the last one standing.” Elliott means business; he is not messing around.
That means Elliott’s round 1 matchup, a careful lane around Austin Dillon, ends up looking wise and earned. While these upsets occurred, the tournament’s major talent pool was slashed. Meanwhile, Elliott advances steadily and unscathed as the bracket shifts from predictable to explosive.
“Yeah, I think you’re up against Nemechek this weekend,” Dale Junior teased Elliott. John Hunter Nemecheck, seated, found his way through round one, too, thanks to a smart run and restart savvy. So round two isn’t about seating or stats; it’s about adaptability, boldness, and grit under the crosses of a $1 million prize.
As bracket chaos unfolded at Atlanta, drivers and fans alike found themselves divided, not just over results, but over the very format itself. One of the most vocal critics? None other than the No. 1 seed who didn’t survive round 1: Denny Hamlin.
Denny Hamlin blasts NASCAR’s high-stakes gamble
The opening round of NASCAR’s first-ever in-season challenge was as wild as it was unpredictable. EchoPark Atlanta delivered the kind of chaos you might expect from a superspeedway, a massive multi-car crash, and a bracket turned upside down. Among the biggest casualties? Denny Hamlin, the top overall seed, got swept up in the mayhem and was eliminated, paving the way for underdog Ty Dillon to advance in his place.
Hamlin, who’s never been shy about sharing his opinions, didn’t mince words afterward. On his Actions Detrimental podcast, the veteran driver blasted the decision to begin the bracket at Atlanta, a track notorious for its randomness and pack racing pitfalls. Hamlin said, “This is the unpredictability of putting us on a Speedway race. It’s why I’m so against it being in the playoffs. It’s why I’m so against it being the start of our bracket.”
His frustration went beyond his personal misfortune. Hamlin argued that the format could hurt long-term fan engagement, especially when so many favorites are gone just after one race. The No. 11 driver went on to say, “When your bracket is absolutely smashed after round 1, do you really care about round 2, 3, 4, 5? You’re going to be less interested… because your bracket is already trashed.”
That concern wasn’t entirely unfolded. After Round 1, all top seeds in each quadrant of the 32-driver bracket were eliminated. Not a single advancing driver had a win this season, aside from Elliott. It felt less like a strategic playoff-style showdown and more like a March Madness bracket blown to bits by Cinderella stories—fun to watch, sure, but possibly too chaotic to build a long-term investment.
In many ways, Hamlin’s argument is simple. If NASCAR wants this In-Season Challenge to grow into a marquee moment, it may need to balance unpredictability with credibility. Starting things off at one of the most violent tracks in the schedule, where even the best-laid race plans are often undone by one bump, might not be the best way to do that.
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