By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

With $1million on the line, Ty Dillon and Ty Gibbs downplay rivalry

SPEEDWAY, Ind.—You could call it a Clash of the Ty-tans.

Ty Gibbs, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, waves to fans as he walks onstage during driver intros prior tothe NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway on July 20, 2025 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

No, neither Ty Gibbs nor Ty Dillon was favored to win the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series In-Season Challenge, but the two drivers have overcome long odds to reach the Championship Round of the $1-million-to win bracket competition.

Sunday’s Brickyard 400 presented by PPG (2 p.m. ET on TNT, IMS Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will settle the matter, with the higher finisher claiming the title and the seven-figure bonus.

On paper and in the eyes of oddsmakers, sixth-seeded Gibbs is the favorite to take home the top prize, but Dillon, the 32nd seed in a 32-driver field, has advanced through four rounds as an underdog and hopes to continue the unlikely streak.

Surprisingly, there hasn’t been any bluster or bravado on the part of either driver. The posture is business-as-usual.

“The conversation about him (Gibbs) has been very minimal for us, and that’s been the process week-in, week-out,” Dillon said. “We truly believe as a race team; that’s why we’ve built so much confidence. If we execute our race and do the best of our abilities—no mistakes and out-execute everybody in the field—we might not have the most speed to win the race, but we’re going to do plenty to put pressure on him.

Ty Dillon, driver of the #10 Sea Best Chevrolet, walks onstage during driver intros prior to the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway on July 20, 2025 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

“And you know what they say about pressure: it creates diamonds or it’ll crack your pipes. So you know, that’s what we want to do to him. We want to put as much pressure on him as possible and see how they handle it. It’s worked out to this point. We’re going to worry about our race. Hopefully, he massively underestimates us, and hopefully we’ll be there at the end to take advantage of it.”

In the tale of the tape, Gibbs has posted four top-five finishes and six top 10s this season. Dillon has no top fives and scored his only top 10 of the season when he ran eighth at Atlanta Motor Speedway and eliminated top-seeded Denny Hamlin in the first round of the tournament.

However, the only victory in Dillon’s NASCAR Xfinity Series career came on the Indy oval in 2014. Gibbs won on the Indianapolis Grand Prix Course in 2023, so both drivers have kissed the bricks at the start/finish line.

Dillon ran a limited Cup Series schedule in 2024 and finished 19th in the Gen 7 race car’s first competition on the 2.5-mile Indy oval. Gibbs qualified sixth and finished 23rd in what became a fuel-mileage race.

Gibbs won’t alter his approach to win the Challenge. He’s far more focused on trying to win a Cup race for the first time.

“I’m treating this race like any other race, no matter what’s on the line,” he said. “If I win this race, going up in the point standings is worth more than a million dollars, so I’m not here for the money.

“I’m here for the race wins, and that’s why I’m not just racing the 10 (Dillon) this weekend. I’m racing (38) other people out there. It is super cool to be in this position. I’m just taking it as it is but trying to go and win. Nothing is going to change that. I’m going for it.”

Ryan Blaney. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

Ryan Blaney excited to “Race the Base” in Coronado next year

Concurrent with NASCAR’s announcement that its top three national series will race at Naval Base Coronado in Southern California next June, Ryan Blaney and a group of NASCAR Cup drivers made a site visit to the base last Wednesday.

All three of NASCAR’s top touring divisions will compete June 19-21, 2026 on a street course at the expansive facility across San Diego Bay from the city itself. Next year also marks the 250th anniversary of the United States Navy.

“Yeah, I got to go there Wednesday—I think it’s going to be amazing,” Blaney said. “That was my first time at the base, my first time in San Diego in general. It was kind of a quicker in and out, but we were there for a handful of hours.

“The one thing that really stood out for me was that every single person on that base is excited that we’re coming. (They’re) going to pull out all the stops. And that part is really, really neat for me as a driver who is going to compete there. Every single man and woman on that base is going to be watching that race.”

Blaney was impressed with the size of the base and its potential to host a NASCAR weekend, though details of the track layout are still to be determined.

“I didn’t realize how big a base it was—40,000 people live full-time on that base,” Blaney said. “And the 250th anniversary of the Navy is even better. So I’m excited. I can’t wait to see it and see the track layout in person and see if they put any aircraft carriers in the bay as we’re going by or something.

“I think they’ve got a pretty good plan. It’s funny, when the San Diego race was being rumored, I didn’t think it was going to be on the base. I thought it was going to be more in the city of San Diego, like we did with Chicago. Then we found out we were going to race around the base. I don’t know the whole track layout yet, but I’m sure they’ll make it pretty interesting.”

William Byron. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)

William Byron hopes to shake bad luck in battle for regular-season title

A rash of ill fortune finally caught up with William Byron.

When he crashed out of last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway—through no fault of his own—the 31st-place finish cost him the series lead.

Byron now trails Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott, a model of consistency this season, by 16 points. Three-time winner Kyle Larson, another Hendrick teammate, is third in the standings, 38 points behind Elliott.

For his part, Byron relishes a battle that’s staged within the same shop.

“I think it’s great,” he said. “I think it’s a really good thing, because it’s elevating all of our programs and elevating the importance of this part of the season.

“It’s obviously always important, but when you have three of us going for it, it’s like, ‘OK, it’s going to take your best for the next five weeks.’ I look at it like it’s going to give you more of an idea of what the Playoffs are going to be like.”

Before the Dover race, Byron had held the series lead for 17 of 20 weeks, but only one finish better than 27th in the last five races has proven costly. That streak has been unlucky enough for Byron to acknowledge he might have been “snakebit.”

“You could definitely say that,” he acknowledged. “I try not to use the ‘luck’ word a lot, but if you look at Atlanta and Dover and how we got crashed, I mean we just got run over from behind. Like, I check up for the wreck, and not everyone does.

“So I guess in those two instances you could say that definitely we weren’t in control of those two results… It’s just part of the nature of the schedule and the way things play out.

“We’ve had top-five speed everywhere, but the results haven’t been there every week. Chicago was definitely on me in practice (a clutch issue), and Pocono was also on me in qualifying, and unfortunately those race results weren’t there. Then other things happened, but yeah, I think it’s still within reach—we’ve just got to do it.”

NASCAR 25, produced by iRacing, set for October release

Get ready for a racing experience where virtual meets realism.

On Oct.14, NASCAR 25, the first standalone NASCAR console title produced by iRacing, will launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with PC via stream to follow soon thereafter.

Already recognized for the authenticity of its simulations, iRacing has partnered with NASCAR to produce a title that will feature all four of NASCAR’s top national racing series—the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series, CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and, for the first time in a standalone title, the ARCA Menards Series.

All four series, along with real drivers from each, will feature extensively in NASCAR 25’s Career Mode, where competitors can customize drivers and vehicles, manage contracts, money, facility, and staff, and make strategic choices on and off the track that play a pivotal role in the journey to becoming a NASCAR champion.

The four series are also playable in other gameplay modes such as quick races, seasons, and online multiplayer.