Ryan Preece Advances To Third Round Of Inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge 

Ryan Preece used the streets of Chicago Sunday to continue his march through the brackets of the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge. 

Preece topped his second round matchup against Noah Gragson on Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165 Chicago Street Race. 

Preece finished seventh In Chicago. Gragson was 30th. 

Preece is the No. 15 seed in the tournament. Gragson was the No. 31 seed. Preece topped William Byron in the first round of the challenge at Echo Park Speedway on June 28. 

The inaugural In-Season Challenge is a five-race single-elimination tournament featuring 32 drivers with their seeding based on the last three NASCAR Cup Series events before the first round at Echo Park Speedway. The driver that wins the head-to-head matchup (has a better finish) in each round advances to the next round in the bracket format.

The tournament culminates with a championship event taking place on July 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The winner of the tournament earns $1 million. 

The third round will be at Sonoma Raceway on July 13, the fourth round is at Dover Motor Speedway on July 20 leading to the championship deciding event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

Preece will now face off against No. 23 seed Tyler Reddick in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 next week at Sonoma Raceway. Reddick moved on Sunday by beating Carson Hocevar at Chicago. Reddick was second at Chicago, Hocevar was 35th.