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

Ryan Preece used a 15th place finish in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Echo Park Speedway to advance to the second round of the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge. 

Preece, the No. 15 seed in the tournament, was paired in a head-to-head matchup Saturday against No. 18 seed William Byron.

Byron’s day ended in a massive wreck on lap 69 at Echo Park Speedway. 

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 Saturday’s event 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 second round of the tournament takes place at the Chicago Street Race on July 6, 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 his former Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Noah Gragson at the Chicago Street Course event. The Chicago event will mark the second consecutive week that Gragson, the No. 31 seed, will face off against a former Stewart-Haas Racing teammate. Gragson moved on Saturday after winning a head-to-head matchup against Chase Briscoe. 

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