Charlotte’s own Ty Gibbs was named the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Bracket Challenge champion on July 27 after the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). He had to beat tournament underdog Ty Dillon to come out on top.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gibbs entered the tournament with the No. 6 seed\u00a0while Dillon was No. 32.<\/p>\n
During Gibbs’s post-race press conference, he revealed that both drivers’ sponsors agreed to add to the $1 million prize.<\/p>\n
“I told the broadcast on the other show (TV broadcast), but our sponsor [Saia] challenged Ty Dillon’s sponsor, whoever loses gets $10,000 for Toys for Tots. I want to put another 10 (thousand) on top of that,”\u00a0said Gibbs during his post-race press conference.<\/a>\u00a0“Wherever Ty wants it to go will be his choice. Super cool to be in this position and very blessed.”<\/p>\n Gibbs’s journey to victory<\/strong><\/p>\n Gibbs defied all odds and finished better than his matchups for five consecutive weeks. Consistency was the key to his success.<\/p>\n His journey began in Atlanta on June 28, where he beat Justin Haley. They both got through the 25-car crash on lap 69, but Dillon made contact with Haley on the backstretch during lap 227.<\/p>\n Haley fell to Gibbs by a finishing position margin of nine.<\/p>\n The next week at the Chicago Street Race, Gibbs beat road course ace AJ Allmendinger to advance. The position margin was much closer at four.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gibbs placed No. 2 to Shane Van Gisbergen.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sonoma marked the halfway point of the In-Season Bracket Challenge, where Gibbs secured another top-10. His matchup, Zane Smith, was sent home after finishing at No. 27.<\/p>\n At Dover Motor Speedway, Toyota teammates were put head-to-head. Tyler Reddick and Gibbs ran in the top-10 all day, but double overtime separated them.<\/p>\n Gibbs capitalized on the opportunities by moving forward from the No. 7 spot to No. 5. Reddick was shuffled back in the order from No. 8 to No. 12. The tournament’s finale at IMS marked the end of the tournament.\u00a0<\/p>\n After getting nose damage, Dillon did not run on the lead lap. Gibbs remained consistent and brought his car home clean in position No. 21, seven spots above Dillon.<\/p>\n Impact of the In-Season Bracket Challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n For five weeks, NASCAR and its new TV partner TNT presented mid-pack battles that would otherwise not be televised on national TV.<\/p>\n The broadcast time allowed Dillon and his team, Kaulig Racing, to showcase their ability to do more with less.\u00a0<\/p>\n