Who will move forward in NASCAR’s $ 1 million challenge round 2?

In the Ecopark Speedway (Atlanta), the area of ​​32 was cut into half as NASCAR’s five -week season challenge was officially running. Even with the expected chaos of a drafting track, Nobody expected 23-car pileup This will help in defeating number 32 and number 31 seeds number 1 and number 2 seeds.

There are many underdogs left while large names will be forced to sit on the shore for the rest of the competition. No fan can win a $ 1 million award, as every bracket was literally busted in Atlanta.But one of the remaining 16 drivers will still go to collect $ 1 million for itself.

Round 2 occurs in the Chicago Street Course and potentially affects this phenomenon with rain, anything can happen.

There is a look at eight matches here and which we feel that Sonoma will move forward in round 3 …

Note: NASCAR IN-Seas Challenge only offers a monetary award and does not affect the championship

The lower seed stays to fight another day! After exiting Denny Hamlin In Atlanta, Dillon will also eliminate Keselowski in Chicago, but will not require a 23-car pileup this time. Dillon is a solid road racer and ran inside the top ten for a large part of the cup race in Mexico City. He does not have much experience as Keselowski – 2012 NASCAR Cup Champion – but Brad has struggled on road and road courses in the next Jean era.

It is difficult to bet against the rescue winner of the incident. Wallace has shown a clear improvement in road and road courses, but Boman is clearly at another level on this type of tracks. Of course, Boman won the race last year, but he also scored the top ten in Cota and a top five in Mexico City in 2025. Meanwhile, the best result of Wallace in Chicago ranks 13th.

With a major win on its home track in Atlanta, Elliot Nemchek is a definite favorite. While John-Hunted finished a very strong sixth position in Mexico City, Elliot was at Podium. And if Lap 1 in Cota was not for the event, he could struggle to win there. He also has a podium finish on the streets of Chicago, while Nemchek placed 35th position in his initial.

Steinhouse has the best finish of sixth place in Chicago, while Jones have reached only 16th, but Jones are our picks here. This will be slightly toss-up as these drivers match the skill level in road/road courses equally, and it can come down to keep their nose clean while in the middle of the pack.

Gragson is not a road racer and the inaugural Chicago Street crashed several times during the race for the street course. Both these drivers have shown a similar speed in Chicago in the past, but Preis actually raised his game in 2025. He won a platform in Cota, qualified on front ro in Mexico City, and has been notable this year. If these two drivers stay out of trouble, Pras takes this fight.

Radic could win this race exactly a year ago if he did not make an unexpected error and tagged the wall chasing Boman. Nevertheless, he managed to finish a runner-up, while Hosavor ended the day outside the top 20 last year. They also have a lot of enemies on the track, which will make things extra hard for them at the end of this week. Even if no one does anything, it is a great distraction.

This will be an attractive battle. Gibbs has a struggle for 2025 season, but he showed incredible motion in Mexico and looked like the only driver who could also fight against the van Gisbergen. And then you have an alliance, which is one of the best road racers in the game. However, Chicago has not been very kind for him with the best closing of the 17th. Meanwhile, the drivers who have run both cups in Chicago are bound with Gibbs. Michael McDowell For the best average finish after finishing ninth in 2023 and third in 2024.

Beucher finished tenth in the first cup race in Chicago and then finished 20th last year. Smith defeated Busher in 2024 and could definitely beat him again, but Busher is also a proven winner in the road course. He defeated Van Gisbergen in a head-to-head battle for victory in Watkins Glenn last year, and some can claim such achievement as SVG has come to NASCAR.