NASCAR Cup Series’ In-Season Tournament Preview: Atlanta Round 3
The NASCAR Cup Series takes to EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta for the Quaker State 400, home to the third round of the In-Season Challenge.
The final eight drivers have survived a road course and a traditional intermediate. Now, they face another track type where the results can be more unpredictable than the latter.
The superspeedway package provides the most chaos in the tournament. The summer races at the semi-newly reconfigured Atlanta yields more carnage than its spring counterpart. The warmer weather combined with higher chase ambitions is the right mix for volatile racing.
With the precedent established, here is our predictions for how the third round of the In-Season Challenge will go.
32. Bowman vs 25. Gilliland
Alex Bowman enters the third round with momentum. As of late, the 32nd and final seed has been on a tear with a tenth at Sonoma and a fifth at Chicagoland.
His 18.4 average finish could raise alarm bells for his Cinderella run, but his opponent could be the most favorable of the remaining matchups.
Bowman’s matchup, Todd Gilliland, enters as the higher seed for the first time this tournament. Sadly, it does not feel like a higher-seeded matchup for him.
Gilliland has an average finish of 21.67 at EchoPark Speedway with his best finish of 15th coming in 2023. The stats and the performance do not matchup well against the No. 48 team.
Bowman hits Atlanta with a good mix of recent results and two consecutive top fives from the previous two summer trips back to the track. He should be able to hold off Gilliland to advance, but the package could provide the higher seed the chance to advance as well.
12. Briscoe vs 4. Elliott
Chase Briscoe is fresh off his first win of the 2026 season at Chicagoland and has reached the third round with impressive results.
Briscoe has arguably had the toughest road to the third round after he defeated AJ Allmendinger on a road course.
Then, he defeated his teammate Ty Gibbs as the lower seed in their matchup last week. But, his opponent for the third round has the best chance to best him.
Chase Elliott enters the second race at EchoPark Speedway as the reigning event winner. His two wins and 8.33 average finish compared to Briscoe’s 22.6 at the new Atlanta makes Elliott the clear statistical favorite and ours as well.
The one prediction we cannot get wrong this week is the winner of this third round matchup will be Chase!
2. Hamlin vs 10. Bell
For the second weekend in a row Joe Gibbs Racing teammates will duel in the In-Season Challenge. This time, its their other two drivers who will meet in the third round.
Christopher Bell nearly won Chicagoland after only four weeks removed from when he broke his left wrist at Michigan.
While he failed to capture his first win of the 2026 season, he defeated Chris Buescher to advance.
Bell enters Atlanta with a win and four top tens on the reconfiguration. He boasts a slightly higher average finish than his matchup as well to give him the statistical edge.
Denny Hamlin has stretched his regular season points lead to 44 points after placing third at Chicagoland. Though he enters the second EchoPark Speedway event with momentum, he has underperformed on the speedway package recently.
Hamlin has only one top five in the previous 21 drafting races. At Atlanta, he has only two top tens in the new configuration and no stage points in any Atlanta race since 2022.
The stats and recovery side with Christopher Bell for this matchup and so do we.
11. Byron vs 3. Blaney
The final matchup of the third round pins Ryan Blaney up against William Byron.
Byron has established himself as a threat to win at EchoPark Speedway, but his recent results has lacked.
The driver of the No. 24 has two wins on the configuration but has failed to return to victory lane there since 2023. Recently, he’s had a string of 27th or worse finishes since the start of 2025 at the track.
Meanwhile, Blaney has outran his opponent. His 10.7 average finish since 2022 clears his matchup by a whopping 9.5 positions.
Blaney also has finished inside the top ten in seven of the previous eight races at Atlanta. The best in that category in the entire Cup Series. Without his DNF in the summer race last season, his average finish would be an incredible 7.125.
If Ryan Blaney can continue his career longest consecutive top ten finishing streak to eight, he should be into the next round at North Wilkesboro.
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Ryan Kemna View All
Ryan Kemna is a photojournalist for The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2025.
Currently residing in the Minneapolis, MN, area, Kemna brings his passion for motorsports, photography, and a good story to readers.