INDIANAPOLIS — Only two drivers remain alive in the $1 million NASCAR In-Season Challenge heading into this weekend’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
As a sidelight to the prestigious Brickyard 400 at the historic 2.5-mile race track, Ford drivers Ryan Blaney and Todd Gilliland will face off for the bonus money, with the driver who finishes better collecting the prize for his team.
Blaney, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion, drives for Team Penske, while Gilliland wheels the No. 34 for Front Row Motorsports.
Gilliland says he’s had a little luck en route to the fifth and final round of the In-Season Challenge.
“I definitely think we’ve had luck on our side, but if you get past four or five drivers at this point, it’s always gonna take a little bit of luck. I felt our speed was much better at North Wilkesboro, so I feel like we earned that one more,” said Gilliland, who finished eighth at North Wilkesboro Speedway to earn a berth in the final. “I’m excited about it. It’s been something fun for my team to focus on. They’re pushing super hard for Indianapolis, so it’s been cool to see those guys rise up to the occasion and we’re hoping for one more really good week.”
Blaney, meanwhile, has been one of the most convincing drivers during the five-race run, winning at EchoPark Speedway and advancing to the final with an 11th-place effort at North Wilkesboro.
“I feel pretty decent about it. Anyone is gonna sit here and tell you they feel pretty good about it, but I feel like we’ve done a really good job this year of finding speed in places where we needed to find it, and then managing races to where we maybe have not had the best speed, but we’ve gotten better all night,” Blaney said. “The last two weeks in our building has been really great. It was nice to kind of have a huge win at Atlanta for us and then an absolute dominating win by the 22 group (teammate Joey Logano) at North Wilkesboro.”
Gilliland, who ranks 23rd in the standings after 21 races, said winning the In-Season Challenge would be fun for his team.
“It would be fun. That’s the biggest thing, like I said, my team is probably the most focused on it of anybody,” Gilliland said. “They really appreciate it. It’s been a while since we’ve won anything, so that would be nice. Overall, team morale is always something that if you can help in any way that’s what you need. We see our Truck teams going out and winning getting a one-two last weekend, so it would be great to win something even if it’s the In-Season Tournament. That would help team mojo a little bit.”
In addition, Blaney will mark his 400th Cup Series start on Sunday.
“ I had no idea it was 400 this weekend. It’s incredibly hard to believe. It kind of goes back to my previous answer – none of this happens without Roger Penske, his group, the Wood Brothers – those folks have really given me the opportunity that I can only dream of,” Blaney said. “I would never have dreamt that I would make it to 400 starts.
“You just try to continue to take one start at a time, but it does fly by. It does not feel like 400, so I’ve been really lucky to have a great ride for those 400 starts and hopefully I can make it 400 more, for sure. Growing up around the sport, watching my dad do it, I just wanted to do what my dad did. I was in love with the sport. As a kid, I was just in awe of race car drivers and race cars. I just wanted to do that and I’ve been really lucky in my life to get those opportunities and get amazing opportunities to be fairly successful in that sport that I love.”
Blaney’s dad, Dave, made 473 Cup Series starts in his career.
“That’s gonna be a really big eye-opener for me if and when I pass my dad in career starts. That’s gonna be like, ‘Oh, man.’ I would never have thought that, but it’s been a fun 400 and, like I said, I hope to make it 400 more.”
