Denny Hamlin’s Chicagoland return has become the sharpest early read on NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge bracket.
The Cup Series heads back to the Joliet oval on Sunday for its first race there since 2019, with NASCAR listing Round 2 for 6pm ET and confirming the event will run across TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. That alone gives the weekend weight; the bracket context gives it edge.
NASCAR’s own preview frames Hamlin as the remaining driver with the clearest intermediate-track case. He enters the weekend with a 2.5 average finish on intermediates this season and a 3.89 average running position, while also having taken part in a spring Goodyear test at Chicagoland alongside Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney.
Why Chicagoland changes the bracket
The key is tyre management. NASCAR notes the revived 1.5-mile speedway still carries its original racing surface, with Cup teams allocated 12 sets of Goodyear rubber for the weekend. That profile should reward veterans who can protect pace across longer runs rather than simply win the launch off pit road.
The Round 2 board is loaded: Hamlin faces Erik Jones, Larson meets William Byron, and Blaney draws Shane van Gisbergen. But Hamlin’s route looks especially important because top seed Tyler Reddick was already knocked out by Alex Bowman at Sonoma, opening the bracket far earlier than expected.
If Chicagoland behaves like an abrasive, multi-groove intermediate, Hamlin’s race craft becomes more than a matchup advantage. It becomes the control sample for a bracket suddenly short of certainty.
Sources: NASCAR.com Round 2 preview; NASCAR.com Chicagoland analysis.
