Todd Gilliland fends off Ryan Blaney to win 2026 In-Season Challenge

With a 24th-place finish, Front Row Motorsports' Todd Gilliland held off Team Penske's Ryan Blaney to win the 2026 In-Season Challenge at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The No. 34 driver -- seeded 25th in the tournament -- earns $1 million and bragging rights for surviving the five-week, 32-driver knockout bracket. Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Ford, led the fifth-year driver for most of the race, but suffered damage in a Lap 120 crash after contact with John Hunter Nemechek. He came down pit road for repairs and restarted 30th at Lap 126. RELATED: Unofficial results | At-track photos: Indy Gilliland, who refired 15th, dropped significantly over the final stint of the race, and Blaney got within two spots of him. But Blaney got no higher than 26th the rest of the race, and Gilliland won by two positions. Blaney, who had the No. 3 seed, had finished no worse than 11th through the first four In-Season Challenge races. Gilliland had three top 20s during the event, including a banner eighth-place effort last week in an upset of Chase Elliott. This story will be updated.