NASCAR plans in-season tournament in 2025, with opening race in Atlanta

ATLANTA (AP) — Following the NBA’s lead, the NASCAR Cup Series is planning a five-race bracket-style tournament in the middle of the 2025 season, starting with a night event at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The tournament, which comes with a $1 million prize for the winner, is part of a new media rights deal that includes TNT.

The Atlanta-based cable network will broadcast all five tournament races, beginning with a 400-mile race in its home market on June 28, 2025.

“Next year, having $1 million on the line, that will definitely be a goal going into the season and something that you and your team will strategize around and all that,” Kyle Larson said. “I’m looking forward to it. The summer months get stale. It’s not boring, but it just gets repetitive. You lose some enthusiasm.

Atlanta, which has produced some of the most exciting races in NASCAR since the track was redesigned with a higher banking, has the honor of hosting the first race of the tournament. The rest of the 36-race program will be announced at a later date.

Brandon Hutchison, president and general manager of the Atlanta track, said the venue is eager to host races after dark after being scheduled for two-day races this season. Having the opening event of the new tournament of the season was an added bonus.

“We heard our fans loud and clear,” Hutchison said. “We know they wanted night racing to come back. We were excited to even consider being able to offer that to them. Then, with TNT – a local broadcast partner, a local track, the first season of the in-season tournament, the first time that has ever happened in NASCAR – we believe that… June 28, 2025 will be a very period event exciting to be at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The tournament is modeled after seasonal tournaments hosted by soccer leagues around the world and introduced to the NBA this season. The Los Angeles Lakers won the inaugural event in December, defeating Indiana in a title game held in Las Vegas.

The NASCAR tournament will feature the top 32 drivers from three seeding races, which will take place just before the Atlanta race and will be televised by Amazon Prime.

Drivers will be matched in head-to-head matchups based on rankings, with the winners advancing to the next round in a bracket format that mirrors the NCAA basketball tournaments.

The field of contenders will be reduced to 16 for Race 2, followed by the quarter-finals of Race 3, the semi-finals of Race 4 and the final of Race 5.

“It’s never been a better time to be a motorsports fan, and this new, first-ever tournament of the season will bring a new competitive dynamic to NASCAR’s summer race weekends,” said Craig Barry, executive vice president and chief content officer of TNT Sports.

Hutchison said the Atlanta track will continue to host two races in 2025, although the full schedule is still on hold.

This season, the 1.54-mile oval in suburban Hampton hosted the second points race of the year on Feb. 25 – a week after the Daytona 500 – which ended with Daniel Suarez edging Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch in a three-wide photo finish.

Atlanta’s second race of 2024 will take place on September 8, kicking off the NASCAR playoffs. Next year, this race will advance to be part of the season tournament rather than the playoffs.

In a post on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, Denny Hamlin called the tournament “such a victory for our sport and our drivers.” ” He added jokingly: “I’ll get my million fee next season. »

Larson said the tournament would provide a much-needed boost to the summer slump.

“I think this installment, or whatever you want to call it, is going to add a lot of excitement and more storylines,” he said. “So I love it.”

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AP Auto Racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing