The NASCAR In-Season Challenge glass slipper finally fell off Ty Dillon. Just blame Ty Gibbs.
Looking to complete his improbable Cinderella run as the last seed in the 32-driver NCAA Tournament-style bracket, Dillon came up painfully short in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
While neither In-Season Challenge finalist had a great day, Gibbs finished 21st — seven positions better than Dillon — to prevail in their head-to-head battle and claim the $1 million prize that came with it.
In a show of good sportsmanship, Gibbs plans to share some of the money with Dillon, though.
“$1 million is a lot of money, so I’m going to donate $10,000 to whichever charity Ty Dillon wants to give to,” Gibbs said. “It’s his choice.”
What Went Right For Ty Gibbs In The Battle For In-Season Challenge?
Starting fifth in the Brickyard 400, Ty Gibbs never seriously challenged for the lead or the win. But, thankfully for Gibbs, he didn’t have to pass Ty Dillon, who started more than 20 positions further down the grid.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver ultimately accomplished his main objectives: staying out of trouble and keeping Dillon at bay. To come out on top in the last of five In-Season Challenge rounds, that’s all Gibbs needed to do.
With a faster car and Dillon running well behind him for most of the event, Gibbs admitted after the race that he and his No. 54 team decided to “play it smart.”
Ultimately, the strategy paid off.
“Very cool to be in this position,” Gibbs said during a televised post-race interview. “Very honored. We’ll take it.”
Over the five In-Season Challenge rounds, Gibbs finished 14th, second, seventh, fifth and 21st.
Gibbs actually ran much better than 21st for most of the race at Indy.
“Didn’t end up where we wanted to in the end,” he said. “We just lost track position and was out of the way to win the race. I want to thank everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing.”
.@TyGibbs WINS the In-Season Challenge & $1 million!!💰💰#TeamToyota pic.twitter.com/esUdolv9wr
— Joe Gibbs Racing (@JoeGibbsRacing) July 27, 2025
What Went Wrong For Ty Dillon In The Brickyard 400?
After qualifying 26th on Saturday, Ty Dillon knew that finishing ahead of Ty Gibbs at Indianapolis was going to be a tall order.
In the end, that certainly proved to be true. The Kaulig Racing driver finished three laps down and was no match for the higher-seeded Gibbs, who began the In-Season Challenge as the No. 6 seed out of the 32 drivers.
“Disappointing obviously, but things like that happen and you can’t predict everything,” Dillon said. “That has been what has been so cool about this In-Season Challenge for everybody. I just hate that we didn’t get to give them a run for it there.”
Knowing Gibbs was not performing particularly well on Sunday initially gave Dillon some hope for pulling off another stunner. But any real chance of Dillon finishing better than Gibbs went out the door when Dillon suffered damage to the front end his No. 10 Kaulig Racing car on a restart.
“I don’t think they would say as a team that they had the best day either,” Dillon said. “I think if all things are equal and we don’t knock the nose off on that restart, we are probably sitting in a pretty good position to put some pressure on him and race him out pretty solid.”
Dillon’s 28th-place finish at The Brickyard was his worst outcome of the five In-Season Challenge rounds. Prior to Indy, Dillon had finished eighth, 20th, 17th and 20th. Early on, Dillon thought he had a chance to salvage a decent day at Indy, but beating Gibbs just wasn’t in the cards.
“The first half of the race, we were OK,” Dillon said. “And then we had a bad run there at the end of Stage One. So, I think we were going to be able to get the car back right and challenge him. But it just didn’t work out that way. And it’s disappointing.”
