Blaney meets Bell as NASCAR Challenge hits North Wilkesboro

The NASCAR In-Season Challenge will reach the semifinal round Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where Ryan Blaney will face Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott will be paired with Todd Gilliland. The event carries $1 million in prize money, and the winner at North Wilkesboro will move on to the championship round at Indianapolis. Sunday’s Window World 450 will also mark the Cup Series’ first points-paying race at North Wilkesboro since 1996, and strategy plus cautions could also shape the outcome.

Blaney will arrive in the semifinals after eliminating William Byron and will bring momentum after winning at EchoPark Speedway. He also has seven straight short-track top-10 finishes. Bell advanced after knocking out Denny Hamlin and returns as the defending North Wilkesboro winner, with six Cup Series victories on shorter, flatter tracks. Elliott moved on after Chase Briscoe crashed late, and he has a Martinsville win this season.

Gilliland has been the upset story of the bracket, advancing as the No. 25 seed after narrow wins over Daniel Suarez, Carson Hocevar and Alex Bowman. He survived Bowman’s late crash at EchoPark and said, "Only got two more guys to beat," while describing his team as "barely hanging on" but embracing the underdog run. Through 20 races, Gilliland is 24th in the Cup Series standings, 93 points below the provisional playoff cutline, with one top-10 finish and a 20.8 average finish in his fifth full-time Cup season. He said upcoming short tracks such as Martinsville, Richmond and North Wilkesboro should suit the team better and could help shop morale.