The In-Season Problem strikes on to the second spherical this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, with the unique area of 32 drivers now reduce all the way down to 16. Sunday evening’s race will present a possibility for eight drivers to advance, coming one step nearer to that $1 million prize on the finish.
Let’s dive into our NASCAR In-Season Problem predictions for Spherical 2 at Chicagoland.
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(32) Alex Bowman vs (16) Austin Cindric
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delivered the most important first-round upset of the NASCAR In-Season Problem at Sonoma, knocking out No.1-seeded Tyler Reddick instantly. He now heads to Chicagoland Speedway to proceed his Cinderella story—a monitor the place he coincidentally is the latest winner (2019). Bowman is having an up-and-down season, together with his Tenth-place end at Sonoma his first top-10 in a factors race since Texas Motor Speedway. In the meantime, has 4 top-10 finishes this yr and a superior common ending place within the final six races (). This must be an in depth head-to-head matchup, however we’re rolling with the “upset” decide right here.
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(25) Todd Gilliland vs (9) Carson Hocevar
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Todd Gilliland has a single top-10 end this season (sixth place at Bristol Motor Speedway), and out of doors of that, he’s ending most races in seventeenth place or worse. He’s by no means actually proven the abilities behind the wheel to compete with high drivers, and the No. 34 automobile itself doesn’t actually have the pace to problem for a top-10 spot. This must be comparatively straightforward for . Within the final six races, Hocevar ranks eighth in common ending place (14.7), and that’s with two street programs within the combine. Again on an oval, we predict Hocevar can beat Gilliland by 15-20 spots on the end.
Advancing: Carson Hocevar
(12) Chase Briscoe vs (5) Ty Gibbs
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We’re getting a couple of teammates going head-to-head for the second spherical of the NASCAR In-Season Problem. , who received the $1 million prize final summer time, is coming off a third-place end at Sonoma, the place he additionally received each phases. Whereas teammate didn’t fare as effectively within the phases, he was the one one to offer a reputable problem for SVG on the ultimate laps at a street course. So each drivers come into Chicagoland with momentum. Within the final six weeks, Briscoe and Gibbs have every delivered three top-10 finishes, so constant success is a theme for them each. This actually feels prefer it could possibly be the closest matchup within the second spherical, however we’re giving the slightest edge to Gibbs.
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(20) Michael McDowell vs (4) Chase Elliott
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simply moved previous Bubba Wallace in Spherical 1, however his path to development will get much more difficult transferring ahead. 4 of McDowell’s top-10 finishes this season have come on street programs. On ovals, his common ending place drops significantly. In the meantime, will get to return to what looks like a second dwelling. In 4 profession Cup races at Chicagoland, Elliott has the second-best common ending place (8.8), and he’s completed eleventh or higher in three of the races. We expect the No. 9 automobile will end at the least 10 spots forward of McDowell on Sunday evening.
(2) Denny Hamlin vs (15) Erik Jones
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There are many NASCAR stats, notably in 2026, that make the smarter decide to advance to the third spherical. The regular-season factors chief narrowly survived at Sonoma, avoiding one other first-round upset by the hands of Ty Dillon because of Dillon’s power-steering difficulty on the ultimate laps. Hamlin will probably be elated to return to an oval, and his successful streak on these tracks bodes effectively for him advancing. With that stated, can also be driving a Toyota, and we simply can’t battle this intestine feeling that Jones will discover a method to pull off the upset this weekend.
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(7) Chris Buescher vs (10) Christopher Bell
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There was nothing extra spectacular in NASCAR this previous weekend than netting the third-most factors on the day whereas navigating the street course with a fractured wrist. Whereas the harm hasn’t totally healed, it’s getting higher, and transferring from that monitor to Chicagoland will take a few of the stress off the wrist. We actually anticipate to offer an admirable problem for the No. 20 crew, however we predict Bell can beat him by at the least 3-5 spots on the end.
Advancing: Christopher Bell
(11) William Byron vs (6) Kyle Larson
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We’re unsure what’s mistaken with the No. 24 crew this season, however the leads to 2026 for really feel underwhelming. He has recorded simply two top-10 finishes in a factors race during the last two months, and his common ending place this season (16.44) is the worst in his Cup profession since 2020. Compared, leads NASCAR in common ending place (7.3) during the last six races thanks to 5 top-five finishes, and Chicagoland is certainly one of his greatest tracks. That is only a dangerous head-to-head draw for Byron.
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(14) Shane van Gisbergen vs (3) Ryan Blaney
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has by no means raced at Chicagoland earlier than, however he will probably be aided this weekend by a robust qualifying place that ought to place him to begin close to the entrance of the sector. Sadly for van Gisbergen, must also have an equally robust beginning spot, and his monitor file on intermediate programs far surpasses van Gisbergen’s.
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