NASCAR in-season tournament to debut in 2025 on TNT, Amazon Prime Video

Next year the summer stretch is going to be a lot more interesting in the NASCAR Cup Series. An in-season tournament is coming to NASCAR in 2025.

The new tournament will take place during the summer next season. 32 drivers will be seeded based on the final three races of the Amazon Prime Video part of the schedule.

Then, the tournament will air on TNT Sports. Sportico reported the news on Monday afternoon.

Other sports leagues have in-season tournaments and similar events. From soccer to the NBA, it is a way to increase interest in the regular season for casual viewers and those looking to watch something while other sports are in their offseason.

NASCAR sees a lot of value in those summer races. I think if they are marketed the right way, and putting $1,000,000 up for grabs is a good way to do it, then it can be a success. There really isn’t a lot going on in June and July once the NBA Playoffs are over.

Last year Denny Hamlin and Dirty Mo Media put together their own in-season bracket challenge. It was a fun idea and they executed it very well for it being completely informal. William Byron won last season, but the official tournament next season will have a much bigger prize.

32 drivers, five races, and $1,000,000 up for grabs. We see how passionate these drivers are weekly about winning and racing well – throw in even more pressure and incentive and it could start a few new rivalries.

The NASCAR in-season tournament won’t be official this year. Dirty Mo Media is planning on having their own bracket challenge again. Next year, it gets officially official.

NASCAR in-season tournament adds new ‘dynamic’

Drivers are more or less going to be going head-to-head once they are seeded in the bracket. Over the course of five races drivers will be eliminated. We’ve seen the Triple Truck Challenge and Xfinity Dash 4 Cash before. It’s nice for the Cup Series to get a similar concept again.

If you want drivers to race all out during a time of the year when all eyes are more or less on you, this is a great way to do it. More incentives will make these drivers push the limits just a little more.

“This just gives you this extra dynamic where every race of those five races means a little bit more,” TNT Sports chief content officer Craig Barry said. “It creates something really interesting for the casual fan.”

The 2025 schedule has not been released. So, we won’t know what races this tournament will take place during until that comes out. It should be around this time next year. Amazon Prime Video picks up the schedule after the first 14 races. The seeding will be done in the final three races of five that Amazon airs. Then the five TNT races will make up the tournament.

Is this a good idea? Bad idea? Doesn’t really matter? I think giving drivers and viewers something extra in the middle of a long 38 week schedule is great. It was fun when Dirty Mo Media did it and should be fun with NASCAR fully behind it now.