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NASCAR will introduce in-season tournament competition in 2025, becoming the latest sport to bring added importance to the heart of the regular season.
The 32-driver bracket-style head-to-head competition will take place over five Cup Series races, and these events will coincide with part of the calendar broadcast by TNT Sports. The seeds of that challenge are set through his final three races of the year on Amazon Prime Video. The winner will receive a $1 million prize.
The introduction of this concept follows the successful launch of the NBA’s in-season tournament, now known as the Emirates NBA Cup, which itself draws inspiration from the global soccer event. The NBA tournament used regular season matchups as group stage games, with quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship games held in Las Vegas. The NASCAR version will be held entirely within the existing schedule.
NASCAR’s complete 2025 schedule has not been announced, but tournament races will likely be held at several different tracks. This vision gained momentum with early media rights negotiations last summer, culminating in NASCAR reaching seven-year deals with Fox Sports, NBC Sports, Amazon and TNT Sports.
“We want it to be very simple because it’s kind of a race within a race,” NASCAR SVP, Media and Production Brian Herbst said of the tournament concept. “This bracket format seemed simple enough and easy to explain. And the other part we wanted to do was create rivalries and storylines in terms of head-to-head competition. To the extent that we can, we should focus specifically on the driver.”
Although production plans are still in the early stages, TNT executives could use this new competition to focus on potential battles for position across the race field.
“This gives us an extra dynamic that makes every race of the five races a little more meaningful,” said Craig Barry, chief content officer at TNT Sports. “It creates something very interesting for the casual fan.”
While TNT’s slate was designed in part to meet summer demand after the NBA season ended, TNT’s future in the basketball business is currently in doubt. Although summer has become a busier time for sports due to the growth of international soccer and women’s basketball, it is still relatively quiet compared to other times of the year.
Starting next year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will join new broadcast units at both TNT Sports and Amazon. In the future, the tournament could also be connected to NASCAR’s existing playoff qualifying process. NASCAR also plans to explore potential betting contests and betting partnerships.
“The mid-season tournament will provide a new engagement experience for fans during a critical period of the NASCAR schedule,” Charlie Niemann, Head of Sports Partnerships at Prime Video, said in a statement. “We are excited to add a dynamic element that drives innovation within the sport and fosters competition between drivers.”
This in-season tournament follows several changes to NASCAR’s race schedule in recent years, including a return to a racetrack in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, and the introduction of street racing in Chicago.
