NASCAR insider rips 'dumb' seeding system for In-Season Tournament

The inaugural five-race NASCAR In-Season Tournament gets underway later this month at the renamed EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta. The next three races on Prime Video determine the seeding for the tournament.

Rather than seeding the field by the points standings, drivers will be seeded by their best finish in the next three races at Michigan International Speedway, Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and Pocono Raceway, respectively. Jeff Gluck of The Athletic has a massive issue with the seeding system.

“Dude…check out this find from @_DanielCespedes,” Gluck wrote Tuesday on X. “NASCAR is going to seed the in-season tournament by best finish plus tiebreakers over the next three races. It’s not even points. Lmaooo WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS??? JUST USE THE STANDINGS!”

The points standings will only come into play if two drivers finish with the exact same finishing positions over the three races. The driver with the most points will be seeded higher.

NASCAR In-Season Tournament field is set

Of the full-time Cup Series field, 32 drives are in the tournament. Shane van Gisbergen, Riley Herbst, Cole Custer and Cody Ware failed to make it. Van Gisbergen would have been a contender had he squeaked in, with two of the tournament’s races on road courses (Chicago Street Race, Sonoma Raceway). The winner of the tournament earns a $1 million pay day.

It’s a nice incentive in the middle of the season for drivers. At the same time, many drivers are looking to win their way into the postseason. The stakes cannot be any higher with 12 regular season races remaining.

Will drivers buy into the tournament concept? At least one driver, Chris Buescher, doesn’t get it.

“I guess if you had told me it started three weeks ago, I would have believed you,” Buescher told AltDriver this past weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “It’s not something I’m aware of. I don’t even know how it goes.

“I’m admittedly not a huge sports fan in general. I’m kind of extremely casual in what I watch anyway, and I don’t even understand how brackets typically work.”