1. The first In-Season Challenge starts at EchoPark Speedway Saturday night, June 28. What’s one upset you think will happen in the opening round?
Aaron Bearden: Man, we’re going to Atlanta. Would any result really be an upset? One bad block and anyone could get knocked out. That said, if we look at seeding, the most obvious “upset” pick would be Austin Cindric (19) over Zane Smith (14). Cindric’s been a force at these drafting tracks and is in better equipment than Smith. Beyond that, Daniel Suarez (24) beating Bubba Wallace (9), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (29) taking out Christopher Bell (4) and Justin Haley (27) toppling Ty Gibbs (6) all seem feasible based on their standard Next Gen era results at this track.
Luken Glover: Keep an eye on the No. 9 vs. No. 24 matchup of Wallace vs. Suarez. When you think of superspeedway-style racing, Wallace seems like the favorite instinctively. However, EchoPark Speedway has been a different story, where Suarez won in a three-wide thriller last season. Not only that, but Suarez has finished inside the top 10 in five of the seven races in Atlanta since the track’s reconfiguration, compared to only two for Wallace. Suarez also owns an average finish six positions better than Wallace. I would also watch the head-to-head between 10-seeded Kyle Larson and 23-seeded Tyler Reddick. Neither have been on a hot streak recently, nor are they superspeedway aces. Though Larson finished third here in the spring, it stands as his lone top 10 at the track to this point, a key storyline to watch unfold this weekend.
Christopher Hansen: I look at the battle between Ryan Blaney as the seventh seed vs. Carson Hocevar in the 26th seed. The last time the NASCAR Cup Series competed at EchoPark Speedway, Hocevar nearly pulled off a huge upset victory; however, a caution to end the race foiled Hocevar’s chances of earning his first career Cup win. Plus the No. 77 has shown blistering speed in the last several weeks as well. From running up front at Charlotte Motor Speedway before losing an engine, to leading at Michigan International Speedway before suffering a flat tire, there’s no doubt that Hocevar has the raw speed in his Spire Motorsports entry to compete for wins. This weekend in Atlanta marks a chance for Hocevar to not only score that elusive first Cup win, but also upset 2023 series champion Blaney in terms of advancing to round two of the In-Season Challenge.
Mike Neff: Based on seeding number, you’ll probably see Joey Logano take out Alex Bowman in this first round. Logano has two wins in the last five races at Atlanta and an average finish of 11.8. Bowman has one top five, and his average finish is 19.6. Logano is simply a better drafting track racer.
2. Ty Gibbs is now the only winless driver for Joe Gibbs Racing this season. Will he get his first career win in 2025 to complete the JGR quadfecta?
Glover: At the beginning of this season, it seemed like a no-brainer, especially given previous examples of rising stars winning in their third season on the Cup tour, such as Chase Elliott, Larson and William Byron. Even after some rocky races at the beginning of the year, I would have said yes. Now, there’s plenty of racing left, but I lean more toward no. Winners such as Larson, Byron, Denny Hamlin, Blaney, Bell and others are going to have the speed and experience to win more. That excludes guys who haven’t won yet, such as Reddick, Elliott, Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski, drivers who have shown more pace than Gibbs. If he gets it done, road courses seem like the best opportunity for him to break through, as well as Bristol Motor Speedway, where he finished third earlier this year. As of this moment, however, the momentum doesn’t seem to be there.
Hansen: At this point in the season, Gibbs hasn’t convinced me enough that he can run up front every week to be in the hunt for a win. Gibbs had a dreadful start to the 2025 season, scoring a best finish of 13th through the first seven races. Lately, Gibbs and the No. 54 team have shown flashes of potential, tying a season-best finish of third a few weeks ago at Michigan International Speedway. The hype surrounding Gibbs has cooled tremendously since his arrival at the Cup level, and now, over 100 starts later, he has yet to reach victory lane. Driving for one of the top-tier organizations in Joe Gibbs Racing, the Charlotte, N.C., native has been painstakingly close to potentially breaking through. A few weeks ago in Mexico City, it seemed as though Gibbs was the only driver to run with Shane van Gisbergen all race before getting caught behind a caution that put him deep in the field. When Gibbs has cars like he had a few weeks ago, he can’t afford to let opportunities like that slip away.
Neff: It is surprising that Gibbs hasn’t managed it already. With the number of road/street course races still on the schedule, he certainly has a shot. Gibbs has proven that he can win on those types of tracks in other series. Unfortunately, he is still struggling with putting complete races together. Now that Chase Briscoe has a win this year, the pressure is definitely on.
Bearden: It’s been a tough season for the team owner’s grandson, but Gibbs is seeded sixth in this midseason tournament for a reason. The 22-year-old is slowly trending back in the right direction and hitting the mark start-wise when many promising young drivers win for the first time. I suspect he could go winless in the regular season then pull off an upset win during the playoffs.
3. Has Connor Zilisch supplanted Justin Allgaier as the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship favorite?
Hansen: Connor Zilisch hasn’t replaced Justin Allgaier as the clear, overwhelming favorite to win this year’s Xfinity Series title, but he’s built a strong case since returning from a back injury suffered at Talladega Superspeedway. In the four races since returning from injury, Zilisch has four top fives in a row, including getting his first oval win at Pocono Raceway last weekend. While Allgaier has been the class of the field, his rookie teammate at JR Motorsports has proven that he has the natural ability to run up front and contend for wins. The biggest obstacle Zilisch will face may ultimately be how he handles the bright lights of the NASCAR playoffs while going head-to-head with his veteran teammate with a chance at the NXS championship.
Neff: Let’s not get carried away. Allgaier has more wins, more top fives and more top 10s. He continues to prove that he is consistently better and knows how to manage races. The bottom line is that Allgaier has more experience and simply affords a better case to be holding the trophy after the final race this year.
Bearden: Nah. Zilisch is a promising young driver and likely a future Cup star. But Allgaier has the experience and remains the better bet on a week-to-week basis. He remains the favorite for JR Motorsports as long as he can avoid making too many mistakes.
Glover: With finishes of second, second and first since returning from a back injury, Zilisch has further strengthened his standing as a championship favorite. However, don’t slot him ahead of Allgaier just yet. Allgaier has already matched his top five total from last season (10), one where he won the championship, and he has failed to lead a lap in only four events through 16 races. And remember that title run at Phoenix Raceway last year? The obstacles he overcame to finally get that elusive championship trophy only make him more of a threat this season. Should both drivers make it to the Championship 4, it will be a fun battle to watch.
4. How will Jordan Taylor fare in his Craftsman Truck Series debut at Lime Rock Park this weekend?
Neff: As amazing as Jordan Taylor is in sports cars, that has proven to be the only real discipline where he excels. His three starts in Xfinity and Cup have led to an average finish in the 20s. If Taylor had even one top 10 or top five, then the possibilities might seem better. Anything is possible, but his history in NASCAR vehicles simply doesn’t justify optimism.
Bearden: I think he’ll fare well. Taylor qualified fourth and spent time in the top 10 during his Cup debut before a combination of pit strategy and contact trapped him back in 24th. He has a host of road course experience in various sports cars — including at Lime Rock Park, which could give him an edge on the field — and should adapt well to the Truck Series. So Taylor should be fast. That said, the racing is intense, and there’s a good chance he could get shoved out of the way at some point in the afternoon. So we’ll see.
Glover: Taylor couldn’t be stepping into a better ride to make his Truck debut. Spire Motorsports’s No. 7 machine has carried plenty of speed this year, winning twice between Kyle Busch and Hocevar. Putting a road course pundit in a truck at a track the series has never competed at before will give an advantage to Taylor and the No. 7 team. A top 10 feels like low-hanging fruit, but a win should not be out of the question.
Hansen: Taylor will be in contention to score a strong finish Saturday (June 28) in the first Truck Series race at Lime Rock this weekend. With his background in road racing, including a Cup Series start in 2023 at Circuit of the Americas, Taylor has a great opportunity to potentially do what van Gisbergen did to the Cup Series stars in the first running of the Chicago Street Race: go to victory lane. While a top 10 would be a good day for the road racing ace, a win in a truck that’s had success with Busch and Hocevar isn’t out of the question.
Aaron Bearden is a Frontstretch alumnus who’s come back home as the site’s Short Track Editor. When he isn’t working with our grassroots writers, he can be found talking about racing on his Morning Warmup newsletter, pestering his wife/dog or convincing himself the Indiana Pacers can win an NBA title.
Entering his fifth year with Frontstretch, Luken Glover is the author of The Underdog House, shedding light on the motivation and performance of NASCAR's dark horse teams as they strive to fight to the top. Additionally, Glover reports for the site at various events, and he contributes in the video editing department.
A 2023 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is a middle school math and PE teacher, as well as a basketball coach. He is passionate about serving in his church, playing/coaching a wide variety of sports, and researching motorsports history.
What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.