Unexpected NASCAR star wins $1M and celebrates – Sports News
Todd Gilliland was the shock winner of the 2026 NASCAR In-Season Challenge (Image: Getty)
Unexpected 2026 NASCAR In-Season Challenge winner Todd Gilliland celebrated his seven-figure win with a pickle, after edging out Ryan Blaney in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge has rapidly develop into a widespread mid-season knockout event, with drivers going head-to-head for a $1M prize.
Ty Gibbs gained the inaugural occasion in 2025, and Gilliland adopted go well with in 2026, defeating Ryan Blaney within the last. Gilliland did not need to problem for the race win to raise the In-Season Challenge trophy.
Instead, he merely needed to end forward of Blaney within the Brickyard 400, gained by Corey Heim. Blaney’s hopes have been successfully dashed when he was caught up in a nine-car crash on Lap 120 that included John Hunter Nemechek, leaving his No. 12 Ford with important harm and forcing an unscheduled stop for repairs. Although Gilliland slipped back within the closing levels, he held on to complete twenty fourth, two locations forward of Blaney to seal the deal. After the race, Blaney raged at a NASCAR rival for costing him the $1M prize.
Gilliland celebrated his seven-figure payday by eating a pickle. It was none different than a Grillo’s Pickle — a widespread American model recognized for contemporary, preservative-free dill pickles. Gilliland’s win with Grillo’s Pickles as a sponsor comes two years on from his first partnership with the model.
Gilliland first partnered with Grillo’s Pickles in June 2024, when the company signed on as the first sponsor of his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford. Although Gilliland has but to fire himself or Grillo’s Pickles to Victory Lane for profitable a Cup Series race.
Todd Gilliland beat Ryan Blaney to the $1M prize (Image: Getty)
“My heart was pounding those last 25 laps,” Gilliland stated in a post-race press convention. “Seemed like one slip-up and I was going to be right in front of the 12 or right behind him, even coming down to the very end.
“I still feel like we kind of earned it coming down the stretch. Yeah, I think I kind of talked about it before, but the biggest thing for me that was really cool through this whole process was seeing how my team really elevated themselves, really grabbed another gear.
“They worked super, super hard, long hours for this week, just really ramped up throughout this whole In-Season Challenge. I think it’s cool. They unlocked another level within themselves.”
Blaney had led Gilliland for many of the race till his 120-lap incident. It was a slice of success for the FRM star. “I was nose to tail with five other cars in front of me,” Gilliland continued.
“I just see a little bit of yellow out of the right side of my eye. I was like, man, even if he just spins here, he’s going to be back in the pack.
“Obviously, it’s pretty tough to pass once you get settled in. Then he hit the nose. I was like, All right, maybe that will slow him down a little bit. Maybe it did a little bit, but he was just as fast as us.
“It’s one of those things where you never cheer against someone. After it’s over with, you’re like, All right, that definitely helped us out. Now we definitely need to take advantage of it.”
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