eero 400
The second race of the In-Season Challenge for the NASCAR Cup Series is the Eero 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, as Independence Day weekend is in one of the country’s great cities. This is a return to Chicagoland after a six-season hiatus, as the last running at this track was 2019. There was a street course race in Chicago last year, but not this one.
The In-Season Challenge is a recently-added wrinkle to the calendar. The prize for this is $1 million and it is a single-elimination tournament with 32 eligible drivers. Ty Gibbs is the reigning winner.
How to Watch The eero 400
When: Sunday, July 5, 2026
Where: Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL
Time: 6 p.m. ET
Channel: TNT
2026 NASCAR Cup Series Winners and Standings
We had a shocking winner two races ago and arguably the most obvious winner last week. Shane van Gisbergen won the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, taking down another win on a road course. Corey Heim’s win two races ago was definitely a long shot outcome, but we haven’t had many of those for this season.
The biggest development in terms of the standings last week is that Denny Hamlin now has the lead over Tyler Reddick. Reddick has five wins, which still leads the Cup Series circuit, but he trails Hamlin by one point. Just a few weeks ago, Reddick was winning by more than 100 points.
The race winners are Reddick (5), Hamlin (4), Chase Elliott (2), van Gisbergen (2), Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suarez, Carson Hocevar, and Heim. While Hamlin and Reddick are easily one and two in points, Blaney is in third and the only driver in the 600s in points. Gibbs and Kyle Larson fill out the top five.
Wins no longer guarantee entry into the playoffs, so the top 16 in points will make up who is in contention for the Cup Series Chase, which begins on September 6.
eero 400 Winners
Most of the active drivers don’t have a lot of data points here given that Chicagoland Speedway hasn’t held a race since 2019. Brad Keselowski and Hamlin are the only active drivers with a win. Keselowski has two of them, but he only has two top-five finishes this season.
Larson does have four top-five finishes and five top-10 finishes in six career starts at Chicagoland. He’s good historically at a lot of places, but he still hasn’t won this season. He does have four straight top-five finishes and five top-five finishes in his last six starts.
eero 400 Predictions
For the latest odds and VSiN’s NASCAR Best Bets, head to our NASCAR Hub to see Steve Makinen’s simulation results and more stats on the drivers.
