How Atlanta broke nearly every bracket

Leaving Atlanta, 16 drivers have been eliminated and matchups are set for the second of five rounds at the Chicago Street Course. However, it’s unlikely you’ll find a perfect bracket anywhere after what transpired at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta) on Saturday night.

First, let’s take a look at some of the big surprises before we get into the Round 2 matchups. First, No. 1 seed Denny Hamlin is gone, eliminated by No. 32 seed Ty Dillon after Hamlin was involved in a massive 23-car pileup on Lap 69 of the race.

No. 2 seed Chase Briscoe has also been eliminated as his day ended in the same wreck Hamlin was involved in, allowing No. 31 seed Noah Gragson to move forward instead.

But these were far from the only shocker as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. knocked out Christopher Bell, Erik Jones knocked out Ross Chastain, and Ryan Preece knocked out William Byron.

There are no Trackhouse or Penske drivers left in the competition, the only JGR driver remaining is Ty Gibbs, and half of HMS are out of it after Round 1. On the flip side of that, all three RFK Racing drivers move on while both drivers from smaller teams like Kaulig and Legacy Motor Club also advance.

So, where does that leave us heading to Chicago? 

Round 2 matchups – Chicago Street Course

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Ty Dillon (No. 32 seed) vs. Brad Keselowski (No. 17 seed)

Alex Bowman (No. 8 seed) vs. Bubba Wallace (No. 9 seed)

John Hunter Nemechek (No. 12 seed) vs. Chase Elliott (No. 5 seed)

Erik Jones (No. 20 seed) vs. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (No. 29 seed)

Noah Gragson (No. 31 seed) vs. Ryan Preece (No. 15 seed)

Carson Hocevar (No. 26 seed) vs. Tyler Reddick (No. 23 seed)

AJ Allmendinger (No. 22 seed) vs. Ty Gibbs (No. 6 seed)

Zane Smith (No. 14 seed) vs. Chris Buescher (No. 3 seed)