INDIANAPOLIS — Despite a 21st-place finish in the Brickyard 400, Ty Gibbs had a million reasons to leave Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a smile.

Gibbs claimed the $1 million prize as the winner of the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series In-Season Challenge on Sunday. The sixth-seed Gibbs beat out the underdog 32-seed Ty Dillon in 28th.

“It’s awesome to win this and super cool to be in this position,” Gibbs said.

While Gibbs is still chasing his first career win, the 2023 Xfinity Series champion hopes his team can build confidence after winning a series of one-on-one matchups. Gibbs ended Sunday’s race 19th in the playoff standings with four races until the 16-driver field is set.

“We just stay after it the whole time,” Gibbs said. “Nothing really changes. Today, we just weren’t running good and we weren’t going to finish great. They told me to think bigger picture and that’s kind of what we did. Other races, we didn’t think about it. We were all in trying to win.”

On top of the big payday, Gibbs received a championship ring and a championship belt. Gibbs played the victory up to the fans, showering them in fake money in his post-race celebration.

The 32-driver, single-elimination tournament was NASCAR’s answer to the NCAA’s March Madness, with fans filling out brackets and upsets aplenty over the four weeks leading up to Sunday. The competition included some tongue-in-cheek trash talk throughout the tournament, but it ended with Gibbs extending an olive branch to the tournament’s surprise star in Dillon.

“Our sponsor challenged (Dillon’s) sponsor that whoever loses gives $10,000 to Toys for Tots,” Gibbs said. “I want to put another $10,000 on top of that to whatever charity of (Dillon’s) choice.”

Officially, Gibbs’ team is the recipient of the prize money. There’s no word as to how much of a cut Joe Gibbs will give to his 22-year-old grandson.

Hoosier highs and lows

Mitchell-native Chase Briscoe sat on the pole and believed he had a shot at winning his hometown race. However, overtime cautions forced him to pit for fuel late, giving up a potential top 10 and settling for 18th.

Winmiac-native Justin Haley started in 28th but led 15 laps during a fuel cycle. Sporting a special scheme from Indianapolis-based sponsor Gainbridge, Haley recorded a season-best finish of 11th.

IMS owner Roger Penske wasn’t able to redeem a disappointing month of May with his NASCAR team. Ryan Blaney was his top finisher in seventh. Austin Cindric and Joey Logano both cut tires during the race, taking them out of contention for the win. Cindric recovered to finish 15th. Logano lost power in his car and finished 32nd.

Notes: Katherine Legge posted a career-best finish of 17th, becoming the 21st driver and second woman to ever run the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400…Shane Van Gisbergen finished 19th after posting his best oval qualifying result on Saturday…William Byron and Josh Berry ran out of gas on the final lap, limping across the finish line in 16th and 22nd respectively.