July 10, 2022 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Chase Elliott celebrates on home turf

Chase Elliott is a former NASCAR Cup Series champion and currently the 2022 title leader. But finally scoring a dramatic victory Sunday afternoon at his home track – Atlanta Motor Speedway – in front of a vocal and adoring home crowd ranks right up there as far as he’s concerned.

Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet led a race best 96 of the 260 laps and held off a charging field to win Sunday’s Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart, ultimately securing the trophy when the caution flag came out in the closing portion of the frenzied final lap.

Corey LaJoie, who was dueling it out with Elliott on that last lap, brought out that caution after hitting the wall on the backstretch in a final attempt to pull alongside and pass Elliott for what would have also been a popular first career NASCAR Cup Series victory for the well-liked LaJoie.

“This one’s up there for sure, to win at your home track is a real big deal I think to any race car driver,’’ said Elliott, 26, of nearby Dawsonville, Ga. “I watched a lot of guys do it over the years, Jimmie [Johnson] out in California. We haven’t really had a very good run here, so I felt like today was a good opportunity for us.

“I’m just so proud. This is obviously home for me and home to a lot of great fans who made a lot of noise today. Couldn’t be more proud of our team.”

Obviously disappointed not to earn the victory, but not disheartened, LaJoie said he was encouraged by the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team’s work on Sunday and boosted by the confidence of being in position to win late in a race.

“Closest I’ve ever been, for sure that was fun’’ LaJoie said. “I’m proud of my guys at Spire and everyone whose helped us out.

“I made my move and it didn’t work out, and the siren is ringing in Dawsonville (Ga.) unfortunately,’’ LaJoie said referencing the famed Dawsonville (Ga.) Pool Room where the owners ring a bell to celebrate each of Elliott’s victories.

With 27 lead changes among 12 drivers and 13 caution periods, it was an eventful day on the newly reconfigured and re-paved Atlanta Motor Speedway’s 1.54-mile track. And there was plenty of drama from the hometown kid winning his series-best third race of the year to several dust-ups among popular drivers.

Ross Chastain, who had a busy day on track and was part of a couple of those incidents, rallied to finish runner-up to Elliott.

“I hated that I took the best car here and I tore it up a couple times, but yeah, it’s incredible,’’ Chastain said of rebounding to score his fifth top two finish of the season.

“Hats off to Chevrolet and Trackhouse for bringing this fast of a Jockey Chevrolet to be able to come back.  Our road crew and pit crew did an awesome job to rebound through all the damage repair and we had a shot and I got inside of the 9 [Elliott] coming off [turn] 2 coming to the checkered and the caution came out.”

After being collected in a nine-car accident just before the race’s mid-point, Chastain worked his way forward again only to make contact with veteran Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin as the two were running in the top 10 late in the race. The pair have had run-ins previously this season and Hamlin, whose car was badly damaged, was not happy after the race.

“Everyone has different tolerance levels and as you all know, I’ve reached my peak,’’ Hamlin said.

Team Penske rookie Austin Cindric – winner of the season opening Daytona 500 – finished third, with Petty GMS Motorsports’ Erik Jones and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney rounding out the top five.

Chastain’s Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez was sixth, followed by Justin Haley, Aric Almirola, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick rounding out the top 10.

With the victory, Elliott extended his championship lead over Blaney to 47 points. Chastain is now third, 50 points behind Elliott.

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to competition next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the Ambetter 301 on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Stewart-Haas Racing driver Aric Almirola is the defending race winner.

NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 19
Race Results for the 53rd Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart - Sunday, July 10, 2022
Atlanta Motor Speedway - Hampton, GA - 1.54 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 260 Laps - 400.4 Miles

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts

1 1 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 260 1 1 60 Running 8 96 7
2 2 1 Ross Chastain Jockey Chevrolet 260 3 9 45 Running 3 32
3 5 2 Austin Cindric # Menards/Quaker State Ford 260 34 Running 1 7
4 25 43 Erik Jones FOCUSfactor Chevrolet 260 33 Running 1 10
5 6 12 Ryan Blaney Wabash Ford 260 4 4 46 Running 2 2
6 7 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 260 31 Running
7 24 31 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 260 30 Running
8 22 10 Aric Almirola Ford Pro Ford 260 29 Running
9 18 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 260 28 Running
10 27 21 Harrison Burton # Freightliner Ford 260 7 31 Running 2 9
11 9 19 Martin Truex Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 260 26 Running 2 27
12 10 4 Kevin Harvick Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford 260 25 Running
13 3 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 260 9 26 Running
14 32 23 Bubba Wallace leidos Toyota 260 23 Running
15 12 34 Michael McDowell Fr8Auctions.com Ford 260 22 Running
16 14 14 Chase Briscoe Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford 260 21 Running
17 28 38 Todd Gilliland # YANMAR Ford 260 20 Running
18 31 6 Brad Keselowski Solomon Plumbing Ford 260 3 27 Running
19 15 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 260 10 6 24 Running
20 19 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Crunchy Cookie Toyota 260 6 22 Running
21 30 7 Corey LaJoie Raze Energy Chevrolet 260 10 17 Running 3 19
22 21 45 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Toyota 259 7 5 25 Accident
23 34 51 Cody Ware Nurtec ODT Ford 259 14 Running
24 36 77 Landon Cassill(i) Voyager: Crypto for All Chevrolet 259 0 Running
25 16 11 Denny Hamlin Coca-Cola Toyota 259 8 15 Running 1 2
26 17 22 Joey Logano Autotrader Ford 252 11 DVP
27 33 15 Garrett Smithley(i) True Brands Ford 252 0 Running
28 23 42 Ty Dillon Allegiant Chevrolet 174 9 DVP
29 4 8 Tyler Reddick Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet 170 2 17 Accident 2 13
30 13 24 William Byron Axalta Chevrolet 170 5 8 16 Accident 1 41
31 20 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Kroger/Ball Park Chevrolet 162 6 Engine 1 2
32 8 48 Alex Bowman Ally Milestone Chevrolet 160 2 14 DVP
33 11 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 107 4 Accident
34 29 16 Noah Gragson(i) Gold Fish Casino Slots Chevrolet 91 0 Suspension
35 26 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet 90 2 Accident
36 35 78 BJ McLeod(i) Blaster Ford 77 0 Accident

 Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 22 Mins, 18 Secs. Average Speed: 118.754 MPH Margin of Victory: Under Caution
Stage 1 Top 10: 9, 48, 1, 12, 24, 18, 45, 11, 5, 20
Stage 2 Top 10: 9, 8, 6, 12, 45, 20, 21, 24, 1, 7

 Race Comments: Chase Elliott has won the Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his 16th career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. No vehicles dropped to the rear prior to the start of the race.  

 Failed to Qualify: None.

 Caution Flags: 13 for 64 laps; Laps: 27-30 (Competition Caution  [None]); 62-66 (Stage 1 Conclusion  [15]); 79-83 (Nos. 78, 17, 42 incident backstretch [None]); 92-98 (Nos. 22, 3, 19, 1, 19, 34, 18, 5, 20 incident turn 2 [17]); 108-112 (No. 17 incident turn 4 [5]); 138-142 (No. 14 spin turn 2 [15]); 160-165 (No. 48 incident turn 4/Stage 2 Conclusion [18]); 171-176 (Nos. 15, 42, 8, 24, 38, 23, 6, 5, 77 incident turn 3 [22]); 190-194 (Nos. 18, 51 spin turn 2 [23]); 237-241 (No. 20 spin frontstretch [34]); 247-252 (Nos. 1, 11, 6, 12 incident frontstretch [20]); 254-257 (Nos. 22, 11 incident backstretch [18]); 260-260 (Nos. 7, 45, 41 incident backstretch [None]).

 Lead Changes: 27 among 12 drivers; R. Chastain 1; C. Elliott 2; R. Chastain 3-21; D. Hamlin 22-23; R. Blaney 24; C. Elliott 25-50; R. Blaney 51; C. Elliott 52-63; T. Reddick 64-69; M. Truex Jr. 70-86; C. Elliott 87-94; H. Burton # 95-98; R. Stenhouse Jr. 99-100; H. Burton # 101-105; W. Byron 106-146; T. Reddick 147-153; C. Elliott 154-162; A. Cindric # 163-169; E. Jones 170-179; R. Chastain 180-191; C. LaJoie 192-201; C. Elliott 202; C. LaJoie 203-204; C. Elliott 205-241; M. Truex Jr. 242-251; C. LaJoie 252-258; C. Elliott 259-260.

Sunoco Rookie of the Race : Austin Cindric, #2 
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: July 17, 2022 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway

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