Chase Elliott breaks NASCAR Cup Series drought with electrifying victory at Atlanta
Photo by Krista Jasso/Getty Images
HAMPTON, Ga.—Timing his pass on the last lap to perfection, Georgia native Chase Elliott charged past Brad Keselowski and held off the driver of the No. 6 Ford to win Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Echo Park Speedway.
The popular victory in the first event of the NASCAR Cup Series’ In-Season Challenge broke a 44-race drought for Elliott dating to last year’s win at Texas Motor Speedway. The win was the second at EchoPark for the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and the 20th of his career.
Elliott crossed the finish line 0.168 seconds ahead of Keselowski and 0.170 seconds in front of teammate and third-place finisher Alex Bowman.
The 29-year-old from Dawsonville, Ga., advanced to the second round of the five-race in-season tournament, eliminating first-round opponent Austin Dillon, who finished 20th.
In a race that featured 46 lead changes among 13 drivers, Elliott got a welcome push from Bowman on the final two laps, stranding Keselowski with no help for a final charge.
“Unbelievable… unbelievable. How about that? Are you kidding me?” Elliott said with an uncharacteristic display of emotion. “I’ve never in my life… This is unbelievable. Thank you guys so much.
“What a special car, and just a huge thanks to [sponsor] NAPA Auto Parts and everything they do for me and to benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. [Cancer patient] Rhealynn Mills designed the fast NAPA Chevrolet tonight, so this was a lot of fun. This right here is something I’ll never forget.”
In the closing laps, Elliott was quick to seize the opportunity that came his way.
“Well, I just think that, honestly, all the cards fell on the right places there those last couple laps,” he acknowledged. “What a crazy race, man. I don’t know if y’all had fun, but it was wild from my seat. I’m so glad we got to run that thing out there to the end.”
Keselowski led 46 laps, including circuits 255-259 of 260, and advanced past 21st-place finisher Kyle Busch in the In-Season Challenge, but he had no defense for Elliott’s final push.
“The 9 [Elliott] just had the 48 [Bowman] behind him giving him a huge push, and there was nothing I could do to cover that,” Keselowski said. “When we had our cars linked up at RFK [Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing], we could do the same thing, but we lost that, and it was just kind of a two-on-one, and I fought as hard as I could.”
Tyler Reddick came home fourth, followed by Erik Jones. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Zane Smith, Ty Dillon, Chris Buescher and Carson Hocevar completed the top 10.
The 18th event of the Cup Series regular season got off to a slow start that belied the intense action that would come later in the proceedings. A delay for a light rain stopped the race for 14minutes, 34 seconds after 36 laps, with Joey Logano out front for the entire stint after starting from the pole.
After the resumption to green-flag racing on Lap 49, the first of two major wrecks was just eight circuits away. On Lap 57, Christopher Bell turned sideways near the apex of Turns 3 and 4, igniting a seven-car wreck that sent the cars of Bell and Ryan Blaney to the garage for attempted repairs.
“I saw a couple guys spinning and slowing,” Blaney said. “I got to the apron and there was really nowhere else for me to go but the apron. I tried to get there and get clear of it, but they kind of came down and got me in the right-rear and I ended up in the fence.
“There was no missing that one.”
That was just the appetizer. One the backstretch after a restart on Lap 69, Buescher lifted to avoid running into then-leader Chase Elliott and the field accordioned behind him, sending cars spinning out of control and into each other.
In a wreck that inflicted varying degrees of damage on 22 of the 40 cars, the vehicles of Ross Chastain, William Byron, Daniel Suarez, Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Josh Berry and Corey LaJoie all found their way to the garage—several on wrecker—a result of the 16-car pileup.
Byron exited in 36th place.
“There wasn’t really a whole lot I could see,” said the two-time Daytona 500 winner. “I was kind of catching the No. 22 [Logano] with a little bit of a run. All the guys at the front had pitted during the stage break and cycled to the mid-20s.
“We were just running a great race in the top five. They all stacked up and at that point, I went right a little bit; the wreck was already happening, and I just kind of got shoved into it.”
Needless to say, the two major incidents had enormous implications for the In-Season Challenge. Hamlin, the top seed, fell victim to 32nd seed Ty Dillon in the biggest upset of the opening round.
“For all you Denny fans out there, I just beat your favorite driver,” Dillon quipped afterwards, borrowing from one of Hamin’s signature phrases.
Second-seeded Briscoe was ousted by close friend Noah Gragson, who survived the major incidents and finished 25th. Byron bowed out to Ryan Preece, who finished 15th.
Joining Elliott, Keselowski, Ty Dillon, Preece and Gragson in advancing to the second round of the Challenge were Bowman, Bubba Wallace, John Hunter Nemechek, Jones, Hocevar, Reddick (eliminating Kyle Larson), AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs and Smith.
The race featured 10 cautions for 68 laps. Logano led twice for a race-high 51 laps before exiting after the Lap 69 crash. Austin Cindric won the first stage. Reddick edged Elliott for the Stage 2 win by 0.001 seconds.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 18
Race Results for the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart - Monday, June 30, 2025
EchoPark Speedway - Hampton, GA - 1.54 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 260 Laps - 400.4 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 6/29/2025 @ 12:17 AM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 15 9 Chase Elliott NAPA/Children's Chevrolet 260 9 2 51 Running 9 41 5
2 6 6 Brad Keselowski Consumer Cellular Ford 260 2 10 45 Running 7 46
3 9 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 260 4 41 Running 8 32
4 23 45 Tyler Reddick Upper Deck Toyota 260 1 43 Running 4 18 1
5 26 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 260 5 38 Running
6 37 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Hungry Jack Chevrolet 260 6 36 Running 1 1
7 8 38 Zane Smith Aaron's Lucky Dog Ford 260 8 33 Running 3 5
8 14 10 Ty Dillon Mark III Employee Benefits Chevrolet 260 6 34 Running
9 13 17 Chris Buescher Kroger/Cinnamon Toast Crunch Ford 260 3 36 Running 5 15
10 30 77 Carson Hocevar Chili's Ride the 'Dente Chevrolet 260 5 33 Running
11 36 87 * Connor Zilisch(i) Red Bull Chevrolet 260 0 Running
12 21 16 AJ Allmendinger LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 260 25 Running
13 39 51 Cody Ware Jacob Construction Ford 260 24 Running
14 16 54 Ty Gibbs Sonic/Grillo's Pickles Toyota 260 23 Running 3 32
15 5 60 Ryan Preece Solomon Plumbing Ford 260 22 Running 1 3
16 38 78 * BJ McLeod(i) Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster Chevrolet 260 0 Running
17 11 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 260 20 Running
18 32 71 Michael McDowell Delaware Life Chevrolet 260 19 Running
19 7 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 260 18 Running
20 12 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet 260 17 Running
21 29 8 Kyle Busch SENIX Chevrolet 260 16 Running
22 24 23 Bubba Wallace Leidos Toyota 258 10 16 Running
23 22 7 Justin Haley Gainbridge Chevrolet 257 14 Running 1 3
24 35 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # WeatherTech Chevrolet 257 8 7 20 Running
25 27 4 Noah Gragson Zep Ford 252 12 Running
26 19 42 John Hunter Nemechek Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 241 9 14 Running
27 17 34 Todd Gilliland Rinnai Tankless Water Heaters Ford 237 10 Running
28 20 35 Riley Herbst # Tree Top Toyota 223 9 Running 1 1
29 40 66 * David Starr(i) WNB Factory Ford 184 0 Accident
30 28 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 114 7 Steering
31 33 11 Denny Hamlin King's Hawaiian Toyota 72 6 Accident
32 2 21 Josh Berry DEX Imaging Ford 70 7 9 Accident
33 34 1 Ross Chastain Wendy's Fresh Way to Frosty Chevrolet 69 4 Accident
34 31 99 Daniel Suarez Quaker State Chevrolet 69 3 Accident
35 10 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 69 2 Accident
36 1 22 Joey Logano Autotrader Ford 69 3 9 Accident 2 51
37 18 24 William Byron Axalta Chevrolet 69 4 8 Accident
38 4 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Quaker State Ford 68 1 11 Accident 2 12 1
39 25 01 * Corey LaJoie(i) Schluter Systems Ford 68 0 Accident
40 3 12 Ryan Blaney Advance Auto Parts Ford 56 1 Accident
Fastest Lap Bonus: # lap 219 / 29.822
42
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 34 Mins, 54 Secs. Average Speed: 111.792 MPH Margin of Victory: .168 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 2, 6, 22, 24, 77, 47, 21, 88, 9, 23
Stage 2 Top 10: 45, 9, 17, 48, 43, 10, 88, 38, 42, 6
Race Comments: Chase Elliott won the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway, his 20th NASCAR Cup Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, no cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty.
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 10 for 68 laps; Laps: 37-48 (Precipitation [Red Flag: 14:34] [66]); 58-68 (Nos. 3, 12, 20, 23, 16 Incident Turn 4 / Stage 1 Conclusion [66]); 70-76 (Nos. 1, 60, 22, 24, 99, 77, 60, 5, 19, 01, 11, 51, 6, 4, 7, 2, 21, 41, 48, 8, 43, 78, 3 Incident Backstretch [None]); 111-117 (Nos. 35, 34 Incident Frontstretch [77]); 162-168 (Stage 2 Conclusion [23]); 177-181 (Nos. 42, 54, 88 Incident Turn 4 [3]); 186-190 (No. 23 Incident Backstretch [47]); 196-200 (No. 43 Spin Turn 4 [47]); 204-207 (No. 66 Spin Frontstretch [71]); 228-232 (No. 7 Incident Turn 3 [71]).
Lead Changes: 46 among 13 drivers; J. Logano 1-48; A. Cindric 49-51; J. Logano 52-54; A. Cindric 55-63; C. Elliott 64-73; C. Buescher 74-76; T. Gibbs 77-85; R. Herbst # 86; T. Reddick 87-88; C. Buescher 89-91; T. Gibbs 92-113; T. Reddick 114-119; A. Bowman 120-122; C. Buescher 123; A. Bowman 124-130; C. Buescher 131-134; A. Bowman 135-136; C. Buescher 137-140; A. Bowman 141-146; C. Elliott 147-149; T. Reddick 150-152; C. Elliott 153-157; T. Reddick 158-164; C. Elliott 165-171; A. Bowman 172; C. Elliott 173; A. Bowman 174-183; B. Keselowski 184-187; J. Haley 188-190; T. Gibbs 191; R. Preece 192-194; C. Elliott 195-201; B. Keselowski 202; C. Elliott 203-208; B. Keselowski 209-224; C. Elliott 225; B. Keselowski 226-237; Z. Smith 238; B. Keselowski 239-243; A. Bowman 244; B. Keselowski 245-247; Z. Smith 248-250; A. Bowman 251-252; Z. Smith 253; R. Stenhouse Jr. 254; B. Keselowski 255-259; C. Elliott 260.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: July 6, 2025 - Chicago Street Race
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
NASCAR Cup Series Points Report
EchoPark Speedway
Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart
UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 6/29/2025 @ 01:07 AM Eastern UNOFFICIAL
Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. William Byron 24 18 0 631 0 0 1 7 12
2. Chase Elliott 9 18 -3 594 -37 37 1 0 5
3. Kyle Larson 5 18 1 589 -42 5 3 8 23
4. Denny Hamlin 11 17 1 551 -80 38 3 4 19
5. Christopher Bell 20 18 1 551 -80 0 3 1 16
6. Tyler Reddick 45 18 -1 533 -98 18 0 1 1
7. Ryan Blaney 12 18 1 504 -127 29 1 3 8
8. Ross Chastain 1 18 0 458 -173 46 1 0 5
9. Chris Buescher 17 18 -2 457 -174 1 0 1 -4
10. Chase Briscoe 19 18 1 452 -179 5 1 1 6
11. Joey Logano 22 18 1 445 -186 7 1 2 7
12. Alex Bowman 48 18 -1 444 -187 1 0 0 0
13. Bubba Wallace 23 18 1 428 -203 16 0 2 2
14. Ryan Preece 60 18 0 405 -226 23 0 2 2
15. Austin Cindric 2 18 0 379 -252 26 1 3 8
16. Erik Jones 43 18 -2 379 -252 0 0 0 0
17. AJ Allmendinger 16 18 0 369 -262 10 0 0 0
18. Carson Hocevar 77 18 -2 366 -265 3 0 0 0
19. Josh Berry 21 18 3 363 -268 3 1 1 6
20. Kyle Busch 8 18 1 356 -275 7 0 0 0
21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 18 -3 355 -276 1 0 0 0
22. Michael McDowell 71 18 1 351 -280 4 0 0 0
23. John Hunter Nemechek 42 18 1 346 -285 5 0 0 0
24. Ty Gibbs 54 18 1 342 -289 4 0 0 0
25. Zane Smith 38 18 0 337 -294 5 0 0 0
26. Austin Dillon 3 18 0 314 -317 23 0 0 0
27. Brad Keselowski 6 18 -3 306 -325 8 0 0 0
28. Todd Gilliland 34 18 0 305 -326 1 0 0 0
29. Daniel Suarez 99 18 2 299 -332 6 0 0 0
30. Justin Haley 7 18 1 279 -352 20 0 0 0
31. Ty Dillon 10 18 -2 274 -357 5 0 0 0
32. Shane Van Gisbergen # 88 18 1 268 -363 6 1 1 6
33. Noah Gragson 4 18 1 257 -374 11 0 0 0
34. Cole Custer 41 18 0 237 -394 20 0 0 0
35. Riley Herbst # 35 18 0 206 -425 31 0 0 0
36. Cody Ware 51 18 0 133 -498 73 0 0 0
37. Jimmie Johnson 2 0 35 -596 98 0 0 0
38. Katherine Legge 2 0 12 -619 23 0 0 0
39. Derek Kraus 1 0 5 -626 7 0 0 0
40. Chad Finchum 2 0 3 -628 2 0 0 0
41. Casey Mears 1 0 2 -629 1 0 0 0
42. Burt Myers 1 0 1 -630 1 0 0 0
43. Martin Truex, Jr. 1 0 1 -630 0 0 0 0
44. Justin Allgaier(i) 1 12 0 -631 1 0 0 0
45. * Connor Zilisch(i) 87 3 -4 0 -631 0 0 0 0
46. Corey Heim(i) 2 0 0 -631 0 0 0 0
47. * BJ McLeod(i) 78 3 0 0 -631 0 0 0 0
48. * Corey LaJoie(i) 01 4 7 0 -631 0 0 0 0
49. Ryan Truex(i) 1 -2 0 -631 0 0 0 0
50. Jesse Love(i) 3 -1 0 -631 0 0 0 0
51. * David Starr(i) 66 1 50 0 -631 0 0 0 0
52. Anthony Alfredo(i) 1 -3 0 -631 0 0 0 0
53. Austin Hill(i) 1 -1 0 -631 0 0 0 0
54. Jj Yeley(i) 5 -1 0 -631 0 0 0 0
55. Brennan Poole(i) 1 1 0 -631 0 0 0 0
56. Josh Bilicki(i) 2 -2 0 -631 0 0 0 0
57. Chandler Smith(i) 0 2 0 -631 0 0 0 0
58. Helio Castroneves 1 0 0 -631 0 0 0 0
-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Our Partners
.png)
