Chase Elliott erased his winless start to the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, winning the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway on Saturday, June 2. The victory came following a final-lap overtake on Brad Keselowski and after utilizing teamwork from teammate Alex Bowman.
The 2020 Cup Series champion from Dawsonville, Georgia, led nine times for 41 of 260 scheduled laps. Elliott started in 15th place and endured through a total of 46 lead changes and 10 caution periods. This included two between the conclusion of the first stage period and the start of the second stage period, as multiple competitors were involved in multi-car wrecks.
While racing in second place behind Brad Keselowski prior to the final lap, Elliott had teammate Alex Bowman drafting him. On the final lap, Elliott seized an opportunity. Racing beneath and sliding in front of Keselowski through the first two turns, he assumed the lead. With both Keselowski and Bowman unable to formulate a drafting plan to reel Elliott back in, Elliott maintained the top spot. He led to the frontstretch, scoring his first elusive victory of the year, and celebrating for a second time in front of his home crowd.
On-track qualifying determined the starting lineup on Friday, June 27. Joey Logano notched his first Cup pole position of 2025 with a lap at 178.960 mph in 30.979 seconds. Josh Berry also posted his best qualifying lap at 178.960 mph in 30.979 seconds. However, he was posted to the runner-up starting spot due to being lower in the driver standings compared to Logano.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, pole-sitter Joey Logano gained the first upper hand with a push from teammate Ryan Blaney on the inside lane. This allowed Logano to muscle ahead and move in front of Josh Berry entering the backstretch. Logano and Berry muscled ahead of the field that was stacked amid two drafting lanes through Turns 3 and 4. Logano led the first lap over Berry while teammates Blaney and Austin Cindric battled dead even for third place.
Over the next four laps, the top-three competitors, who included Logano, Berry, and Cindric, managed to pull ahead of the field, running stacked in two drafting lanes. Throughout this process, Logano retained the lead and continued to occupy the top spot through the Lap 10 mark. By then, Berry, Cindric, and Blaney occupied second through fourth, respectively, on the track. Brad Keselowski was in fifth place ahead of Ryan Preece, Zane Smith, Alex Bowman, Cole Custer, and Kyle Larson.
Just past the Lap 20 mark, Logano retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Berry. Blaney, Cindric, and Keselowski continued to follow suit in the top five, respectively. Meanwhile, Chevrolet competitors William Byron and Carson Hocevar carved their way up into the top-10 mark in seventh and ninth, respectively, while Zane Smith dropped out of the top-10 mark.
As a handful of Chevrolet competitors that included Byron, Hocevar, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, and Austin Dillon were mixing up the competition within the top-10 mark, the top-five spots continued to be occupied by Ford competitors, and the event was still led by Logano by Lap 25.
On Lap 37, the event’s first caution flew due to on-track precipitation. At the moment of caution, Logano was scored the leader ahead of Cindric, Berry, Keselowski and Byron. By Lap 43, the field led by Logano was directed to pit road and the event was placed in a red flag period for 14 minutes and 34 seconds. When the red flag lifted and the field returned to the track under a cautious pace, a majority of the field led by Preece pitted for service while the rest led by Logano remained on the track.
The next restart on Lap 48 featured both Logano and Cindric dueling for the lead for a full lap. Cindric, who was leading the outside drafting lane, led the following lap by a mere margin. As the field fanned out to multiple lanes, Cindric gained the upper hand from the outside lane, leading the next two laps. In the process, Cindric tried to go on defensive mode by blocking both teammate Logano on the inside lane and Keselowski from the outside lane. But, Logano would muscle back ahead to reassume the lead on Lap 52.
On Lap 56, the caution flew when Christopher Bell, racing inside the top-10, got sideways on his own in Turn 3. As Bell slid and was hit by Bubba Wallace. Kyle Larson, who was racing behind Bell, also got sideways amid light contact from Austin Dillon. Dillon proceeded to spin down the track and clip Blaney, who hit the Turn 4 outside wall head-on. Allmendinger was also involved in the carnage, making contact with Larson. The rest of the field jammed on the brakes and scrambled to avoid the carnage.
The multi-car wreck in Turn 4 was enough for the first stage period that was scheduled to conclude on Lap 60 to officially conclude under caution. By then, Austin Cindric was awarded his third Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Keselowski settled in second ahead of Logano, Byron, and Carson Hocevar while Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Berry, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Elliott, and Bubba Wallace scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, the event featured five lead changes for three different leaders.
Under the stage break, a majority of the front-runners, led by the leader Cindric, pitted while the rest, led by Chase Ellio,t remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 68 as Elliott and Buescher occupied the front row. At the start, Elliott muscled ahead with a strong launch from the inside lane, leading from the first two turns to the backstretch.
Then as the leaders exited the backstretch, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck. It started when a stack-up at the front caused Denny Hamlin, who was racing in the top 10, to get bumped and spin sideways in the middle of the track. In the ensuing chaos, Hamlin collided with Noah Gragson before sliding back up the track and colliding into Cindric and Berry.
In total, 23 competitors were involved. Among those involved included Ross Chastain, Ryan Preece, Logano, Byron, Daniel Suarez, Carson Hocevar, Ryan Preece, Larson, Chase Briscoe, Corey LaJoie, Cody Ware, Keselowski, Justin Haley, Cole Custer, Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, BJ McLeod and Austin Dillon.
The accident was enough for the event to be placed in a second red flag period for more than nine minutes to have the wreckage cleared. When the latest red flag period lifted, the field led by Chase Elliott returned under a cautious pace. A majority of the front-runners, including Elliott, elected to pit. The rest, led by the new leader Buescher, remained on the track.
When the race restarted on Lap 76, Ty Gibbs and Chris Buescher dueled in front of two-stacked lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. Amid the duel, Gibbs muscled ahead, entering Turns 3 and 4, and led the next lap. Behind, rookie Riley Herbst, who pushed Gibbs, dueled with Buescher for the runner-up spot. Then, van Gisbergen threw a three-wide move to overtake Buescher and battle Herbst for second. As the field fanned out more and jostled for a spot. Gibbs led to the Lap 80 mark as he was pursued by Herbst, Buescher, van Gisbergen and Zane Smith.
At the Lap 90 mark and with the racing at the front intensifying, Buescher, who assumed the lead two laps earlier, was leading. He was ahead of Gibbs, Reddick, Zane Smith, and Chase Elliott. Stenhouse, Gilliland, Bowman, Herbst, and Nemechek were scored in the top 10. Behind, Connor Zilisch, Justin Haley, BJ McLeod, van Gisbergen, and Erik Jones were racing in the top 15 while Keselowski, Preece, Ty Dillon, Larson, and AJ Allmendinger trailed in the top 20.
By Lap 100, Gibbs, who reassumed the lead on Lap 92, was leading ahead of Buescher, Reddick, Herbst and Zane Smith as the top-11 competitors were racing under a second of one another. Three laps later, Stenhouse hit the wall in Turns 3 and 4 after he made contact with Jones, where the former moved up the track and made contact with the latter. Amid Stenhouse’s issues, the driver continued to race straight on the track and the race remained under green flag conditions as Gibbs continued to lead.
Then on Lap 110, the caution flew when rookie Riley Herbst, who was racing in fifth place, got sideways and hit the outside wall in Turns 3 and 4. As Herbst spun, he would be collided into by an oncoming Todd Gilliland. At the moment of caution, Carson Hocevar claimed the free pass position over Wallace. During the caution period, the leaders pitted their respective entries. Following the pit stops, Reddick exited first ahead of Bowman, Haley, Zane Smith, and Buescher while Jones, Ty Dillon, Chase Elliott, Keselowski, and Gibbs followed suit in the top 10.
As the event restarted on Lap 117, Reddick and Bowman engaged in an intense battle for the lead. Reddick led the following two laps since the restart before Bowman assumed the lead for himself by Lap 120. Bowman would proceed to lead by Lap 123 before Buescher carved and challenged the lead for himself.
Despite Buescher leading a single lap on Lap 124, Bowman fought back and held on to the top spot. Bowman proceeded to lead at the halfway mark on Lap 130. Buescher, Reddick, Elliott, and Zane Smith trailed in the top five.
By Lap 140, Buescher, who led eight of the previous 10 laps while battling Bowman, was leading. Bowman, Reddick, Elliott, and Jones followed in the top five. Starting on Lap 141, Bowman assumed the lead. But Elliott navigated to the lead, beginning on Lap 14,7 and led the next two laps before Reddick assumed the top spot on Lap 150.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 160. Reddick, who assumed the lead from Elliott on Lap 158, edged Elliott by a nose to claim his first Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Chase Elliott settled in second place ahead of Buescher, Bowman, and Jones.
Ty Dillon, van Gisbergen, Zane Smith, Nemechek, and Keselowski were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, 22 lead changes for eight different leaders. 21 of 40 starters scored on the lead lap.
During the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Elliott exited pit road first ahead of Buescher, Reddick, Bowman, and Ty Dillon while Nemechek, Keselowski, van Gisbergen, Jones, and Haley followed suit in the top 10.
With 92 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Elliott and Buescher occupied the front row. At the start, Elliott used a push from teammate Bowman on the inside lane to move in front of Buescher entering the backstretch. With Elliott in defensive mode, he would proceed to lead the next lap and the following one with 90 laps remaining while Bowman and Buescher dueled for the runner-up spot in front of a stacked field.
The caution would return with 85 laps remaining due to van Gisbergen spinning on the frontstretch while running inside the top 10. Van Gisbergen’s incident was caused due to contact from Gibbs and Nemechek that turned Nemechek into van Gisbergen and sent the latter spinning. By then, Bowman was leading over Keselowski, Elliott, Buescher, and Jones. During the caution period, some, including the top-three competitors of Bowman, Keselowski, and Elliott, remained on the track while the rest, led by Buescher, pitted.
The next restart with 79 laps remaining featured Bowman receiving a push from teammate Chase Elliott on the inside lane to rocket ahead of Keselowski and lead through first two turns before Elliott got underneath Bowman and dueled with him. Bowman led the next lap and received a big push from Keselowski through the frontstretch to muscle back ahead. Not long after, however, Keselowski dueled with Bowman before he muscled ahead with the lead with 76 laps remaining.
The caution would fly again with 76 laps remaining. Wallace, who received the free pass and cycled back on the lead lap at the conclusion of the second stage period, got loose entering the backstretch. He spun below the track and lightly hit the inside wall while racing in 12th place. During the caution period, some led by Keselowski and including Bowman, Reddick, Chase Elliott, Buescher, Jones pitted. The rest, led by Haley and including Gibbs, Ty Dillon, and Preece, remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Reddick was penalized for driving through too many pit boxes.
The next restart that occurred with 70 laps remaining only lasted four laps before Erik Jones spun in Turn 4. During the following restart with 60 laps remaining, the event remained in green-flag conditions for only two laps before veteran David Starr spun on the frontstretch and had issues nursing his damaged car to pit road.
With the event restarting with 53 laps remaining, Elliott muscled ahead from the outside lane to lead the field before Keselowski got underneath Elliott and led two laps later. In the process, Buescher followed suit, but Elliott dueled with him to retain the runner-up spot. As the field stacked up to two drafting lanes, Keselowski went on defensive mode to fend off both Buescher and Chase Elliott and lead with less than 50 to go.
As the event reached its final 40-lap mark, Keselowski, who led the previous 10 laps, continued to lead ahead of teammate Buescher, Reddick, Haley, and Elliott while Ty Dillon, Gibbs, Bowman, Zane Smith, and Erik Jones trailed in the top 10. Six laps later, the caution returned due to Ty Dillon getting loose, sliding up track and clipping Haley, which sends Haley spinning in front of the field and down the backstretch. During the caution period, some, including the top-five competitors, remained on the track while several led by Stenhouse pitted.
Down to the next restart with 28 laps remaining, Keselowski retained the lead, and he would go into defensive mode as he continued to lead with 25 laps remaining. Despite being overtaken by Zane Smith two laps later, Keselowski reassumed the lead during the following lap and he proceeded to lead with 20 laps remaining. Bowman then tried to slide in front of Keselowski entering the frontstretch with 18 laps remaining. But Keselowski crossed over and reassumed the lead through the frontstretch during the next lap. Bowman, however, executed another move beneath Keselowski and slid in front of him to muscle ahead and lead with 16 laps remaining.
With 15 laps remaining, Keselowski and Bowman dueled through the frontstretch. Keselowski received a push from Zane Smith to muscle back ahead. Two laps later, Zane Smith assumed the lead as Bowman battled Keselowski for second. Bowman then got beneath Smith and both dueled in front of Keselowski through the first two turns and the backstretch. Keselowski then drafted Ford teammate Smith back ahead entering Turns 3 and 4.
Stenhouse, who spent the previous several laps trying to carve his way back to the front, then darted to the front. He got up to second place behind Smith before Bowman stole the runner-up spot from Stenhouse. Amid the endless battles behind, Smith led with 10 laps remaining before Bowman reassumed the lead on the following lap.
Approaching the final seven-lap mark, Smith and Bowman dueled through the frontstretch. But Stenhouse executed a three-wide move to overtake both entering Turn 1 and take the lead. As Stenhouse led, Keselowski battled Smith for second place in front of Reddick and Elliott. Bowman dropped to sixth place. Keselowski then challenged and overtook Stenhouse to reassume the lead with six laps remaining.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Keselowski remained in the lead ahead of Hendrick Motorsports’ Elliott and Bowman. Entering Turn 1, Elliott, who had been drafted by teammate Bowman, made his move beneath Keselowski through the first two turns. He then slid up in front of Keselowski to assume the lead entering the backstretch.
With Keselowski being pressured by Bowman for the runner-up spot, Elliott managed to fend off the competition through the final set of turns. Elliott then cruised back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by a tenth of a second over both Keselowski and Bowman.
With the victory, Chase Elliott notched his 20th career win in NASCAR’s premier series. It was also his second at Atlanta and his first since he won at Texas Motor Speedway in April 2024. The victory was the seventh of the year for the Chevrolet nameplate and the fifth for Hendrick Motorsports.
In addition, Elliott, who notched his first victory at his home track in Atlanta since July 2022, became the 12th competitor overall to notch a guaranteed berth to the 2025 Cup Series Playoffs by winning a regular-season event.
The victory was an emotional one for Elliott, who sported a special blue, white, red and orange scheme to his No. 9 NAPA/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet entry. The scheme, which was labeled a “DESI9N TO DRIVE” scheme was part of an initiative by the Chase Elliott Foundation in collaboration with NAPA and Hendrick Motorsports to sport a paint scheme design by a pediatric cancer patient for Elliott’s suit and entry.
“Unbelievable,” Elliott said on the frontstretch on TNT. “How about that? Are you kidding me? I’ve never in my life. This is unbelievable. 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. Thank you [fans] so much.”
“Well, I just think that, honestly, all the cards fell on the right places there those last couple laps,” Elliott added. “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.”
Brad Keselowski, who led 46 laps, settled in second place. It was his highest-finishing result of the 2025 season and his second top-five result of this year.
“[Elliott] just had [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.”
Alex Bowman, who led 32 laps, settled in third place while Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones finished in the top five. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Zane Smith, Ty Dillon, Chris Buescher, and Carson Hocevar completed the top 10 in the final running order.
*Following the first round of NASCAR’s newly formed In-Season Tournament that consisted of 32 competitors and eliminated half of the field, the following competitors will contend in the second In-Season Tournament next weekend at the Chicago Street Course: Chase Elliott, John Hunter Nemechek, Chris Buescher, Zane Smith, Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Preece, Noah Gragson, Brad Keselowski, Ty Dillon, Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tyler Reddick and Carson Hocevar.
The Atlanta race featured 46 lead changes for 13 different leaders, and 10 cautions for 68 laps. In addition, 21 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 18th event of the 2025 Cup Series season, William Byron leads the regular-season standings by 37 points over teammate Chase Elliott, 42 over teammate Kyle Larson, 80 over both Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell, and 98 over Tyler Reddick.
Results:
1. Chase Elliott, 41 laps led
2. Brad Keselowski, 46 laps led
3. Alex Bowman, 32 laps led
4. Tyler Reddick, 18 laps led, Stage 2 winner
5. Erik Jones
6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap led
7. Zane Smith, five laps led
8. Ty Dillon
9. Chris Buescher, 15 laps led
10. Carson Hocevar
11. Connor Zilisch
12. AJ Allmendinger
13. Cody Ware
14. Ty Gibbs, 32 laps led
15. Ryan Preece, three laps led
16. BJ McLeod
17. Kyle Larson
18. Michael McDowell
19. Cole Custer
20. Austin Dillon
21. Kyle Busch
22. Bubba Wallace, two laps down
23. Justin Haley, three laps down, three laps led
24. Shane van Gisbergen, three laps down
25. Noah Gragson, eight laps down
26. John Hunter Nemechek, 19 laps down
27. Todd Gilliland, 23 laps down
28. Riley Herbst, 37 laps down, one lap led
29. David Starr – OUT, Accident
30. Christopher Bell – OUT, Steering
31. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Accident
32. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident
33. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident
34. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident
35. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident
36. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident, 51 laps led
37. William Byron – OUT, Accident
38. Austin Cindric – OUT, Accident, 12 laps led, Stage 1 winner
39. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident
40. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the third annual Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course in Downtown Chicago for the second In-Season Tournament. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 6, and air at 2 p.m. ET on TNT.
