Although Chase Elliott was the one celebrating in Victory Lane at the end of Saturday’s drafting-style showdown at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway), it was Alex Bowman who played a vital role in securing the win for Hendrick Motorsports.
Bowman finished in the top 10 across all three categories tracked by NASCAR Insights metrics from EchoPark, with his best ranking being third in Restart Rating, enabling the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet to stay competitive during the final-stage restarts. Bowman was one of only two drivers in the top-five finishing order to rank in the top five in the restart category — the other being Elliott.
The other category in which the driver from Tucson, Arizona, shone brightly was his Passing Rating, where he ranked fourth, and it was showcased in those final laps, maneuvering through the field with his Hendrick Motorsports counterpart in the No. 9 Chevrolet and eventually propelling Elliott past Brad Keselowski for the race win.
After helping Elliott to Victory Lane on Saturday, Bowman now becomes the only driver in the Hendrick Motorsports camp who is winless for the 2025 season. Fret not, Bowman fans, the race on the streets of Chicago on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, TruTV, HBO Max, MRN Radio, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio) is where he secured a win last year that put himself in the postseason conversation.
Bowman’s third-place finish at EchoPark also advanced him into the second round of NASCAR’s inaugural In-Season Challenge, eliminating No. 25 seed and defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano. Bowman now squares off against No. 9 seed Bubba Wallace at a track where the two had a slight dustup on the cool-down lap.
Other notables from last weekend’s race:
Zane Smith’s second-place ranking in Restart Rating allowed the driver of the No. 38 to stay up front, being one of three Fords to finish inside the top 10.
Carson Hocevar’s first-place ranking in Passing Rating indicated that, despite the damage from in-race incidents, he was still able to position his car for a top-10 run.
AJ Allmendinger’s ninth-place ranking in Restart Rating put him in position to vault past Michael McDowell and move on to Round 2 in the In-Season Challenge.
Alex Bowman is heading back to the streets of Chicago with the wind in his sails after a third-place finish in Saturday night’s In-Season Challengeopener at EchoPark Speedway. And with three straight top-15 finishes, perhaps Bowman has finally shed the horrible luck he had through the spring after pushing Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott to the win at the track formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway.
NASCAR.com’s Zach Sturniolo ranks the top 20 Cup Series contenders after The Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway and before Sunday’s Chicago Street Race (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Analysis: Welcome back to Victory Lane, Mr. Consistency. The man with the best average finish in the NASCAR Cup Series (10.3) finally has a win to go along with it after a last-lap pass on Brad Keselowski for his second win at his hometown track. The No. 9 team has been hot lately and heads to Chicago with three straight top-five finishes after snapping a 44-race winless streak. The city streets have been hit-or-miss for Elliott in NASCAR’s two trips — third in 2023 and 21st in 2024 — but with seven career road-course wins, Elliott is still the series’ current road-course king. And oh by the way — Elliott is the only race winner this year to advance to Round 2 of the In-Season Challenge.
Analysis: By the No. 5 team’s (unrealistically high) standards, the last month and a half has been a roller coaster for Larson. In six races since winning on May 11 at Kansas, Larson has three top 10s and two finishes of 36th or worse with zero laps led since the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend at Charlotte. He was caught in a couple of melees in Saturday’s calamity at Atlanta but recovered enough for a 17th-place finish. The good news is he was very good in his street-racing debut at Chicago in 2023 and finished fourth. The bad news is the rain got the best of him in 2024, leading to a head-on collision with the tire barriers en route to a 39th-place finish last year.
Analysis: Another team that’s a victim of its own success is the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team with driver Byron. The scoresheet doesn’t tell the full picture here. Yes, he has now finished 27th or worse in three of the last four races. But the Cup Series points leader led 98 laps at Michigan just four races ago and was just two laps of fuel short of scoring his second win of the season, instead finishing 28th after needing to hit pit road. Strategy gone wrong at Pocono and the ‘Big One’ at EchoPark have ultimately cost Byron significant points in his chase for the regular-season championship, but the Chicago Street Course offers a reset for the No. 24 team, which has finished 13th (2023) and eighth (2024) in two starts.
Analysis: Hamlin’s white-hot streak of top-three finishes cooled off pretty abruptly when his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was turned to trigger the 19-car melee at EchoPark on Saturday night. With 57 career Cup wins, Hamlin has proven he can win just about anywhere. But in 57 combined starts across road courses and street courses, Hamlin has just one victory — a Watkins Glen win in 2016. Still, Hamlin qualified on pole for the inaugural Chicago Street Race in 2023, so maybe the vet still has some tricks up his sleeve.
Analysis: A fourth-place finish at EchoPark was exactly what Reddick needed. That marked the No. 45 team’s first top five since Darlington back in April and only its second top 10 within that 10-race stretch. The defending regular-season champion could use a turn of momentum here and he just might get it, returning to the streets of Chicago where he finished second one year ago — which could be bad news for his next opponent in the In-Season Challenge, No. 26 seed Carson Hocevar.
Analysis: The last stretch of races have been relatively quiet for Bell and Co., who have finished 16th or worse in three of the past four races. The one exception? A runner-up result at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, the most recent road course on the schedule. It sure doesn’t hurt that Bell is averaging a 1.5 finish on road courses this year after his March win at Circuit of The Americas. The question remains, though, whether he can score his first Chicago top 10 this weekend.
Analysis: The steady climb up the leaderboard continues for Buescher, who now sits ninth in the regular-season standings. In fact, according to Racing Insights, nobody has scored more points across the past five races than Buescher and the No. 17 RFK Racing team with 183 points scored in that frame. Buescher heads to Chicago with four straight top 10s behind him, eyeing yet another one ahead at another road course, where Buescher has been excellent. He’ll also have extra incentive this weekend as Buescher goes head-to-head with Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith in Round 2 of the In-Season Challenge.
Analysis: Even with a win and two top fives in his last five races, it feels like there is just no luck lately for the No. 12 team. Blaney finished shotgun on the field Saturday night after a wreck at Lap 57 ended his night early for his sixth DNF of the year. Chicago was decent for him a year ago with a 10th-place finish, and things aren’t all bad for the 2023 Cup champ: Blaney has scored the fifth-most points of all drivers over the past five races.
Analysis: The Pocono winner had nowhere to go at Atlanta when the field wrecked in front of him, relegating Briscoe to a 35th-place finish at EchoPark Speedway and ousting the No. 2 seed from the In-Season Challenge in an upset to No. 31 Noah Gragson. Road and street courses typically haven’t been Briscoe’s forte in years past, but he has fit into the No. 19 JGR team well in two efforts so far this year, finishing 14th at COTA and seventh in Mexico City. There’s a chance his first Chicago top 10 is next.
Analysis: It’s been a tough few weeks for Chastain with three straight finishes outside the top 15, and two straight beneath the top 25 with just 15 total points scored in the past two weeks. Deuces are wild, though, because in two starts at Chicago, Chastain has finished 22nd both times. Maybe he breaks that streak this time around.
Analysis: Bowman has finally put the doldrums of spring in his rearview mirror. After a dismal spell that featured seven finishes of 27th or worse in nine weeks, Bowman has turned things around with two top fives in the last three races, separated only by an 11th-place finish at Pocono. The No. 48 Hendrick Chevy has led 15 or more laps in each of the last two races and netted 41 points exactly in two of the past three events. Bowman still sits 15th in the playoff standings, only 39 points above the provisional elimination line, but the best news for him is the next track on the schedule is the Chicago Street Course, where he won in 2024 to snap an 80-race winless drought. Can he end a 34-race spell this time around?
Analysis: In recent years, EchoPark has treated Logano pretty wonderfully. Not Saturday night. The No. 22 Team Penske Ford was another one of the many drivers collected in the ‘Big One,’ dropping Logano to a 36th-place finish — his fifth finish of 16th or worse in the past six races. It’s hard to say whether his fate his due to change in Chicago, where he finished eighth in Year 1 but 23rd in Year 2.
Analysis: EchoPark was fairly forgettable for Wallace after a 22nd-place finish, but now the focus shifts to the streets of Chicago, where Wallace had a strong run going in 2024 until late contact with Bowman cost the No. 23 Toyota critical track position. While Bowman scurried to the win, Wallace finished 13th that day. In a wonderful coincidence, No. 9 seed Wallace and No. 8 seed Bowman now head to Chicago as In-Season Challenge rivals for Round 2 of the bracket-style tournament.
Analysis: Despite spinning through the ‘Big One,’ Preece left EchoPark Speedway with another solid day in the No. 60 RFK Racing entry and escaped with a 15th-place finish, his sixth top 15 in the past seven races. Preece is on track for his best career average finish at 17.8, three full positions better than his previous best of 20.8 set in 2023. He was 15th that year in Chicago, too. And his current RFK Racing team with crew chief Derrick Finley charged to a fourth-place result with driver Joey Hand in last year’s street race.
Analysis: Jones and Legacy Motor Club continue to impress with a mighty charge up the standings leaderboard in full swing. After finishing fifth at EchoPark, Jones is averaging an 11.0 finish across the past six races, and according to Racing Insights, has scored the fourth-most points of any driver in the last five races. Jones was 29th in points leaving Kansas Speedway on May 11. He enters Chicago 16th in the standings — a 13-spot leap — second beneath the provisional elimination line to the playoffs by 49 points.
Analysis: Another quiet and steady week at EchoPark left Allmendinger 12th at the checkered flag for his sixth straight finish of 21st or better. The No. 16 Kaulig Racing crew still has work to do to make the postseason, entering Chicago with Allmendinger as the third driver outside the provisional playoff field by 59 points. But two road courses are directly in front of Allmendinger, a road-course ace. And there’s no better way to make a dent in your postseason dreams than by winning now to clinch a playoff spot early.
Analysis: EchoPark Speedway proved to be a step backward for Cindric, an unusual result considering his past prowess on the Georgia high banks. Of course, it was no fault of his own after the field wrecked in front of him. But the No. 2 team’s results have been quite up and down lately: In the eight races since winning at Talladega Superspeedway, Cindric has four top 20s and four finishes of 25th or worse. That victory means he doesn’t have to worry about points, but he and his team would love to build some consistency over the next eight weeks in the buildup to the playoffs.
Analysis: Similarly to Cindric, Berry doesn’t have a ton of momentum on his side heading to the streets of Chicago. The No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team has three finishes of 30th or worse in its last five starts — but that’s coupled with four finishes of 12th or better in their last seven races. Road courses have never been great for Berry, who finished 26th at both COTA and Mexico City this year, so these next two weeks could be tough for this spring’s Las Vegas winner.
Analysis: EchoPark wasn’t a horrible day for Busch, but he’s sure had better ones after a 21st-place result and a spin into the wall during the ‘Big One.’ That marks three straight weeks finishing 20th or worse for Rowdy as he falls to 21st in the provisional playoff standings, 72 points beneath the elimination line. But fear not, Rowdy Nation: Chicago could be the place he turns things around. The streets have been surprisingly kind to Kyle, who has finished fifth and ninth in his two visits to the Windy City.
Analysis: SVG found himself in trouble at EchoPark a couple of times but persevered for a 24th-place finish. The oval results aren’t great as the rookie still finds his footing there, but this weekend returns Van Gisbergen to his street-course roots. He wowed the stock-car world in 2023, winning his Cup Series debut in NASCAR’s first trip to the city streets and reminding everyone in Mexico City he’s just as good now as he’s ever been. Don’t be surprised if Van Gisbergen storms to his second Chicago win Sunday afternoon.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads back to the “Windy City” for the third annual Grant Park 165. This Sunday, Round 2 of the In-Season Challenge will also take place at the Chicago Street Course, where 16 drivers will compete head-to-head to advance and keep their $1 million hopes alive (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Current Truck Series points leader Corey Heim is back behind the wheel of the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota for his third Cup Series start of 2025. Xfinity Series standout Austin Hill also returns to the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet for a double-duty weekend. Reigning Supercars champion Will Brown will drive the No. 13 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, and Katherine Legge will pilot the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet. Josh Bilicki will be in the No. 66 Ford as well this weekend.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to the streets of Chicago for The Loop 110 (Sat., 4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), kicking off a two-week stretch of road-course tests for the series.
Shane van Gisbergen, winner of the inaugural Cup race on the Chicago Street Course in 2023, will return to the Xfinity Series ranks this weekend, piloting the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Forty cars have entered the race, meaning two teams will fail to qualify.
Four new Craftsman Truck Series races have been added to the NASCAR Classics Library, all of which had been dubbed by fans throughout the years as “lost races.”
These events have not appeared online anywhere due to various reasons, including rain delays and local affiliate obligations.
Headlining the list of lost footage is the 1996 DeVilbiss Superfinish 200 at Nazareth Speedway, the inaugural Truck Series race at the Pennsylvania track. The event was held on June 30, 1996, exactly 29 years ago.
The race was held on a Sunday afternoon as the Cup Series was on an off-weekend before heading to Daytona International Speedway for its annual Fourth of July bash. The Xfinity Series was also on the schedule, but up in New York, taking on the twists and turns of Watkins Glen International.
It created a star-studded field for the Truck Series event. Many Cup Series drivers were in the Truck Series field, including Jeff Burton, Johnny Benson Jr., Geoff Bodine, Ken Schrader and Rusty Wallace.
Wallace was making his Truck Series debut, driving a No. 22 truck that was nearly identical to his Cup Series ride. He entered the field as a favor to his car owner, Roger Penske, to help sell tickets; Penske owned the speedway.
Former Cup Series star Harry Gant, who will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2026, was also in the field as part of his part-time Truck Series schedule. Gant retired from Cup Series competition in 1994.
Rain plagued the event throughout the day, drenching the jam-packed grandstands. The race eventually started under yellow-flag conditions, but the skies kept opening up and halting the event before it was finally called after 152 of the 200 laps were complete.
Jack Sprague, who raced the No. 24 truck for Rick Hendrick, captured the second victory of his career, en route to a five-win season. Jimmy Hensley, Butch Miller, Burton and Ron Hornaday Jr. rounded out the top five.
The other lost races added to the Library include the 1997 Hanes 250 from Martinsville Speedway, the 1998 Chevy Trucks NASCAR 150 from Phoenix Raceway and the 1999 NAPA 250 at Martinsville Speedway.
The 1999 event at Martinsville was won by Hensley, who at the time raced the No. 43 truck for Richard Petty. It helped kick off a memorable weekend for Petty at the legendary track, as John Andretti took Petty and the famed No. 43 car to Victory Lane in the Cup Series race the following day.
These races are all now available to watch for free, alongside over 1,500 other Cup, Xfinity and Truck series events.
Chase Elliott and Nick Sanchez each won their way into their respective series’ playoffs last weekend at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta. Now, another wild-card race looms this weekend at the Chicago Street Course that could bring more changes to the postseason field.
As a reminder: A win clinches a playoff spot for full-time drivers in all three series, and it’s the simplest path to the postseason. The remainder of the postseason field — 16 drivers in Cup, 12 in Xfinity and 10 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series — is determined by points earned over the regular season.
Read on to see full playoff standings and key battles in each of NASCAR’s three national series.
Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott was firmly in the field on points, but his electric EchoPark Speedway victory cements his status in the postseason. There are now 12 drivers with wins in the Cup Series. Back-to-back races at Chicago’s street course and the winding Sonoma Raceway present opportunities for others below the elimination line to steal a bid with a win.
Drivers provisionally qualified for playoffs with a win (12): Kyle Larson (three wins), Denny Hamlin (three wins), Christopher Bell (three wins), William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Shane van Gisbergen, Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain.
Winless drivers more than 100 points above the elimination line (one): Tyler Reddick (+128).
Biggest movement: Alex Bowman aided in pushing teammate Chase Elliott to the win at Atlanta, although the No. 48 team could still use a win itself. Bowman’s third-place run, though, combined with a chaotic series of wrecks allowed him to move from +20 to +39.
Note: Drivers in bold have provisionally clinched a playoff spot by virtue of winning. There are eight races remaining in the regular season.
Rank
Driver
Cutoff
1
Kyle Larson
3 WINS
2
Denny Hamlin
3 WINS
3
Christopher Bell
3 WINS
4
William Byron
WIN
5
Ryan Blaney
WIN
6
Austin Cindric
WIN
7
Joey Logano
WIN
8
Chase Briscoe
WIN
9
Josh Berry
WIN
10
Shane van Gisbergen
WIN
11
Chase Elliott
WIN
12
Ross Chastain
WIN
13
Tyler Reddick
+128
14
Chris Buescher
+52
15
Alex Bowman
+39
16
Bubba Wallace
+23
ELIMINATION LINE
17
Ryan Preece
-23
18
Erik Jones
-49
19
AJ Allmendinger
-59
20
Carson Hocevar
-62
21
Kyle Busch
-72
22
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
-73
23
Michael McDowell
-77
24
John Hunter Nemechek
-82
25
Ty Gibbs
-86
26
Zane Smith
-91
27
Austin Dillon
-114
28
Brad Keselowski
-122
29
Todd Gilliland
-123
30
Daniel Suarez
-129
31
Justin Haley
-149
32
Ty Dillon
-154
33
Noah Gragson
-171
34
Cole Custer
-191
35
Riley Herbst
-222
36
Cody Ware
-295
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
Big Machine Racing driver Nick Sanchez jumped from out of the playoff field to lock in with his thrilling Friday night victory. That comes at the expense of at-large hopefuls Sheldon Creed and Ryan Sieg, who dropped in the standings and find themselves tied for the final spot as it stands.
Drivers provisionally qualified for playoffs with a win (7): Justin Allgaier (three wins), Austin Hill (three wins), Connor Zilisch (two wins), Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Jesse Love and Nick Sanchez.
Winless drivers more than 100 points above the elimination line (one): Sam Mayer (+136).
Biggest movement: Carson Kvapil gained 20-plus points to move a full race ahead of the elimination line … Taylor Gray’s strong top-five run moved him firmly off the “last driver in” position.
Note: Drivers in bold have provisionally clinched a playoff spot by virtue of winning. There are nine races remaining in the regular season.
Rank
Driver
Cutoff
1
Justin Allgaier
3 WINS
2
Austin Hill
3 WINS
3
Connor Zilisch
2 WINS
4
Brandon Jones
WIN
5
Sammy Smith
WIN
6
Jesse Love
WIN
7
Nick Sanchez
WIN
8
Sam Mayer
+136
9
Carson Kvapil
+63
10
Taylor Gray
+28
11
Jeb Burton
+20
12
Sheldon Creed
+0
ELIMINATION LINE
13
Ryan Sieg
-0
14
Harrison Burton
-1
15
Christian Eckes
-51
16
Daniel Dye
-52
17
Dean Thompson
-53
18
Brennan Poole
-99
19
Jeremy Clements
-105
20
Josh Williams
-126
21
Anthony Alfredo
-144
22
Matt DiBenedetto
-157
23
William Sawalich
-177
24
Kyle Sieg
-192
25
Parker Retzlaff
-195
26
Blaine Perkins
-202
27
Ryan Ellis
-206
28
Kris Wright
-256
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES
Corey Heim doesn’t need to worry about making the postseason field, but his Lime Rock Park victory stacks more playoff points and nearly assures him of the top seed.
Drivers provisionally qualified for playoffs with a win (7): Corey Heim (five wins), Chandler Smith (two wins), Layne Riggs, Tyler Ankrum, Daniel Henric, Stewart Friesen and Rajah Caruth.
Biggest movement: Reigning series champion Ty Majeski has gone from being on the bubble to firmly +38, which gives him some breathing room. He’d drop below the elimination line, though, should anyone below him in the standings win their way in.
Note: Drivers in bold have provisionally clinched a playoff spot by virtue of winning. There are three races remaining in the regular season.
NORTH WOODSTOCK, N.H. — Entering Sunday’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at White Mountain Motorsports Park, it had been nearly two years since Kyle Bonsignore last visited Victory Lane.
It wasn’t a stat he was particularly proud of, so he set out to do something about it.
Bonsignore dominated the Thunder in the Mountains 200 at White Mountain on Sunday, taking the lead for the final time with fewer than 20 laps left and holding off a challenge from Stephen Kopcik to register the third Modified Tour victory of his career.
The race was the first Modified Tour event held at White Mountain Motorsports Park since 2020 and only the third at the track in the history of the series.
“Before Riverhead, Andy up in the booth told me it was 22 months since my last win,” Bonsignore said. “I guess we just stuck it in there because it’s still June. Hopefully it’s only 22 days or something before the next one.”
Starting third, Bonsignore was quick to assert himself as a contender Sunday at White Mountain. He took the lead from polesitter Jake Johnson on Lap 31 and held the lead until the second caution flag of the night waved for a multi-car crash in Turn 2 on Lap 175.
Like most of the field, Bonsignore opted to to hit pit road for a fresh left-rear tire during the caution period. The lone holdout was Trevor Catalano, who stayed on track and inherited the race lead.
Lining up on the front row to Catalano’s outside, Bonsignore wasted little time regaining the lead. He slipped to Catalano’s inside on Lap 189 to grab the top spot, but he suddenly found a fast closing Kopcik in his mirror as the final laps clicked away.
Kopcik got to Bonsignore’s bumper and hounded him for the final five laps, but he couldn’t find a way past. Bonsignore crossed under the checkered flag to capture the victory by 0.172 seconds ahead of Kopcik, who matched his career-best finish of second.
Kyle Bonsignore celebrates after winning the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Thunder in the Mountains 200 at White Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, New Hampshire on Saturday, July 29, 2025. (Photo: Jaiden Tripi/NASCAR)
“After that last caution we took a left rear (tire). It was a lot of, you know, how far back, what’s their lap time, what’s their line. My spotter did an awesome job letting me know,” said Bonsignore, who became the sixth different winner through the first six NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events this season. “It was close. We might not have made the right call on the tire. I don’t know, but it worked out good. I can’t complain.”
The runner-up finish for Kopcik was his second of the season and came after a difficult race two weekends ago at Riverhead Raceway. He finds himself fourth in the series standings, 11 points behind championship leader Justin Bonsignore with 10 races left in the 2025 campaign.
“Towards the end of that run I think we were both just doing the best we could with what we had as far as laps on our tires,” said Kopcik. “I couldn’t be happier. We had some ups and downs today. The guys worked hard and stuck with it. To come out second that close to a win, you can’t complain about that.”
Polesitter Johnson finished third after leading the first 30 laps. Matt Hirschman continued a recent string of strong finishes in fourth, with Austin Beers overcoming a late incident to finish fifth. Craig Lutz, Luke Baldwin, Catalano, Jon McKennedy and Justin Bonsignore completed the top 10.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season continues on Saturday, July 12 with the running of the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 at Lancaster Motorplex. The green flag will wave at 8:30 p.m. ET live on FloRacing.
HAMPTON, Ga. — As elation and emotion encapsulated the Georgia night sky, Chase Elliott was at the forefront.
For the 29-year-old Dawsonville, Georgia native, the opportunity to capture a storybook victory was apparent at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway). Following masterful navigation around the drafting 1.54-miler, Elliott did just that, wheeling an electric last-lap pass en route to an under-the-lights dub at his hometown track Saturday evening.
The 2020 Cup champion has won at his home track before, scoring a dramatic victory back in 2022. But the atmosphere after his win Saturday as fans rallied around the sport’s most popular driver was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Usually stoic, reserved and poised, Elliott was overcome with exhilaration, throwing his fists skyward and soaking in the roar of the crowd as fireworks exploded behind him. Moments later, he was walking into the grandstands to soak in the win together with his fellow Georgians.
After 44 races without a win, after near-misses and heartbreak along the way, Chase Elliott was headed back to Victory Lane in the state that raised him.
“It was just truly a pretty surreal moment,” Elliott said. “I mean … I don’t even know. I’m not even sure that anything has ever matched that. That was just crazy. I’ve never been on stage and been a singer or anything like that, but I would have to imagine it’d have to feel something like that. It was just such an incredible experience.”
There have been frustrations along the way. Though the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet netted race-contending results, race-winning ones had lacked; since his April 2024 win at Texas Motor Speedway, Elliott entered Saturday’s Atlanta bout without a points-paying win in nearly 15 months. Finishes showed promise — Elliott tallied 13 top-five finishes during that stretch and finished all 17 prior races of 2025 inside the top 20 — but a victory eluded him.
Momentum carried from strong performances in recent weeks, though: Elliott led 19 laps at Michigan International Speedway before fading to 15th, then came back to finish third in Mexico City ahead of a fifth-place effort at Pocono Raceway last week.
Capping that hot streak with such a meaningful victory was the ultimate cherry atop the proverbial sundae as the famed si-reen rang at the Dawsonville Pool Room on Saturday night.
“Grateful to have experienced that,” Elliott said. “Something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Winning at home was incredible the first time. They feel different. But this one, Saturday night under the lights, been a while since we won, getting ourselves a win and advancing up on the playoff (standings). Just all the things that have come with this, that one was up there, for sure.”
Having a friend helped when navigating Atlanta, especially in the case of Alex Bowman, who, similarly to Elliott, also entered Saturday above the elimination line but without a race win to his season ledger. After mostly escaping early-race carnage en route to a potential race lead, Elliott and Bowman aimed to seize control and utilize long-run speed to the checkered flag.
RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski/Chris Buescher tandem had something to say about that, however. The Ford duo (also looking to clinch their respective season-first wins and playoff berths) — battled back and forth with the two Chevys, trading top and bottom lanes on restarts and exchanging drafting positions as the race’s middle stages continued into its final segment. The quartet combined to lead 134 laps, with all four finishing inside the top nine (Keselowski second, Bowman third, Buescher ninth).
It was Bowman who delivered the race-winning push, though, helping send Elliott’s No. 9 to the lead for good on the final lap.
“We’re probably not sitting here without Alex Bowman and the move he made there and the teammate that he was tonight, so just really proud of him and Blake (Harris, No. 48 crew chief) for the car they had,” said Jeff Andrews, Hendrick Motorsports president. “But, you know, ultimately, when you have fast race cars like that, it was kind of clear to us early on that we had a lot of speed in our cars, and you just want to be able to see that through.”
Krista Jasso | Getty Images
Teamwork, well, worked. With the finish, three of the four Hendrick Motorsports machines (Elliott, William Byron, Kyle Larson) have found Victory Lane in 2025, cementing postseason berths for each as the trio controls the top three spots in points. Bowman, meanwhile, sits 15th in the playoff standings and 39 markers to the good, a 19-point uptick compared to where he was entering the weekend.
But that teamwork can be narrowed down to the unity of the No. 9 itself. Each of Elliott’s last two victories have snapped long winless streaks — his Texas victory in 2024 snapped a 42-race skid ahead of the 44-race spell he broke Saturday night. Elliott has worked with crew chief Alan Gustafson for the entirety of his full-time Cup career since 2016, claiming the championship together in 2020. Gustafson’s guidance, Elliott said, is the glue that has kept the No. 9 team from caving through slumps, such as missing the playoffs just two years ago.
“A large part of our group has been the same since I got here,” Elliott said. “Obviously, Alan and I have been working together for 10 years now. There have been some personnel changes here and there. Totally understand that. When you’re fortunate enough to climb the mountain and be able to stand at the top of the mountain with someone, that’s an incredible achievement, right? That’s something that he and I will always cherish and remember that we did that together, right?
“Since then, we have failed to climb that mountain again like we want. We have fallen off of it a few times. For me, it’s really, really important to climb that mountain with the same people that we did the first time and know that we never quit on each other. That’s just a really important piece of the puzzle for me.”
Eight regular-season races remain before postseason play begins, and there’s still ripe opportunity for the Peach State native in Elliott, who will look to fine-tune the current wave of momentum into more race wins.
In other words, a storybook finish could be just the prologue of what could come next.
“I’m just really proud of all of our guys for … just showing up every week and having great attitudes,” Elliott said, “just doing everything in their power to put the car, the product on the race track that they do, the effort they put in going over the wall, the way Alan brings intensity to the race track, calling races, meetings, making sure he’s getting everything out of me. It’s all right there.
“We have such a good, talented group of people that are motivated, good people away from the race track, too. You can’t quit on that.”
