Chase Elliott wins wild, action-packed Cup Series race at Atlanta
By Reid Spencer for NASCAR.com /
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.
RELATED: Race results
The 29-year-old from Dawsonville, Georgia, advances to the second round of the five-race In-Season Challenge, 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 in 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.
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What a wild finish! That last-lap pass on Keselowski was perfectly timed, and the emotion from Chase says it all. It's like an ai character chat with real drama.