Chase Elliott wins at home in action-packed NASCAR Cup race at Atlanta

Chase Elliott has snapped a 44-race winless streak, surviving a chaotic NASCAR Cup race and completing a dramatic last-lap pass to win at his home track in Atlanta, Georgia. 

EchoPark Speedway produced breath-taking action from start to finish, and despite all the carnage, the only battle scar on the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was a donut on the driver’s door. He became the 12th different winner of the 2025 season on Saturday night, locking himself into the 2025 playoffs.

“What a crazy race,” said Elliott, who took the lead with a huge inside pass on the entry into Turn 1. His teammate Alex Bowman helped to ensure Brad Keselowski could never fight back with Keselowski crossing the line in second and Bowman third. 

Elliott’s immediate reaction after capturing the checkered flag: “Unbelievable… unbelievable. How about that? Are you kidding me? I’ve never in my life… This is unbelievable. Thank you guys so much. What a special car and just a huge thanks to NAPA Auto Parts and everything they do for me and to benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Rhealynn Mills designed to fast NAPA Chevrolet tonight, so this was a lot of fun. This right here is something I’ll never forget. Thank you guys so much.”

Tyler Reddick finished fourth and Erik Jones fifth. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Zane Smith, Ty Dillon, Chris Buescher, and Carson Hocevar filled out the remainder of the top ten.

The final stage of the race went green with 92 laps to go and the Hendrick duo of Elliott and Bowman were in control. A few laps into the run, Shane van Gisbergen went for a wild spin through the grass after contact from Ty Gibbs, but he managed to straighten it out. He did lose a few laps in the pits as the team made repairs.

This yellow put the field just outside the fuel window but most of the lead pack chose to pit anyway. However, the trio of Bowman, Elliott, and Keselowski, who were running first through third, chose to stay out.

But fuel was never really a story, as they were far from done with the wrecks. Bubba Wallace, who fought his way back onto the lead lap after an earlier incident, lost control and hit the inside wall on the backstretch. More cautions followed as Jones went for a spin, David Starr stopped on track, and Justin Haley spun with 34 laps to go.

Haley’s incident ended up being the final caution of the race and the final 30 laps produced incredible back-and-forth racing for the lead. Several different drivers took turns out front, but it was Elliott who timed it perfectly at the very end. NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver now has 20 career wins in the Cup Series.

Stages 1 and 2

Photo by: Krista Jasso / Getty Images

The first two stages were non-stop action, except for when light showers caused a 20-minute delay 43 laps into the event.

Ryan Blaney crashed out of the race after Christopher Bell lost control in the middle of the pack. That forced the first stage to end under caution with Austin Cindric out front.

When the second stage went green, the defining moment of the race occurred as a massive 23-car pileup that eliminated several drivers from the race. The wreck forced a brief red flag as they dragged the damaged cars and debris off the track. Pole-sitter Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, and William Byron were just some of the names taken out of the race.

With a far smaller field, the race resumed and the intensity remained high. Riley Herbst and Todd Gilliland crashed out of the event, but this stage would at least end under green-flag conditions. Tyler Reddick claimed the Stage 2 win in a stunning photo finish, beating Elliott by 0.001s.