Cup Series: Elliott storms to victory in competitive Atlanta race

Written by Sean McKean

Credit: Krista Gasso / Getty Images

In one of the most thrilling races of the season, Chase Elliott broke a winless streak dating back to April 2024 by winning his home race in Atlanta, Georgia. This is Elliott’s first win at Atlanta since July 2022.

As it unfolded

From pole position, Joey Logano took the lead with help from teammate Ryan Blaney. After only two laps, the top four was entirely controlled by Penske – the top seven from Fords in general.

With Atlanta requiring a better-handling car than other traditional superspeedways, teams who set up their cars right began driving to the front. These drivers included Carson Hocevar, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman.

After a while of sitting fifth in line, Brad Keselowski moved into second by Lap 33. 

Right as Keselowski made the move on Josh Berry for second, a sprinkle over the track brought out the first caution of the night. This subsequently brought out the red flag.

Following a thirty-minute red flag, half of the field came into the pits. Kyle Busch came out first in this group followed by Ryan Preece and Ty Dillon.

Logano and Austin Cindric led the field away on Lap 49. With help from Keselowski, Cindric took the lead on the outside line. 

Only four laps remained in the stage when Keselowski made a move on the outside to take the lead. Right after, Christopher Bell, Austin Dillon and Ryan Blaney were collected in a crash off Turn 4. This virtually ended the night for Bell whilst the other two continued on. Kyle Larson and Connor Zilisch also sustained minor damages.

This caution brought Stage 1 to a close. Cindric took victory followed by Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano.

Stage 1 Results:

1. No. 2 - Austin Cindric (Team Penske)

2. No. 6 - Brad Keselowski (RFK Racing)

3. No. 22 - Joey Logano (Team Penske)

4. No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)

5. No. 77 - Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports)

6. No. 47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Hyak Motorsports)

7. No. 21 - Josh Berry (Wood Brothers Racing)

8. No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing)

9. No. 88 - Shane van Gisbergen (Trackhouse Racing)

10. No. 9 - Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)

Most drivers took the opportunity to come down pit road. Shane van Gisbergen came out first ahead of Trackhouse teammates Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez. The new top three shook out as Chase Elliott, Chris Buescher and Justin Haley – the three of which having stayed out.

Elliott led the way on the restart, but a gargantuan crash unfolded on the backstretch, after Denny Hamlin was caught in the middle of an accordion-effect crash. This crash collected 23 cars, which obviously brought out the second red flag of the day.

Credit: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

After a brief red flag, a few drivers came down pit road – mainly the drivers who stayed out following the stage break.

Chris Buescher and Ty Gibbs led the Lap 77 restart. Gibbs utilised the outside line to secure the lead ahead of Buescher and Riley Herbst. But, a bunch of swapping throughout the field saw Gibbs lose the lead to Herbst, Tyler Reddick and many others. 

Nonetheless, Gibbs found his way to the lead and held it for good by Lap 100.

More contenders struck issues on Lap 103. Off of Turn 4, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Erik Jones brushed the wall after snapping loose. Stenhouse suffered a tyre rub whilst Jones drove away seemingly undamaged. The green flag remained out.

Stenhouse got a freebie, however, as Riley Herbst brought out the caution shortly thereafter on Lap 111. A spin from Herbst in Turn 4 saw him collect Todd Gilliland, both of which driving away with broken toe links.

Everyone took to the pits under this caution. Reddick won the race out of pit road followed by Alex Bowman and Justin Haley.

Reddick, with help from Haley, cleared Bowman and took the lead on the Lap 118 restart. However, Bowman took a monster run one lap later to take the lead for himself. Buescher then drew alongside for a number of laps before eventually relinquishing to Bowman on Lap 127.

Lap-after-lap of tense tussles for position, the second stage was eventually won by Tyler Reddick. He was followed, by a few-thousandths, from Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher.

Stage 2 Results:

1. No. 45 - Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing)

2. No. 9 - Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)

3. No. 17 - Chris Buescher (RFK Racing)

4. No. 48 - Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports)

5. No. 43 - Erik Jones (Legacy Motor Club)

6. No. 10 - Ty Dillon (Kaulig Racing)

7. No. 88 - Shane van Gisbergen (Trackhouse Racing)

8. No. 42 - John Hunter Nemechek (Legacy Motor Club)

9. No. 38 - Zane Smith (Front Row Motorsports)

10. No. 6 - Brad Keselowski (RFK Racing)

As anticipated, everyone took to the pits during the stage break. Elliott came out first ahead of Buescher and Reddick.

Elliott kept the lead on the Lap 169 restart. But a faulty push from Buescher took away all momentum the No. 9 car had, allowing Bowman into the lead once again.

When Bowman took the lead, the caution came back out on Lap 176. After receiving a tap from John Hunter Nemechek, Shane van Gisbergen went for a spin down the frontstretch. Aside from a broken toe link, Van Gisbergen drove away relatively unscathed.

Since it would be possible to make it to the end on fuel if the race continued green, all but four cars came down pit road. Justin Haley came out first of this bunch ahead of Buescher and Reddick. Bowman, Keselowski and Elliott stayed out.

Bowman decisively got the jump to take the lead on Lap 182.

Just before the battle for the lead began to heat up, Bubba Wallace brought out the caution again on Lap 186. This happened after Wallace snapped loose off Turn 2 and hit the inside wall. Although damaged, he drove away from the accident – his second of the day after being involved in the monumental 23-car crash.

The cars who didn’t pit prior came down pit road this time. Notably, Tyler Reddick was given a penalty for driving through too many pit boxes.

Haley and Gibbs led the way on Lap 191. Gibbs quickly took control up front.

Only five laps later, the caution came out once more. Erik Jones went for a spin in Turn 4 and kept it off the wall. He drove away with two flat tyres.

Elliott led the field with only 60 laps remaining, but Brad Keselowski – and RFK Racing as a whole – began peeking ahead for the lead. This was short-lived, as a spin down the frontstretch by David Starr brought out the caution once again.

Elliott controlled the next restart with 53 laps remaining, and Keselowski again snagged the lead one lap later.

As the laps wound down, Ty Dillon took a huge run and merged high before getting the call, causing him to spin Justin Haley down the backstretch. Haley suffered two flat tyres and required a tow back to the pits.

A few drivers – such as Stenhouse and Reddick – took to the pits under this caution. Stenhouse came out first followed by Reddick and Ryan Preece.

Keselowski took to the point with 28 laps to go, but Chase Elliott surged to the lead with help from Alex Bowman. And thus began the constant lead-swapping between the aforementioned two, Zane Smith and Brad Keselowski.

Despite the constant battles to the end, Chase Elliott hung on to take his first win since April 2024. It was Elliott’s second victory at Atlanta.

Provisional Results:

1. No. 9 - Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)

2. No. 6 - Brad Keselowski (RFK Racing)

3. No. 48 - Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports)

4. No. 45 - Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing)

5. No. 43 - Erik Jones (Legacy Motor Club)

6. No. 47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Hyak Motorsports)

7. No. 38 - Zane Smith (Front Row Motorsports)

8. No. 10 - Ty Dillon (Kaulig Racing)

9. No. 17 - Chris Buescher (RFK Racing)

10. No. 77 - Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports)

11. No. 87 - Connor Zilisch (Trackhouse Racing)

12. No. 16 - AJ Allmendinger (Kaulig Racing)

13. No. 51 - Cody Ware (Rick Ware Racing)

14. No. 54 - Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)

15. No. 60 - Ryan Preece (RFK Racing)

16. No. 78 - BJ McLeod (Live Fast Racing)

17. No. 5 - Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports)

18. No. 71 - Michael McDowell (Spire Motorsports)

19. No. 41 - Cole Custer (Haas Factory Team)

20. No. 3 - Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing)

21. No. 8 - Kyle Busch (Richard Childress Racing)

22. No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing) +3 laps

23. No. 7 - Justin Haley (Spire Motorsports) +3 laps

24. No. 88 - Shane van Gisbergen (Trackhouse Racing) +3 laps

25. No. 4 - Noah Gragson (Front Row Motorsports) +8 laps

26. No. 42 - John Hunter Nemechek (Legacy Motor Club) +9 laps [FL]

27. No. 34 - Todd Gilliland (Front Row Motorsports) [DNF]

28. No. 35 - Riley Herbst (23XI Racing) [DNF]

29. No. 66 - David Star (Garage 66) [DNF]

30. No. 20 - Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing) [DNF]

31. No. 11 - Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) [DNF]

32. No. 21 - Josh Berry (Wood Brothers Racing) [DNF]

33. No. 1 - Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Racing) [DNF]

34. No. 99 - Daniel Suarez (Trackhouse Racing) [DNF]

35. No. 19 - Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing) [DNF]

36. No. 22 - Joey Logano (Team Penske) [DNF]

37. No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports) [DNF]

38. No. 2 - Austin Cindric (Team Penske) [DNF]

39. No. 01 - Corey Lajoie (Rick Ware Racing) [DNF]

40. No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske) [DNF]