HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Home-state favorite Chase Elliott passed Brad Keselowski on the final lap and won the the crash-filled NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta on Saturday night for his 20th career victory.

Elliott, the popular driver from Dawsonville, Georgia, earned a spot in the NASCAR playoffs with his first victory since April 2024 at Texas. It was his first win in Atlanta since 2022.

“I’ve never in my whole life, this is unbelievable,” Elliott said. “This is something I’ll remember the rest of my life.”

Keselowski was second, followed by Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet teammate, Alex Bowman, and Tyler Reddick. Bowman helped block Keselowski following Elliott’s last-lap pass.

“The 48 and 9 just got together,” Keselowski said, referring to Bowman and Elliott. “… At they end they were able to double-team me.”

Elliott climbed into the stands to celebrate with fans after ending a 44-race winless streak.

“I’m happy for the 9 team,” Bowman said. “It’s a big win for him in his hometown. … I’m glad to have a Hendrick car in victory lane. I wish it was us.”

The race’s second crash early in Stage 2 took out many of the sport’s biggest names and left others with damaged cars. Pole-winner Joey Logano, who led the first 36 laps before light rain forced the first caution, was among the many drivers caught up in the big crash.

Among others knocked out of the race: William Byron, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, Josh Berry, Corey LaJoie and Daniel Suarez.

“It wrecked the whole field,” Logano said. “I still don’t know exactly how it started … but it was total chaos. Cars were sideways and on the brakes. I got hit from every corner possible.”

Added Denny Hamlin, who suffered damage to his Toyota in the crash: “Some zigged. Some zagged. Most crashed.”

The Atlanta race at EchoPark Speedway, formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway, was the debut of the 32-driver In-Season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament.

The parade of highly regarded drivers to be knocked out so early in the race showed the perils of trying to pick NASCAR winners on a March Madness-style bracket sheet. The top two seeds were among the early casualties.

Hamlin, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, finished 31st and lost to Ty Dillon, who finished eighth.

Chase Briscoe, who held off Hamlin for his first win for Joe Gibbs Racing last week at Pocono Raceway, was the No. 2 seed before being knocked out in a crash and losing to Noah Gragson in the tournament.

A $1 million prize awaits the winner as part of a new media rights deal that includes TNT.

Elliott and Keselowski were on the front row when a caution with 33 laps to go forced a decision on whether to pit for fresh tires. Both stayed on the track and Elliott faded following the restart until making his decisive charge at the very end.

Bracket busters

Ryan Blaney, the race favorite according to BetMGM Sportsbook, was knocked out on a wreck late in the first stage. Christopher Bell hit the wall, triggering the crash that ended the stage with Cindric in the lead.

Cindric was involved in the bigger crash early in Stage 2. Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace were among others involved in the crash.

Photo finish

Tyler Reddick beat Elliott to the finish line by .001 seconds to win Stage 2 in a battle between drivers looking for both their first stage win and overall win of the season.

Weather woes

Lightning and rain delayed qualifying Friday and the Xfinity race won by Nick Sanchez late Friday night. More lightning and rain threatened Saturday night’s race. Fans were encouraged to leave the stands about 90 minutes before the race due to severe weather in the area but were allowed to return as pre-race were conducted as planned.

Up next

The Cup Series moves to Chicago for the Chicago Street Race on Sunday, July 6.

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Chase Elliott put on a thrilling show at his hometown track, making a last-lap pass of Brad Keselowski to earn his first victory of the 2025 season and lock into the Cup Series playoffs.

Keselowski finished second EchoPark Speedway (formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway), followed by Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones.

Elliott, who lives in Dawsonville, Georgia, led nine time for 41 laps in his No. 9 Chevrolet, but before leading the final circuit, the seven-time Most Popular Driver most recently had been in first on Lap 225 of 260.

Several contenders were out early after a crashfest at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta.

The 2020 Cup Series champion was among nine drivers who elected to stay on track instead of pit before the final restart with 28 laps remaining. After falling as far as eighth with 10 laps remaining, he charged back to the front with some timely drafting help from Bowman, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, and became the 12th winner of the 2025 Cup season.

“Unbelievable,” Elliott told TNT’s Marty Snider after his second win at the speedway south of Atlanta. “How about that? Are you kidding me? I never in my life. This is unbelievable. Thank you guys so much. What a special car. It was a lot of fun. This right here is something I’ll never forget.”

There were six lead changes in the final 10 laps between Elliott, Keselowski Bowman, Zane Smith and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Keselowski led seven times for 46 laps, including the last five before Elliott snatched the win.

“(Elliott) got a great push from (Bowman),” Keselowski told TNT’s Alan Cavanna. “If those guys would race, I could hold them off, but when they double-teamed me like that, it was the same thing when we had a coupe of teammates, we were able to hold them off. We lost that at the end, and they were able to double-team me. Good effort, led a lot of laps, in position. I don’t think there was anything I could do differently. Just put ourselves in position.

“Every loss hurts. I don’t dwell on it. We’ll go onto next week and try to win.”

Said Bowman: “My car was really good, but I was pretty bottom dependent just with how our handling was. I’d say that win was a little popular, so congrats to the 9 team and Chase. Glad to have a Hendrick car in victory lane. Wish it was us, but we had a really fast 48 after we crashed. Just needed to not lose control of the race. That was hard to do. Everybody that led lost control of the race. I just led at the wrong time, I guess.”

It’s the 20th career Cup victory for Elliott, who ended a 44-race winless streak dating to April 14, 2024 at Texas Motor Speedway.

“I just think that, honestly, all the cards fell on the right places there those last couple laps,” Elliott said. “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. Some great partners… Chevrolet, say hey to Mr. Hendrick at home. Thanks for sticking with me, pal, and yeah, just again, thanks to all you guys because this right here is … you can’t dream of this.”

He was one of only four of 40 drivers who avoided getting in an accident during the 260-lap race whose complexion was significantly altered by an 18-car crash on a Lap 69 restart.

Among those eliminated in the wreck: pole-sitter Joey Logano, In-Season Challenge top seed Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe and William Byron.

The Lap 70 crash involved the top two seeds and several other contenders.

“I don’t know why we see guys pushing like dummies early down the backstretch,” said Corey LaJoie, who finished 39th in his return behind the wheel after five races as a TV analyst on Prime. “I don’t know what we’re doing. We just started the stage. I don’t know why we’re pushing like we’re damn bumper cars at Frankie’s Fun Park, but that’s not to be surprised. I think there are a lot of guys who don’t make wise decisions driving these things on speedways. Unfortunately, we were right smack in the middle of it.”

The cleanup caused the second red flag of the event.

The race was stopped earlier for about 15 minutes after a rain shower on Lap 37.

There were 16 laps remaining in the first stage on the ensuing restart, and the racing turned furious after the red flag. The chaos finally broke loose with four laps remaining in the stage as Christopher Bell lost control of his No. 20 Toyota in a Turn 4 wreck that also collected Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Dillon.

Blaney’s No. 12 Ford was badly damaged, and he was eliminated in last place — his sixth DNF of the season.

“Story of our year: Getting caught up in other people’s garbage,” Blaney said. “As soon as I feel like we get it going pretty good and find some momentum, we never really seem to have things going our way. Tried to flip the stage and was right in the middle of it. Stinks and that’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Blaney endured the worst of a rough night for Team Penske, which also had Logano and Austin Cindric eliminated in wrecks. Josh Berry, whose No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford is prepared by Penske, also was knocked out with crash damage.

Stage 1 winner: Cindric

Stage 2 winner: Reddick

Next up: Sunday, July 6, 2 p.m. ET at the Chicago Street Race on TNT.

In typical Summit Motorsports Park action, NHRA Mission Foods’ top pros kicked off with two rounds of exciting qualifying, including a wild night session under the lights.

The event is No. 10 of 20 races this year in the NHRA Mission Foods Pro series, and it will include Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle, along with the Flexjet NHRA Factory Stock Showdown, the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock class, Holley EFI NHRA Factory X, and 10 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series classes, meaning there will be 17 racers honored with the treasured Norwalk Ice Cream Scoop, as well as an NHRA Wally.

Saturday’s highlights will also include the GETTRX Pro Stock NHRA All-Star Callout in addition to the latest round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, which will pit the semifinal finishers from the recent Richmond event in a race for bonus cash and additional points. These rounds are run concurrently with Saturday qualifying.

On Friday, Justin Ashley powered his SCAG dragster to a 3.752 at 330 mph to earn the pole, barely holding off Antron Brown’s 3.755 and Tony Stewart, who blasted to a 3.755 while blowing up in the lights. In fact, Stewart exploded an engine in grand fashion on the first pass as well. Brittany Force, Shawn Langdon, Dan Mercier, Spencer Massey and Josh Hart rounded out the top eight. Lex Joon sits on the bump.

Veteran Cruz Pedregon was the class of the Funny Car field, delivering the only run in the 3.80s. Pedregon went 3.890 at 318 mph, with Austin Prock not far behind with a 3.900. Stacked behind them are Ron Capps (3.908); Jack Beckman (3.913) and Matt Hagan (3.926). The top half of the field also included Alexis DeJoria, Hunter Green and Dan Wilkerson. Paul Lee ran 4.22 to hold the 16^th spot and there are 21 Funny cars on the property, which means there should be plenty of bumping and shuffling on Saturday.

With three previous wins at Summit Motorsports Park, Greg Anderson will be looking to add a fourth. The reigning champion got off to a good start qualifying his HendrickCars.com/Summit Racing Equipment Camaro on the provisional pole with a 6.594. Anderson was chased by team drivers Dallas Glenn (6.596) and Matt Hartford at 6.604. With a spread of just .018 of a second, you’ll find Greg Stanfield, Eric Latino, Cody Coughlin, Erica Enders and Cory Reed in fourth through eighth respectively.

Saturday’s action ramps up with the GETTRX Pro Stock NHRA All-Star Callout, where eight of the top drivers will race for $40,000! The matchups include Anderson vs Enders; Glenn vs Troy Coughlin Jr.; Hartford vs Latino; and Aaron Stanfield vs Jeg Coughlin Jr.

Matt Smith, who like Anderson is looking for his fourth Norwalk win, leads Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying after two sessions, riding to a 6.824 on his Buell. John Hall, also on a Buell slotted in behind Smith with a 6.832. Also in the 6.80s was Ron Tornow (6.874) followed by the Vance and Hines machine of Gaige Herrera (6.888). Rounding out the top eight was Angie Smith, Richard Gadson, Jianna Evaristo and Marc Ingwersen.

2024 EVENT WINNERS
Antron Brown, Top Fuel; Bob Tasca III, Funny Car; Aaron Stanfield, Pr0 Stock; Gaige Herrera, Pro Stock Motorcycle
.
MOST EVENT VICTORIES
Steve Torrence, 3, TF; Jack Beckman, 3, FC; Greg Anderson and Erica Enders, 3 PS; Matt Smith, 3, PSM

TRACK RECORDS
Top Fuel – 3.666 sec. by Brittany Force, June ‘22; 337.15 mph by Doug Kalitta, June ’24.
Funny Car – 3.853 sec. by Austn Prock, June ’24; 336.82 mph by Bob Tasca III, June ‘24.
Pro Stock –  6.523 sec. by Erica Enders, July ’14; 212.63 mph by Erica Enders, July ’14.
Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.698 sec. by Gaige Herrera, June ‘24; 201.58 mph by M. Smith, June ‘21

NATIONAL RECORDS
Top Fuel – 3.623 sec. by Brittany Force, Sept. ‘19, Reading; 341.59 mph by Brittany Force, April. ‘25, Charlotte
Funny Car – 3.793 sec. by Robert Hight, Aug. ’17, Brainerd; 341.68 mph by Austin Prock, Nov. ’24, Pomona
Pro Stock – 6.443 sec. by Greg Anderson, March ’25, Gainesville, Fla.; 215.55 mph by Erica Enders, May ’14 Englishtown
Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.627 sec. by Gaige Herrera, Oct. ’23, Dallas; 205.04 mph by Matt Smith, July ‘22, Sonoma.

EVENT SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, June 28
Lucas Oil Series eliminations at 8:30 a.m.
GETTRX All-Star Pro Stock Callout opening ceremony at 11:30 a.m.
Mission Foods Pro qualifying session at noon
Mission Foods Pro qualifying session at 2:30 p.m. 

SUNDAY, June 8
Pre-race ceremony at 9:45 a.m.
Mission Foods Series eliminations begin at 11 a.m. 

TELEVISION 

SATURDAY, June 28, FS1 will televise one hour of GETTRX Allstar Pro Stock Callout coverage at 3 p.m.

SUNDAY, June 29, FS1 will televise one hour of qualifying coverage at 11 a.m. (ET)

SUNDAY, June 29, FOX TV will televise three hours of final eliminations coverage at 2 p.m. (ET).

Early in the second stage at Atlanta, complete chaos broke out on Lap 69. John-Hunter Nemechek was running inside the top ten when the race got back underway, but down the back stretch, a bump from Denny Hamlin sent him into the outside wall.

Immediately, cars started spinning and with moments, the entire track was blocked. 23 cars were collected in one of the biggest crashes you will ever see. NASCAR stopped the race as the lengthy cleanup got underway.

It was a shocking accident that turned the race track into a junkyard with 23 cars involved. The following drivers were forced to go behind the wall are completely fell out of the race: Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Corey LaJoie, Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez, Noah Gragson and Josh Berry. Most of them never returned to the track due to the severity of the damage.

Corey LaJoie is running a part-time schedule this year and he had plenty to say after being taken out of the race.

“We see people pushing like dummies early, and then I just come in here and get pushed into it,” said LaJoie after being shown the replay. “I come out of the smoke and every corner on my Mustang was knocked off of it. Unfortunately, that was the end of my day.

“I don’t know what we’re doing. We just started the second stage. I don’t know why we’re pushing like we’re damn bumper cars at Frankie’s fun park. That’s not to be surprised. I think there’s a lot of guys who don’t make wise decisions driving these things on speedways.”

Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, and Denny Hamlin

Photo by: Krista Jasso / Getty Images

Logano, who started the race from pole position, was among those who were unable to continue. 

“I was in the middle of it and I haven’t seen a replay to even know what happened. Cars were sideways and you hit the brakes and everyone is just running into each other. Just a speedway wreck. Wrong place at the wrong time. Tried to win the stage and we couldn’t get that done, and you got to pay the piper when you go to the back there.”

Upon seeing the replay, this was Logano’s reaction: “The whole field wrecked, and I’m just in the soup there. Oh my gosh — look at that. Oh, that’s horrible.” 

He then added with a smile: “Sometimes you’re the ball, sometimes you’re the bat. Tonight we were the ball.”

Briscoe, who won last week’s race at Pocono, said of his race-ending crash: “Yeah, I don’t know how bad our damage was. They were fixing it, and we were about ready to go, and I guess NASCAR came over there and saw that our chassis was broke or bent or something and were like, you can’t go back out. So, kind of a waste of 30 minutes working on it. Just unfortunate night for our Bass Pro Shops Toyota.”

Photos from Atlanta II – Race

While the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion is locked into the playoffs, the year has still been an up-and-down one for Ryan Blaney.

On Lap 58, the intensity was picking up as the field raced toward the end of Stage 1. Christopher Bell ended up losing control, spinning sideways.

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A handful of cars were collected including Bubba Wallace,  AJ Allmendinger and Austin Dillon, but Blaney thought he was going to be okay. However, he got clipped on his way by and took the hardest hit of anyone as the No. 12 Team Penske Ford slammed the outside wall.

He will finish 40th — last place. After being released from the infield care center, Blaney said of the incident: “I couldn’t see much. They kind of started spinning and coming down. I tried to get to the apron and by the time I got there, kind of got blocked.

“Yeah, like you (the reporter) said, the story of our year. Just getting caught up in other people’s garbage. Just when we get it going pretty good and find some momentum, we don’t seem to have things go our way.”

Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, AJ Allmendinger, Christopher Bell crash

The wreck forced the race to opening stage of the race to end under caution. And while Blaney never returned to the race, Bell did, albeit more than 70 laps down.

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A few laps later, NASCAR actually had to red-flag the race after a far bigger incident broke out on the backstretch, collecting 23 cars.

Blaney also failed to finish the races  at Phoenix, Las Vegas, Homestead, Talladega, and Charlotte. Last year, he had seven DNFs throughout the entire season and he’s nearly matched that, halfway through 2025.

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NASCAR halts Atlanta Cup race after huge crash collects half the field

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