Chase Elliott snapped his NASCAR winless streak with a dramatic win at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon, with the Hendrick Motorsports star sending a message to team boss Rick Hendrick

Chase Elliott issued a heartfelt shoutout to Rick Hendrick with the team boss watching from home as he driver ended his NASCAR winless run.

Elliott snatched an emotional triumph at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta, while driving a special paint scheme. He broke through the chaos to claim victory in a race that saw a huge crash bust brackets for the new In-Season Challenge.

A daring maneuver on the final lap nudged Elliott’s No. 9 past Brad Keselowski, sealing his first win since Texas last April. And he quickly remembered to send a touch message over the airwaves to his loyal team boss watching on screen, before later being passed a phone to presumable speak to Mr Hendrick in Victory Lane.

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“Hey to Mr Hendrick at home. Thanks for sticking with me, pal,” he said during his TNT Sports post-race interview.

Reflecting on snapping a 44-race streak, Elliott said: “Unbelievable. 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.

“I just think that, honestly, all the cars fell in the right places there those last couple of laps. What a crazy race, man!

“I don’t know if y’all had fun but it was wild from my seat, so glad we got to run that thing out there til the end.”

In the euphoric aftermath of his finish line cross, Elliott exploded over the radio with a jubilant: “YESS!” Then followed up with heartfelt praise: “Awesome job, man! Awesome! Thank you guys, so much.”

Crew chief Alan Gustafson was all praise over the radio, declaring: “Awesome job, buddy. Awesome. You’re the man buddy. You’re the man.”

Elliott, feeling the team effort, responded with gratitude: “Awesome. Preciate y’all, man. Thanks for sticking with it.”

This triumph seals their fate in the high stakes playoffs, skyrocketing them as the 10th driver this season to notch a victory and clench a coveted position in the playoffs’ high-octane showdowns.

The NHRA season will continue on Sunday when the world’s top drag racers gather for the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park. This marquee event is a key stop on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series calendar and always delivers the action.

Catch all the action live on FOX and see who powers their way to the winner’s circle.

How to Watch Summit Racing Equipment Nationals

• Date: Sunday, June 29, 2025
• Time: 2:00 PM ET
• Channel: FOX
• Stream: Fubo (Try for free)

The Summit Racing Equipment Nationals marks the halfway point of the 2025 NHRA season, and all four professional categories, Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle, will be in action Sunday in Norwalk, Ohio.

In Top Fuel, Justin Ashley claimed the No. 1 qualifying spot after a tight session. He’ll be joined in the top five by Antron Brown, Tony Stewart, Brittany Force, and Steve Torrence, all looking to make a statement as the championship chase intensifies.

Cruz Pedregon leads the Funny Car field, with Austin Prock and Ron Capps close behind in second and third.

Over in Pro Stock, points leader Greg Anderson is on pole as he tries to win at Summit Motorsports Park for the first time since 2015 and the fourth time overall. Dallas Green qualified second, while Matt Hartford, fresh off a $40,000 win in Saturday’s Pro Stock NHRA All-Star Callout, will start third.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, veteran Matt Smith topped qualifying and will look to add to his three Norwalk wins, the most recent of which came in 2021. Gaige Herrera and John Hall round out the top three.

Catch all the racing action live Sunday on FOX. You can also stream the NHRA season along with NASCAR, ARCA, IndyCar, and Formula 1 on Fubo. Don’t miss a second of the high-octane excitement.

Live stream the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals on Fubo: Start your free trial now!

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Inclement weather, red flags, track-clearing pileups and a last-lap pass by the hometown hero — EchoPark Speedway put on a show for the ages on Saturday night. Some are calling it the best race of the year with non-stop action throughout the pack, even after half the field was collected in a mid-race pileup. 

It was also the first race of the five-week in-season challenge, and most brackets are surely busted already. But with that being said, here’s a look at the biggest winners and losers from this weekend’s thriller in Atlanta:

WINNER: Hendrick teamwork makes the dream work

Watch: Chase Elliott makes last-lap magic to win at EchoPark Speedway

At the end of the Cup race in Atlanta, the RFK teammates lost sight of each other but the Hendrick duo of Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman stuck together. They perfectly timed the final two laps, moving up into second and third and leaving the race little nothing he could do. The No. 6 Ford tried to block, but it wasn’t enough to stop Elliott from completing a last-lap pass for the lead. And any hope Brad Keselowski had of fighting back vanished as Bowman refused to push him, allowing Elliott to snap a 44-race winless streak. 

LOSER: Brad Keselowski loses his golden ticket to the playoffs

Watch: Brad Keselowski talks ‘good effort’ in runner-up finish

The only thing that could save Keselowski’s season at this point is a win. He sits 27th in points and has gone winless this year, but Atlanta was a great opportunity to rectify that. At one point, he had two teammates lined up behind him but by the time the white flag flew, they were nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately, it’s not the first time Keselowski has lost one of these Atlanta races in a last-lap pass.

WINNER: The race track for putting on one of the best shows of the year

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Call it Atlanta Motor Speedway, EchoPark Speedway, or whatever you want. It doesn’t change the fact that it just put on one incredible show. Even a 23-car pileup couldn’t slow down the action as the lead changed 46 times. Five different drivers led the race in the final ten laps. The breath-taking race never let up with drivers constantly making huge moves throughout the pack and it seemed like no one could hold the lead for long. Atlanta has asserted itself as the best drafting track on the schedule and it’s not even close.

LOSER: Pretty much everyone involved in that 23-car pileup

Photo by: Krista Jasso / Getty Images

Might as well just group everyone into this. Of the 23 drivers involved in this mess, nine were unable to continue. The second stage had barely gotten underway when names like Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Joey Logano, and Ross Chastain had their cars destroyed. In fact, this wreck nearly guaranteed a new winner as seven of the 11 winners this year were eliminated in the wreck while others were wounded.

WINNER: Ty Dillon with the in-season tournament upset

Ty Dillon, Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds have been knocked out of the in-season bracket challenge, allowing the No. 31 and No. 32 seeds to advance. Most surprisingly, Ty Dillon moves on over Hamlin, giving him the chance to fight for a $1 million prize that would be the highlight of his Cup career. And he had the perfect response for Hamlin fans after the race, saying: “To all the Denny fans out there, I just knocked your favorite driver out.”

LOSER: Ryan Blaney at the wrong place at the wrong time again

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

It’s a good thing Ryan Blaney managed to win at Nashville as his season has included six DNFs in the first 18 races. Last year, he had seven in 36 races. Blaney was once again an innocent bystander as he tried to avoid the first wreck of the night, but instead found himself slamming the outside wall. Blaney lamented the bad luck, noting how he always seems to get “caught up in other people’s garbage.” He finished 40th (last), which is his worst result in five years.

WINNER: The 18-year-old rookie for keeping it clean

Photo by: David J. Griffin – Icon Sportswire – Getty Images

While veterans were crashing all over the place, 18-year-old Connor Zilisch kept his car clean and stayed out of trouble, running every single lap and nearly scoring a top ten finish. He was the best of the four Trackhouse cars as his three teammates did wreck while Zilisch placed 11th in the No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet. He drove like someone who has been doing this for a while, not a rookie in his fourth career start.

LOSER: Stenhouse battles back from a penalty, but misses out on the win

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo by: Krista Jasso / Getty Images

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had one of the best drives of anyone during the final run of the race. He had to start from the rear of the field for the last restart due to a penalty, but he quickly marched forward. Stenhouse pulled off a brilliant three-wide pass for the lead with just six laps to go, but he could not hold it as the No. 47 slipped back. He was still inside the top five on the final lap, but contact with the outside wall caused him to slip back to sixth. It was still a strong result but with how close he was to Victory Lane, he’s surely wondering what he could have done differently in those final few laps.

Photos from Atlanta II – Race

Lando Norris found redemption in Spielberg, while Red Bull suffered a disaster at its home track, and the rookies grabbed the headlines. Here’s who impressed in F1’s Austrian GP and who missed the (Steier)mark.

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images

Winners: Lando Norris and McLaren

Lando Norris endured plenty of criticism after his faux pas in Canada, and he knew full well that he had to nail a faultless weekend to change the narrative of his 2025 season. His openness about his flaws is sometimes used against him, but even his detractors will surely respect the way he bounced back in Austria.

Norris took a convincing pole, which was helped by team-mate Oscar Piastri being denied a second run, but the Australian admitted Norris was quicker anyway. He then kept his head cool while under a lot of pressure from Piastri, who was clinging onto his gearbox, to take his third win of the season to boost his title hopes. 

Credit to McLaren for continuing to let its drivers race freely, as promised, even after Piastri’s ambitious lunge into Turn 4. Without it, it would have been a boring afternoon of papaya domination. The latter may well carry over to the next few races. 

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing Team

Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

Losers: Yuki Tsunoda and Red Bull 

Yuki Tsunoda’s woes have reached a critical level after another disappointing weekend. Both he and Verstappen lost performance into Saturday qualifying, but while Verstappen limited the damage with seventh Tsunoda was out in 18th. Yes, Tsunoda is still not entirely up to the same specification as the Dutchman, but – as we understand it – the difference is minimal. 

Tsunoda’s seat is not in immediate danger, as previous occupants have shown there doesn’t seem much scope for improvement, and promoting Isack Hadjar too early doesn’t seem like a great idea either. But the Japanese driver’s long-term prospects aren’t looking peachy, and Red Bull really needs to dig deep to find solutions now. 

Max Verstappen’s long run pace didn’t look particularly great either in FP3, but obviously we never got to see it in the race after he was taken out by Kimi Antonelli on lap 1. Red Bull has had many glorious weekends at its home track, but this… wasn’t one of them. 

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

Winner: Ferrari 

Ferrari earned its fair share of criticism this season, especially in Italy, but can head home to Maranello with some momentum to build on as it was clearly the best non-papaya team in the Styrian hills. The all-new floor seems to have worked, twelve months on from a flawed 2024 upgrade that sent the team into a tailspin. 

Leclerc was powerless to resist Piastri, but third felt like a mini-victory given McLaren’s dominance, and Lewis Hamilton also had his strongest race in red despite struggling with some niggling brake and balance issues. 

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Andy Hone / LAT Images via Getty Images

Losers: Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes 

Inconsistency is inevitably going to run through Kimi Antonelli’s rookie campaign, and two weeks on from the 18-year-old’s breakthrough podium in Montreal – as F1’s third-youngest podium finisher – he’s experienced the flipside of the coin with a costly first-lap mistake that saw him spear Verstappen out of the race. Antonelli shouldn’t be judged too harshly, but it did leave the onus on George Russell to salvage something for Mercedes. 

Unfortunately for Russell, that was a lonely fifth spot as Mercedes got bogged down by its typical overheating problems on a hot and abrasive track, with Russell calling the Austrian Grand Prix “a perfect storm” for the team as it faced a fiery cocktail of everything its 2025 car dislikes. 

Mercedes will be hoping for a typically British summer next week in Silverstone, rather than the unusually toasty conditions that Spielberg (and the UK) currently faces. 

Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

Photo by: Andy Hone / LAT Images via Getty Images

Winner: Gabriel Bortoleto and Sauber 

Gabriel Bortoleto has quietly impressed everyone at Sauber this season, and across rival teams too. Thus far, however, the reigning F2 champion has little to show for it. He is now finally off the mark after coming home in eighth in Austria, drawing praise from his mentor Fernando Alonso after pair’s exciting battle in the closing stages. 

Team principal Jonathan Wheatley said Bortoleto’s breakthrough result was inevitable, but the Brazilian couldn’t hide his relief as the lack of results appeared to be weighing on him. His rookie season is finally up and running. 

There’s more and more evidence that Sauber’s progress is real, with Nico Hulkenberg also looking good for Q3 until a Q1 mistake left him last on the grid. But the experienced German made an excellent start on softs and worked his way up the order swiftly, looking handy on all three tyre compounds. He eventually finished the race in ninth.  

Carlos Sainz, Williams

Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images

Losers: Williams 

Fernando Alonso has shaken off the cartoon anvil that has been chasing him around the first quarter of the season and has apparently enlisted Aston’s logistics partner to deliver it to Williams HQ in Grove. 

After a disappointing weekend in Canada, Williams again wasted a perfectly good opportunity to score decent points, with the early exits of Verstappen and Antonelli opening up the top 10. The team believes two different technical issues hit Carlos Sainz before the race even started, and led to Alex Albon’s second retirement in consecutive races – with Albon’s issue looking similar to the one that thwarted him in Montreal. 

Suddenly, Williams’ margin in the constructors’ championship doesn’t look that handsome any longer and, with its rivals catching up on development as well, is the battle for fifth truly on? 

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls Team

Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

Winner: Liam Lawson  

Liam Lawson has been put through the ringer this season after his absurdly short Red Bull stint, only to come home to Racing Bulls facing an impressive Isack Hadjar – who by that point was already firing on all cylinders. And while Lawson was clearly on the back foot in terms of seat time in the VCARB 02, he has gradually improved and looked excellent all weekend in Austria. 

The New Zealander qualified sixth and stayed there after making a difficult one-stop strategy work, helped by Racing Bulls’ excellent tyre management that had already paid dividends in Barcelona. It’s a just reward for Lawson, who has faced more external criticism than he deserved. 

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images

Losers: Lance Stroll and Alpine 

When Lance Stroll was asked why he missed the drivers’ F1 movie screening, his reply was a customarily brief “just stuff”. Unfortunately for the Canadian, an apt summary of his Austria weekend would be “just slow” after his Friday pace proved a mirage. 

Aston Martin’s car is clearly weaker on Sundays, with Alonso resorting to making a one-stop work, so in his defence Stroll was never going to make a heroic comeback from the rear of the field. But the gulf with a combative Alonso on both Saturday and Sunday was quite telling as Stroll is struggling to click with the AMR25. 

We’ll have to throw in a (dis)honourable mention for Alpine, too, which clearly has pace in the car but has found it so hard to extract it on Sundays. The team lacked a little luck in Austria, too, with Pierre Gasly’s car totally undrivable after picking up damage and Franco Colapinto clumsily clattering with Tsunoda. 

But after Gasly’s bright opening stint on softs, neither car was looking like it was going places, with Flavio Briatore calling its performance “increasingly concerning” in Alpine’s refreshingly forthright press release.

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Chase Elliott couldn’t have picked a better setting for a drought-breaking win.

Fans roared in approval after Elliott, the home-state favorite, passed Brad Keselowski on the final lap to end a 44-race drought by winning the NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta on Saturday night.

Elliott’s 20th career victory pushed him to second place in the Cup Series points race, putting him in prime position to return to the top of the NASCAR world after winning his first championship in 2020.

Elliott earned a spot in the NASCAR playoffs with his first victory since April 2024 at Texas. He said he’ll always remember the win as a career highlight, in part because of the ovation from fans who chanted “Chase! Chase! Chase!”

Elliott, a Dawsonville, Georgia, native, climbed into the stands at EchoPark Speedway, formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway, to celebrate with the fans.

“It was, truthfully, a pretty surreal moment,” Elliott said. “Something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. … Saturday night under the lights, been a while since we won, just getting ourselves a win and advancing up on the playoff thing.”

It was his first Atlanta win since 2022.

Elliott has 594 points, 37 behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, who has 631. A third Hendrick Motorsports driver, Kyle Larson, is third.

Another Hendrick driver, Alex Bowman, played a key role in Elliott’s comeback win. Bowman, who finished third, gave Elliott a push and then helped block Keselowski on the final lap.

“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.”

Elliott said he’ll try to repay the favor by helping Bowman join the other three Hendrick drivers in the playoffs.

“I recognize that he gave me a great shove,” Elliott said. “I recognize that he took his run on Brad, too, to try to get himself to second, which ultimately helped me as well.

“Yeah, those are all things that I remember.”

Elliott advanced to the second round of NASCAR’s new In-Season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament. With the field cut from 32 to 16 drivers, Elliott will be paired against John Hunter Nemechek when the Cup Series moves to the Chicago Street Race next Sunday.

A $1 million prize awaits the winner, and Elliott’s odds improved after Atlanta wrecks knocked out the top two seeds, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe.

Elliott wouldn’t be the first family member to win a $1 million bonus. In 1985 his father, Bill Elliott, became the first winner of the Winston Million as a reward for claiming wins in three of the circuit’s top four races at the time. The bonus earned the elder Elliott the nickname “Million Dollar Bill.”

Now the younger Elliott is a strong contender to become first in line for another $1 million prize.

“It’d be a really cool thing to win for sure and hope it works out that way,” Chase Elliott said.

Elliott’s victory drought came after he needed surgery to repair a broken tibia in his left leg suffered in a snowboarding accident and missed six races in 2023. He said the support of longtime crew chief Alan Gustafson was “in large part” responsible for helping him retain his confidence and reclaim his winning form.

Gustafson said the win was more important for the 2025 playoff race than for ending the victory drought.

“The points were getting tight for the playoffs, for sure,” Gustafson said. “I think that’s probably the biggest thing. I think all the cars contending to win, I don’t think any of them had won. I think that’s probably the biggest thing we needed was that cushion.”

Saturday night’s win was Elliott’s third consecutive top-five finish.

“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?” Elliott said. “That’s something that (Gustafson) and I will always cherish and remember that we did that together.

“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.”

The city of Chicago is just one week away from NASCAR’s top drivers speeding through Grant Park, and significant street closures are on the way.

The Xfinity Series’ Loop 110 will take place on Saturday afternoon in Chicago, with the green flag dropping at 3:30 p.m., while the Cup Series’ Grant Park 165 will take place Sunday beginning at 1 p.m.

Chicago’s race is the only NASCAR event that takes place on a city circuit, with drivers speeding down iconic streets like Michigan Avenue, Columbus Drive and DuSable Lake Shore Drive.

As a result of the placement of the circuit, numerous significant street closures will take effect this week as crews prepare the track for the big event.

Already streets like Columbus Drive, Jackson Drive, Balbo Drive and Congress Plaza Drive have been closed to traffic, but major thoroughfares will start closing in coming days.

City officials say that Roosevelt Road will close Wednesday night beginning at 10 p.m. between Michigan Avenue and DuSable Lake Shore Drive, allowing for the setup of Turns 4 and 5 on the race track.

Long before NASCAR raced through downtown, Chicago was already home to the nation’s first auto race and decades of motorsports history, as told by Chicago racing historian Stan Kalwasinski.

Thursday morning at 12:01 a.m. will feature another significant closure, as the southbound lanes of DuSable Lake Drive will close between Randolph and McFetridge, with Turns 2, 3 and 4 featured on the iconic roadway.

At 10 p.m. Thursday, Michigan Avenue will close between Roosevelt Road and Jackson Drive. In addition, northbound DuSable Lake Shore Drive will close between Randolph and McFetridge, and will remain closed for the remainder of the race weekend.

 The races take place Saturday and Sunday. There will be closures on Michigan Avenue, Monroe Street, Ida B. Wells Drive, Indiana Avenue, Post Place and Garvey Court, among others. A full list can be found on the OEMC website.

Streets will begin reopening after the conclusion of the race. DuSable Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue are “priority streets,” according to the city.

Shane van Ginsbergen won the inaugural race on the Cup Series in 2023, followed by a win for Alex Bowman in the 2024 race, which was shortened to 58 laps due to inclement weather and darkness.

As things stand heading into the Chicago race, Kyle Larson leads the Cup Series, followed by Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell.

Van Ginsbergen is currently 10^th in the standings, while Bowman is ranked 15^th.