Chase Elliott became the second Georgia native to win a NASCAR Cup Series race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday (7/10).
The Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart took place just down the road from Dawsonville, GA. That is the hometown of NASCAR Hall of Fame Driver Bill Elliott and his son NASCAR Cup Series Championship Driver Chase Elliott. When yesterday’s race began Bill was the only Georgia native to have won a NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Chase started the race from the pole position. He was the dominant car during the race leading 96 of the 260 laps in the race. However, he did have serious challenges from other drivers for the win. There were at total of 12 drivers that exchanged the lead 26 times during the race. Chase was able to be the lead car at the end of both the first and second stages of the race to claim the bonus points and Playoff points that go with winning the stages.
The Atlanta Motor Speedway is a mile-and-a-half intermediate track that races like a superspeedway following the re-design during the last off-season. Being a smaller version of the superspeedways, there were smaller versions of the “big one” during the race. Among the 13 yellow flag periods were two that involved nine cars in each incident. The last two came in the final six laps of the race. The yellow flag waived on lap 254 to set a three-lap-shout-out for the win.
Chase re-started the race from the outside of the second row. He was able to regain the lead with a pass on the second to last lap. He defended that lead through to the last lap of the race when Corey LaJoie tried to make a move. Corey’s move resulted in him wrecking and bringing out the final yellow flag. By NASCAR rule, once the leader takes the white flag the next flag ends the race. Chase was leading at the moment of caution and was, therefore, awarded the win.
Chase became the second Georgia native to win a Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jr. were the first father-son duo to have both won at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Bill and Chase Elliott become the second. This win also makes Chase the first and only driver to have won three Cup Series races in the 2022 season.
Ross Chastain claimed the second-place finish. Austin Cindric finished third. Erik Jones got fourth and Ryan Blaney fifth. See the complete race results for the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway here.
Chase Elliott strengthens his hold on the lead in points after Atlanta. Ryan Blaney remains in second with Ross Chastain holding steady in third. Kyle Larson moves up to fourth with Kyle Busch slipping back to fifth. See the complete NASCAR Point Standings here.
Next up the drivers will be looking for some magic on the mile at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Ambetter 301 takes place Sunday, July 17th.
By: Buck Stevens
