Chase Elliott’s Thrilling Victory at the Quaker State 400

Last night, the NASCAR Cup Series took on the EchoPark Speedway for the Quaker State 400 for the start of a bracket-style tournament, where the winner collects $1,000,000 after five races. What better place to kick this event off than at Atlanta’s home for racing? For the third time this season, there was a full field of 40 cars for a Cup Series event, and 32 of them knew they had to beat one driver in order to advance to the next round, which takes place during the Chicago Street Race. But first, we’ll break down the key moments of the Quaker State 400.

Stage 1

Joey Logano was fastest in qualifying on Saturday, grabbing the pole, as his Team Penske affiliate teammate, Josh Berry, started second. The top eight positions were swept by Fords, with Team Penske drivers Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric lining up on Row 2. When the green flag dropped just after 7:00 PM EST, Logano surged ahead of Berry as the field jockeyed for positions behind them. Atlanta was reconfigured in 2022, and drivers have learned how to run in a pack on this 1.54-mile racetrack. By Lap 22, Carson Hocevar, who almost won the Ambetter Health 400 in the spring, drove up to seventh, in need of help from the rest of the field. However, this momentum was interrupted on Lap 44 due to weather.

The race resumed with 12 to go in the first stage, and it was Logano and Cindric who led the field to green. Cindric received a push from Brad Keselowski as Berry laid on Logano’s back bumper. It looked to be Penske sweeping the top five to end the first stage, but with four laps remaining, Christopher Bell went around going into Turn 3, collecting multiple cars, including Blaney. The No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford slammed the outside retaining wall, as Bubba Wallace, Austin Dillon, and Kyle Larson were also collected in the process. Blaney’s day ended immediately, while the rest were able to continue with various levels of damage, also allowing Cindric to win the stage.

Stage 2

Pit stops took place prior to the start of the second stage, which shuffled the top ten in the process. Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher took the green flag from Row 1 on Lap 69, as both drivers were looking for their first wins of the season. Elliott had a huge run on the inside lane, but not even a full lap in, Denny Hamlin was turned into the pack from the outside lane, collecting about half of the field in the process. This “busted” a lot of brackets, taking out contenders early. Notable drivers taken out were Hamlin, Logano, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suárez, William Byron, and Kyle Busch, amongst others.

The restart on Lap 77 saw Buescher and Ty Gibbs on the front row, with Riley Herbst giving his Toyota affiliate teammate a shove to first, as the grip levels on the track began to rise, allowing more passing. On Lap 103, Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made contact coming out of Turn 4, but no caution was thrown since nobody made significant damage or spun around. Lap 105 saw Riley Herbst spin out coming out of Turn 4, collecting Todd Gilliland in the process. This ended Herbst’s day, while Gilliland’s team made extensive repairs on pit road. The Lap 117 restart saw Alex Bowman and Tyler Reddick on the front row, as Justin Haley and Zane Smith came to play as well. Bowman and Reddick played musical chairs up front, as Buescher charged back to the front.

In the closing laps of Stage 2, Elliott and Reddick played musical chairs for the lead, shuffling back and forth for the stage win. Reddick would emerge victorious as the stage winner, but only by 0.001 seconds, one of the closest margins in the stage racing era, allowing Reddick to collect those ten points and a playoff point.

Final Stage

The last stage is always go-time when it comes to positioning yourself as a driver to win the race. Elliott led the field to green alongside Buescher. Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Alex Bowman, also came to play, along with Brad Keselowski. Shane van Gisbergen spun on the frontstretch on Lap 175, keeping the car in one piece. The race went green again on Lap 182, as the Hendrick teammates worked together to keep the field at bay, but Reddick and Keselowski wanted a piece of the action.

Bubba Wallace spinning on the backstretch prompted another caution on Lap 185, which allowed Ty Gibbs and Justin Haley to line up on the front row for the next restart. These two knew they had to beat each other to advance into the next round of the in-season tournament. Gibbs led Ryan Preece and the rest of the field until Erik Jones spun on Lap 196. Jones was able to continue.

The green flag waved with 60 to go, and the Quaker State 400 had already seen a lot of drama, leaving fans on the edge of their seats. David Starr losing control of his No. 66 Wings and Burger Factory Ford prompted another yellow, bunching the field up for another restart once again. Justin Haley spun on the backstretch on Lap 227, bringing out a tenth caution. The leaders stayed out on track instead of going into the pits. Keselowski got the jump with help from his teammate, Chris Buescher, as Elliott got help from Bowman.

Zane Smith charged to the lead with 23 to go, with help from Keselowski. At the end of the race, it was Bowman helping his teammate, Chase Elliott, giving him his second-career victory at his home track. It was Elliott’s first win of the season, locking him into the postseason Playoffs.

The next race for the in-season tournament will take place on the streets of Chicago, Sunday at 2:00 PM EST / 11:00 AM PST on TNT. The Grant Park 165 is NASCAR’s only street race, and William Byron comes to Chicago at +37 over his teammate, Chase Elliott, while Bubba Wallace is +23 over Ryan Preece for 16th, which is the last spot on the Playoff Grid. The intensity is ramping up, and the pressure is high. Tune in this weekend for the Chicago Street Race!