NASCAR Quaker State 400: Georgia native Elliott wins in Atlanta

Georgia native Chase Elliott held on Sunday to win the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia.

Elliott joins his father, Bill Elliott, as only the second father-son duo to win at Atlanta, after Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Chase Elliott emerged victorious just 54 miles away from his hometown of Dawsonville, Georgia. That made him only the second Georgia-born driver, after his father, to win at Atlanta.

Kurt Busch opened the day as the defending champion, having won last year’s NASCAR Cup Series 260-lap race, which returned in 2021 following a 10-year hiatus. 

Here are the top moments.

Off and racing

As pole winner Elliott took the early lead, Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain got scrappy in the middle of the pack. 

Pushing and shoving

Alex Bowman gave Elliot a bit of a shove at the end of Stage 1, but it didn’t seem to faze Elliot as he remained in the lead. 

Ryan Blaney passed Elliot to take the lead, but thanks to a big push from Bowman, Elliot regained the top spot shortly after. 

Taking the stage

Elliott wins Stage 1!

Stage 2 has started!

Tyler Reddick roared in front at the start of Stage 2, capitalizing when several drivers pitted during the stage break.

A few showers are in the area, but no weather delay is imminent.

Big crash!

Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon, and a few others were involved in a pretty big crash, with Dillon being knocked out of the race.

Technical issues

Noah Gragson is out with mechanical issues with his car, while Chris Buescher and B.J. McLeod have been ruled out due to the crash. 

After Dillon was ruled out, he blamed Ross Chastain for ruining the race for a good portion of the field. 

We’re halfway through!

On the 130th lap, William Byron sat in first place, Tyler Reddick follows in second and Kurt Busch is in third. 

We had a blowout!

On the 125th lap, Michael McDowell blew a tire out, leaving him three laps behind the pack. 

Stage 2 concluded

Thanks to a last-second surge, Elliot wins his second consecutive stage. 

Another crash! 

At the beginning of Stage 3, there was another crash. It seemed to happen when Garrett Smithley slowed down, causing Ty Dillon to rear-end him, which initiated the accident. As result, William Byron and Tyler Reddick are done for the day. 

It’s getting interesting!

Corey LaJoie and Elliot made things interesting down the stretch as they battled back and forth for the lead. 

More technical difficulties

This time, Christopher Bell lost his wheel while leaving pit row due to a new upgrade in the tire-changing process with 20 laps left.  

Chastain is still wreaking havoc

Chastain was the root of one crash today, and the lengthy history between him and Hamlin continued as he clipped the left rear of Hamlin’s car, resulting in a wreck.  

A peach of a win!

Following some fireworks at the end with LaJoie crashing after trying to make an aggressive move, Elliott won under caution.