NASCAR: Elliott wins at home – Georgia
Before a sparse crowd, home-state favorite Chase Elliott rolled to victory in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race, bypassing Corey LaJoie and leading the final two laps at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Elliott wrapped up his third win of the season, his first at the 1.54-mile Georgia track and the 16th of his Cup Series career. He swept both stages and had the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in front for a race-high 96 of the 260 laps in the Quaker State 400.
Ross Chastain survived a pair of incidents to drive home second in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, with Austin Cindric gathering up third place. Erik Jones finished fourth with Ryan Blaney rounding out the top five.
The race was the second on the reconfigured Atlanta layout, which blends superspeedway-style racing on an intermediate-sized track. The event was dotted by a handful of multicar crashes that pared several contenders from the 36-car field.
Contact between Chastain and Martin Truex Jr. during Stage 2 collected multiple cars in its wake. A final-stage crack-up that started when Garrett Smithley’s No. 15 Ford slowed in Turn 3 eliminated Tyler Reddick, last week’s first-time winner, and William Byron, who won the first race on the re-profiled Atlanta track in March.
Chastain found more trouble in a late-race collision with rival Denny Hamlin, which prompted a caution flag with 15 laps left. Hamlin got the worst of it, dropping back to 21st after the No. 11 Toyota’s spin from the fourth turn. Hamlin finished 25th, one lap down.
CHASE ELLIOTT QUOTES
THAT FINISH WAS CRAZY. YOU WIN BOTH OF THE STAGES TODAY AND FOR THESE FANS HERE AT ATLANTA, THE HOMETOWN BOY DELIVERS. YOU’VE HAD A LOT OF BIG WINS IN YOUR CAREER. I CAN THINK OF ONE IN PHOENIX THAT GOT YOU A TITLE, BUT WHERE DOES THIS RANK ON THE ALL-TIME LIST?
“This one is up there for sure, man. To win at your home track is a really big deal.. I think to any race car driver. I’ve watched a lot of guys do it over the years; Jimmie (Johnson) out in California. We haven’t really had a very good run here, so I felt like today was a great opportunity for us.
But just so proud. This is obviously home for me. Home to a lot of great fans who made a lot of noise today. Home for NAPA right down the road in Atlanta. Couldn’t be more proud of our team. What a car. I’m not sure we’ve ever had a speedway car that good. If we have, I’ve probably wrecked it down at Daytona.
But just, man, what a few weeks it’s been. I feel like I gave one away last week, and to come back and to put on a performance like that, I’m really proud of that.
Excited to get home. It’s going to be a big one tonight. I’m looking forward to it.”
I’VE GOT TO ASK YOU ABOUT THE LAST LAP. YOU HAD TO GO UP AND BLOCK THE NO. 7 (COREY LAJOIE). YOU ACTUALLY SAID “I’M SORRY” ON THE RADIO. WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND ON THAT FINAL LAP?\
“Obviously I knew he was going to have a big run. I didn’t really want to give him the bottom, and I tried to give it one real good aggressive block. I felt like I had enough room to kind of give it a second one, and he was just right there on the right side of my back bumper, so was far enough to the backside of the bumper to launch me forward. I hate I tore up some cars, but I don’t know what you do.. either go for the win or don’t. I’m going to choose option A every day of the week.”
WE’VE BEEN LIVE ALL DAY AT THE POOL ROOM WITH RUTLEDGE. IS IT OKAY IF RUTLEDGE RINGS THE SIREN TONIGHT?
“Tell him not to break it now. That thing is really special.
Just thank you guys so much for coming out. Y’all made a lot of noise today. Can’t wait to head back up 400 and get back home. I want to say hey to my mom and dad. I know they’re watching at home. I wish they were here. This is a really special day for us. And just thank you to all the fans here in Georgia who have supported me and supported my family for many years.
Really just proud of this, and we’re going to enjoy it.”
Race Results
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MANUF | DELTA | LAPS |
| 1 | 9 | Chase Elliott |  |
— | 260 |
| 2 | 1 | Ross Chastain | |
0.081 | 260 |
| 3 | 2 | Austin Cindric # |  |
0.541 | 260 |
| 4 | 43 | Erik Jones | |
0.991 | 260 |
| 5 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | |
1.165 | 260 |
| 6 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | |
1.515 | 260 |
| 7 | 31 | Justin Haley | |
2.283 | 260 |
| 8 | 10 | Aric Almirola | |
2.531 | 260 |
| 9 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. |  |
3.020 | 260 |
| 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | |
3.248 | 260 |
| 11 | 5 | Kyle Larson | |
3.540 | 260 |
| 12 | 41 | Cole Custer | |
3.858 | 260 |
| 13 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | |
4.172 | 260 |
| 14 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | |
4.241 | 260 |
| 15 | 34 | Michael McDowell | |
4.727 | 260 |
| 16 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | |
5.010 | 260 |
| 17 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | |
5.751 | 260 |
| 18 | 20 | Christopher Bell | |
6.021 | 260 |
| 19 | 18 | Kyle Busch | |
7.425 | 260 |
| 20 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | |
11.779 | 260 |
| 21 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | |
32.297 | 260 |
| 22 | 45 | Kurt Busch | |
0.478 | 259 |
| 23 | 51 | Cody Ware | |
-1 | 259 |
| 24 | 77 | Landon Cassill(i) | |
-1 | 259 |
| 25 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | |
-1 | 259 |
| 26 | 22 | Joey Logano | |
-8 | 252 |
| 27 | 15 | Garrett Smithley(i) | |
-8 | 252 |
| 28 | 42 | Ty Dillon | |
-86 | 174 |
| 29 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | |
-90 | 170 |
| 30 | 24 | William Byron | |
-90 | 170 |
| 31 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | |
-98 | 162 |
| 32 | 48 | Alex Bowman | |
-100 | 160 |
| 33 | 17 | Chris Buescher | |
-153 | 107 |
| 34 | 16 | Noah Gragson(i) | |
-169 | 91 |
| 35 | 3 | Austin Dillon | |
-170 | 90 |
| 36 | 78 | BJ McLeod(i) | |
-183 | 77 |
(i) NOT ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
(*) REQUIRED TO QUALIFY ON TIME