In a night full of emotions and accidents, Chase Elliott, the favorite from Georgia, took the victory in the NASCAR Cup Series held in Atlanta, surpassing Brad Keselowski on the last lap. This victory represents number 20 in his career.The driver, beloved by the fans, secured his place in the NASCAR playoffs with this victory, the first since April 2024 in Texas and his first win in Atlanta since 2022.
The race was marked by multiple accidents, especially one in the second stage that affected several of the most prominent names in the sport, leaving some cars seriously damaged.Joey Logano, who led the first 36 laps, was one of those involved in the big crash. Other drivers such as William Byron, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, Josh Berry, Corey LaJoie, and Daniel Suarez were also affected.“He wrecked the whole group,” Logano said. “I still don’t know exactly how it started… but it was total chaos. Cars were sideways and braking. I got hit from all sides.”Denny Hamlin, whose Toyota suffered damage, added: “Some zigged. Some zigged. Most crashed.”The Atlanta race, at EchoPark Speedway, formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway, was the debut of the In-Season Challenge, a five-race tournament with a single-elimination format involving 32 drivers.The early elimination of important drivers demonstrated the risks of predicting NASCAR results in a format similar to March Madness. The top two qualifiers were early casualties.Hamlin, the number 1 seed in the tournament, finished in 31st place and lost to Ty Dillon, who finished eighth.Chase Briscoe, who beat Hamlin the previous week at Pocono Raceway, was the number 2 seed before being eliminated in a crash and losing to Noah Gragson in the tournament.The tournament winner will take home a prize of one million dollars, as part of a new media rights deal that includes TNT.Elliott and Keselowski were on the front row when a yellow flag with 33 laps to go forced a decision on whether to pit for tires. Both stayed on the track, and Elliott fell back after the restart before making his decisive final charge.“Never in my life, this is incredible. This is something I will remember for the rest of my life,” commented Elliott.
Chase Elliott
