After a long weekend of racing, it all comes down to this. Despite threatening weather to the northwest of the track, the start of the NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway went off without a hitch as scheduled. Fans from all over packed into this baby superspeedway for some close-corner racing in the draft. The story of the weekend was just how fast the Fords fired off. Of the top 10, eight were Ford drivers with the Team Penske and Team Penske-adjacent teams sweeping the first two rows. Meanwhile, the Toyota drivers of Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe were forced to start in the back of the pack. When it comes to racing at Atlanta, it’s all about survival. So, with that in mind, who was able to make it through? Who got caught up in the calamity?
Let’s break it down. Here’s everything that happened in the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway (formerly the Atlanta Motor Speedway).
NASCAR and TNT, together again in the biggest of ways!
Our first In-Season Challenge starts now from @EchoParkSpdwy! pic.twitter.com/m6SoSNsAgv— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 28, 2025
Also Read:
Bowman and Elliott led the field to the restart. Ultimately in the early laps of the final stage, Bowman prevailed. While running inside the top 10, Shane van Gisbergen spun. He received minimal damage and was having an impressive run up to this point. Throughout the running of the final stage, we had a number of smaller, single-car incidents. Bubba Wallace, for instance, spun after getting his lap back and working his way up to the 12th position. Meanwhile, the RFK Fords of Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher muscled their way to the front along with Ty Gibbs and Chase Elliott behind them.
At 10 laps to go, Zane Smith led, but it was far from over. Alex Bowman was hunting him down, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was up 13 positions since the restart, sitting in 3rd. In the final 10 laps, the field made like an accordion with many comers and goers. This race was going to come down to the very last lap. Stenhouse made a powerhouse move with 7 to go. Brad Keselowski followed him through. With 5 to go, Keselowski was back to the lead. Coming to two to go, thought, Chase Elliott and his teammate Alex Bowman powered through to 2nd and 3rd. On the last lap, Elliott took the lead. Bowman followed him through to 2nd. This turned out to be the move of the race. Georgia’s own Chase Elliott scored his first Cup Series victory in over a year.
To start the race, polesitter Joey Logano chose to start on the inside lane with Berry up top. The 22 Ford fired off strong and jumped up in front of Berry, heading down the backstretch. The Penske trio of Logano, Berry, and Blaney were able to form a single-file line ahead of the larger pack. The other Penske car, Austin Cindric, was also in the mix. We ran about half the stage without an issue. Then, Mother Weather decided to get involved. It started as a mist. That developed into a sprinkle. And as the caution flag waved and the field turned some laps under yellow, the rain continued to pick up, growing into a light rain shower. With 17 laps to go, NASCAR opted to bring the field down pit road as jet dryers went out to dry the dampened surface.
After about a 15-minute delay, the red flag was lifted. During the caution, a number of drivers came down pit road for adjustments. However, the leaders remained out. Logano led Cindric, Berry, and Keselowski.
With 4 to go, William Byron lauched Brad Keselowski to the lead. Right after that happened, Larson got out of shape deep in the pack. He was able to save it, but Christopher Bell’s rear end stepped out from behind him. He got sideways and collected a number of competitors, including Ryan Blaney and Austin Dillon. At the time of caution, Austin Cindric was scored as the race leader. He scored the stage victory.
Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher led the field to the green to start the second stage. Behind them were Ty Gibbs and Justin Haley, respectively. Only nine laps into the stage, we saw another massive wreck. This incident took out drivers like Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, Josh Berry, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Carson Hocevar, Noah Gragson, and many others. Due to the carnage, we were put under the second red flag of the evening.
A number of drivers came down pit road during the caution. With 86 laps to go in the stage, they could not make it to the end of the race. The race restarted with Gibbs and Herbst up front. Meanwhile, Chase Elliott’s car seemed to have come to life. He worked his way back up inside the top 5 very quickly. Inside 30 laps to go and the battle for the lead was intense. Side by side, Boyman battled Buescher with Zane Smith, Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, and Shane van Gisbergen all arguing for space.
As we got inside 10 to go in the stage, the battle for the lead was a raging swarm. In a dead heat, Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott came to the line in a crazy photo finish. Initially, we were unsure who took the stage victory. In the end, NASCAR ruled that it was Tyler Reddick who won the stage.
Race winner Chase Elliott scored the Xfinity Fastest Lap bonus point. That puts his total points collected at 51.
The following is the unofficial race results for the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, near Atlanta. Once post-race inspection is completed and the results become official, we will update this story appropriately.
UPDATE: Following post-race inspection, no issues were found. The results are now official.
The following drivers led laps throughout the race. There were a total of 46 lead changes and 13 different leaders.
The first big one of the evening happened with four laps to go in the opening stage. As you can see in the clip below, Christopher Bell gets loose, as does Kyle Larson. Larson saved his but Bell went around, collecting others. Check it out.
A second and even bigger Big One happened on Lap 9 of Stage 2. You can check it out in the clip below. In total, 39 cars were involved in the incident. Those drivers are: Corey LaJoie, Carson Hocevar, William Byron, Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, B. J. McLeod, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, Ryan Preece, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Noah Gragson, and Michael McDowell, among others who received lesser damage.
The following drivers have clinched Playoff berths by winning this season.
The following drivers are currently in on points but are at risk of being bumped out.
These drivers are on the outside looking in.
*Note: the drivers who advanced are highlighted in BOLD.
That does it for a wild one at EchoPark (Atlanta) Speedway! What did you think of this race, Daily Downforce readers?
What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
