It was a sweet victory for Chase Elliott at Atlanta. (Photo: Blake Ulino | The Podium Finish)
In the words of the late Lou Reed, it’s safe to say Chase Elliott had a perfect day.
Certainly, Elliott was glad to spend Sunday’s Quaker State 400 with his competitors and race fans at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Earning the pole position by virtue of metric qualifying, Elliott was a bit of a pied piper at the newly repaved, refit 1.54-mile Hampton, Georgia track. While Ross Chastain led the opening lap, the 26-year-old Dawsonville, Georgia native took the lead on the following circuit, the first of eight instances at the front of the field.
Entering Sunday’s race, Elliott was 0 for 8 in his prior bids to win at the fast but treacherous speed arena. With a best finish of fifth in the 2017 race, the NASCAR Cup Series points leader sought for a hometown victory.
It took 25 additional lead changes and a bit of an aggressive last lap block against a speedy Corey LaJoie. However, Elliott prevailed at last for his first triumph at Atlanta and third overall win of 2022.
Soaking in the special Sunday moment, Elliott considered his latest feat before considering the business at hand in a week.
Elliott brought the hometown crowd to a thunderous applause with his exploits on Sunday. (Photo: Kevin Ritchie | The Podium Finish)
“To be here and to have a day like we had is really incredible, and certainly one I’m going to embrace and enjoy a lot,” Elliott said. “Obviously, [we’ll] be ready to go to Loudon here in a few days, but these wins are just too hard to come by, and especially when they’re as special as this one.
“I’ve witnessed guys win at their home tracks and you can always tell it means a lot to them, but until you start competing somewhere at a sport’s highest stage like this, I’m not sure you fully understand the meaning of it and what it could mean to you. So to be able to have this moment is really special and one I’m very grateful for.”
All things considered, Elliott celebrated his hometown win with a sense of pride and accomplishment. Much like Dale Earnhardt’s bids to win the Daytona 500, Elliott reflected on the path to finally achieving a bucket list victory.
“We hadn’t had a chance to be in the car all weekend, so I really didn’t know how we would stack up,” Elliott shared. “But yeah, just excited to be close to home and excited for another opportunity here. It’s always really cool. Up until today, we had never really had a great run here. We had been really solid I think one time in 2017 and outside of that it’s been pretty mediocre.
“I was just excited for another opportunity and felt like we were in a good place as a team and as a group to go out there and execute a good day and fired off and our car was really, really good. Yeah, things went our way and was able to sweep the weekend.”
From crew chief Alan Gustafson’s solid preparation to the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy Camaro ZL1 team’s efforts at the shop and track, Elliott sang his praises for his Hendrick Motorsports unit. Likewise, he counted his blessings for his successful afternoon.
Elliott seemed to be pied piper at Atlanta. (Photo: Blake Ulino | The Podium Finish)
“Yeah, it was just really solid. We’ve had a couple cars at speedways that have been that good. I can remember having one or two like that at Daytona that I thought we had the superior car that day, and I think I crashed both of them. That’s typically what happens,” he said.
“When I realized our car was that good, I was like, oh, boy, you know, and then especially when our first two stages go good. Typically when we have two good stages, we are wadded up in the fence for the last one. Yeah, I was just kind of waiting on something bad to go wrong. Fortunately, it worked out for us today, and we were able to get it done.”
Mother Nature seemed to play into Elliott’s hands quite nicely despite a soggy forecast ahead of the 400-miler. Fortunately, in this case, Elliott’s team guessed correctly with the car’s setup.
“The way that our car was configured suited the conditions today,” he observed. “The temperature, the sun being on the track for the majority of the event and had a nice balance from being out front and having enough pace to pull a line but also being able to drive well enough back in traffic to make moves and open up opportunities and stay on offense.”
Above all else, Elliott, who still resides in Georgia, did not look past the significance of his victory, particularly with how difficult it is to win at Atlanta or a home track race.
Capture the flag. (Photo: Kevin Ritchie | The Podium Finish)
“I’m just proud to be from here, proud to still live here, and I’m grateful that the fans of this state have always kind of kept me a part of the family really. At the end of the day I’m just a fan, too, as it pertains to Atlanta and Georgia,” Elliott said. “I have always felt like they’ve kind of welcomed me as one of theirs and our team, too.
“It’s a special thing, and to be able to share that moment, I saw a lot of people before the race wearing our hat and our shirts and stuff, and you always want to make those people proud, but when you have it go our way like it did today, that was pretty cool. They were making a lot of noise there after the race, which it’s kind of hard for me to see what’s going on there during the race, but certainly after they weren’t shy, and I loved it.”
Stage 1 Top 10 Finishers
Elliott-Bowman-Chastain-Blaney-Byron/Kyle Busch-Kurt Busch-Hamlin-Larson-Bell
Stage 2 Top 10 Finishers
Elliott-Reddick-Keselowski-Blaney-Kurt Busch/Bell-Burton-Byron-Chastain-LaJoie
Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Top 10 Finishers
Elliott-Chastain-Cindric-Jones-Blaney/Suárez-Haley-Almirola-Custer-Burton
