Hometown Hero Strikes: Chase Elliott Captures EchoPark Speedway Win

Chase Elliott celebrates a hometown victory in the EchoPark Speedway Victory Lane. (Photo Credit: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)

HAMPTON, Ga. — A long, chaotic, and dusty night of 400 miles saw the hometown driver of Chase Elliott rise to score his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of 2025 in Saturday evening’s Quaker State 400 available at Walmart at the newly renamed EchoPark Speedway.

The Dawsonville, Georgia, hotshot put on a show for the near sellout crowd that rolled into the racetrack on Saturday night, leading the second most laps on the evening, and capitalizing on a late race charge of the Hendrick Motorsports duo, including Alex Bowman to thunder past one of the strongest cars in the field, Brad Keselowski, shooting past him for victory by just 0.163 seconds.

“Unbelievable, how about that? Are you kidding me?” Elliott said enthusiastically. “I’ve never in my life. This is unbelievable. Thank you guys so much.”

The race delivered a staggering 46 lead changes across 13 drivers, with Keselowski leading for 46 laps in total before succumbing on the final lap. The event was punctuated by 10 cautions, including two major multi-car wrecks early and mid-race. The Lap 57 incident involved Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney, while a mammoth crash on Lap 69 swept up 22 competitors, taking out heavy hitters such as pole sitter Joey Logano, regular season points leader William Byron, Denny Hamlin, and others.

The big wreck that collected 22 cars in Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 available at Walmart. (Photo Credit: Declan Wayman | The Podium Finish)

The mega-wreck immediately reshuffled the In-Season Challenge order, as top seed Hamlin was eliminated, while performances from Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Zane Smith created significant upheaval.

After Austin Cindric won the opening stage under caution from the huge Lap 69 melee, the fans that packed into the track got to witness the closest stage finish in history in Stage 2, as Tyler Reddick nabbed Elliott by a mere 0.001-second margin, the closest in stage racing since its inception during the 2017 season.

The final stage featured an intense stretch of green-flag racing where drivers like Reddick, Erik Jones, and Stenhouse Jr. battled hard inside the top 10. Reddick nearly made a three-wide pass for the lead with 15 to go but had to back out, settling for fourth.

As the RFK Racing drivers of Keselowski, Chris Buescher, and Ryan Preece started to fade in the final 30 laps, as Elliott and Bowman rose to the challenge, in what seemed like teamming up against the lone Keselowski played into the hands of Elliott, giving way for the 2020 Cup Series champion to surge to victory lane into the early Sunday morning hours.

“What a special car, and just a huge thanks to NAPA Auto Parts and the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.” Said Elliott. “Rhealynn Mills designed the fast NAPA Chevrolet tonight, so this was a lot of fun. This right here is something I’ll never forget.”

“Well, I just think that, honestly, all the cards fell in the right places there those last couple laps, what a crazy race.”

Keselowski achieved a season-best finish in second place and led 46 laps, but he could not defend against Elliott’s final push.

“The 9 ( Chase Elliott) just had the 48 (Alex Bowman) behind him giving him a huge push, and there was nothing I could do to cover that. When we had our cars linked up at RFK (Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing), I fought as hard as I could.”

Following Keselowski were Bowman, Reddick, and Jones in the top 5.

Stenhouse Jr., Smith, Ty Dillon, Buescher, and Carson Hocevar completed the top 10.

Elliott looks ahead for back-to-back road course events at two different and unique road course events, those being the Chicago Street Course and Sonoma Raceway in the hills of California.

“I’m excited,” Elliott told The Podium Finish. “I have been proud of the last four weeks. We had a fast car in Michigan (International Speedway), great in Mexico City, and had a top 5 car in Pocono (Raceway) last week.”

As Elliott punches his ticket not only into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, but also the next round of the In-Season Challenge, the series ventures to the Windy City for Independence Day weekend, with the third running of the Grant Park 165 taking place at the Chicago Street Course.

Broadcast coverage airs Sunday, July 6 at 2 p.m. ET, live on TNT, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

Stage 1 Results
1. Austin Cindric
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Joey Logano
4. William Byron
5. Carson Hocevar
6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
7. Josh Berry
8. Shane van Gisbergen
9. Chase Elliott
10. Bubba Wallace

Stage 2 Results
1. Tyler Reddick
2. Chase Elliott
3. Chris Buescher
4. Alex Bowman
5. Erik Jones
6. Ty Dillon
7. Shane van Gisbergen
8. Zane Smith
9. John Hunter Nemechek
10. Brad Keselowski

Quaker State 400 available at Walmart EchoPark Speedway NASCAR Cup Series Results