HAMPTON, Ga. — Chase Elliott surged past Brad Keselowski on the final lap to win the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway on June 30, 2025, marking his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in 44 races. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native crossed the finish line 0.168 seconds ahead of Keselowski, with teammate Alex Bowman finishing third, 0.170 seconds back, in the first event of the In-Season Challenge.
The win, Elliott’s second at EchoPark and 20th career victory, advanced the 29-year-old driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to the second round of the five-race In-Season Challenge, eliminating Austin Dillon, who finished 20th. The race, which featured 46 lead changes among 13 drivers, saw Elliott capitalize on a crucial push from Bowman in the final two laps to secure the victory in front of a fervent crowd at the 1.54-mile track.
“Unbelievable… unbelievable. How about that? Are you kidding me?” Elliott said. “I’ve never in my life… This is unbelievable. Thank you guys so much. What a special car, and just a huge thanks to [sponsor] NAPA Auto Parts and everything they do for me and to benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. [Cancer patient] Rhealynn Mills designed the fast NAPA Chevrolet tonight, so this was a lot of fun. This right here is something I’ll never forget.”
Elliott credited strategic positioning for the win. “Well, I just think that, honestly, all the cards fell on the right places there those last couple laps,” he said. “What a crazy race, man. I don’t know if y’all had fun, but it was wild from my seat. I’m so glad we got to run that thing out there to the end.”
Keselowski, driving the No. 6 Ford for RFK Racing, led 46 laps, including laps 255-259, but lacked the drafting support to fend off Elliott. “The 9 [Elliott] just had the 48 [Bowman] behind him giving him a huge push, and there was nothing I could do to cover that,” Keselowski said. “When we had our cars linked up at RFK, we could do the same thing, but we lost that, and it was just kind of a two-on-one, and I fought as hard as I could.” Keselowski advanced past Kyle Busch, who finished 21st, in the In-Season Challenge.
The race, which lasted 3 hours, 34 minutes, and 54 seconds, was marked by 10 cautions for 68 laps, including two major incidents. On lap 57, a seven-car wreck triggered by Christopher Bell spinning in Turns 3 and 4 sent Bell and Ryan Blaney to the garage. “I saw a couple guys spinning and slowing,” Blaney said. “I got to the apron and there was really nowhere else for me to go but the apron. I tried to get there and get clear of it, but they kind of came down and got me in the right-rear and I ended up in the fence. There was no missing that one.”
A larger 16-car pileup on lap 69, caused by an accordion effect after Chris Buescher lifted to avoid Elliott, damaged 22 cars. Ross Chastain, William Byron, Daniel Suarez, Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Josh Berry, and Corey LaJoie were among those towed to the garage. “There wasn’t really a whole lot I could see,” Byron said. “I was kind of catching the No. 22 [Logano] with a little bit of a run. They all stacked up and at that point, I went right a little bit; the wreck was already happening, and I just kind of got shoved into it.”
The crashes reshaped the In-Season Challenge. Ty Dillon upset top seed Hamlin, who finished 31st. “For all you Denny fans out there, I just beat your favorite driver,” Dillon said. Briscoe, the second seed, fell to Noah Gragson, who finished 25th, while Byron was eliminated by Ryan Preece, who placed 15th.
Tyler Reddick finished fourth, followed by Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Zane Smith, Ty Dillon, Buescher, and Carson Hocevar. Joey Logano, who led a race-high 51 laps after starting on pole, crashed on lap 69 and finished 36th. Austin Cindric won Stage 1, and Reddick edged Elliott by 0.001 seconds for Stage 2.
A 14-minute, 34-second rain delay halted the race after 36 laps. The average speed of the race winner was 111.792 mph, with Elliott’s margin of victory one of the closest in recent EchoPark history. Other drivers advancing to the second round included Bowman, Bubba Wallace, John Hunter Nemechek, Jones, Hocevar, Reddick, AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs, and Smith.
The Quaker State 400, the 18th event of the Cup Series regular season, showcased the high-speed drafting and unpredictable nature of EchoPark Speedway. The In-Season Challenge, a mid-season tournament, adds a layer of competition by pitting drivers against each other in head-to-head matchups, with eliminations based on race finishes. Elliott’s victory not only boosted his momentum but also highlighted the strategic importance of drafting partners, as Bowman’s push proved decisive.
