Cup Series←Race 18→

Quaker State 400

Date
Jun 29
Track
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Distance
260 Laps

RACE RECAP

Chase Elliott electrified his home-state crowd with a last-lap pass on Brad Keselowski to win the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the first race of the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge. Elliott surged past Keselowski entering Turn 1 on the final lap and crossed the line just 0.168 seconds ahead in a wild superspeedway-style finish that featured four-wide racing and pack drafting throughout.

The race was an absolute demolition derby, with 46 lead changes among 13 drivers, 10 cautions for 68 laps, and two red flags totaling nearly 15 minutes. Only 21 of 40 cars finished on the lead lap, and 12 were eliminated by accidents on Atlanta's repaved high-banked surface. Austin Cindric captured Stage 1, Tyler Reddick took Stage 2, and Elliott closed it out with the final-stage victory. Alex Bowman and Tyler Reddick completed the top four, with Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounding out the top six.

Elliott's first victory since the 2024 season validated his Hendrick Motorsports resurgence and gave the Dawsonville, Georgia native a memorable triumph just miles from home. The race proved once again that Atlanta's reconfiguration has turned it into one of the most unpredictable and dangerous tracks on the circuit.

BY THE NUMBERS

46
Lead Changes
13
Leaders
10/68
Cautions / Laps
11
DNFs
5,368
Green Flag Passes
.168
Margin of Victory
111.792
Avg MPH
3:34:54
Race Time
26.2%
Under Caution
17.5
Avg Green Run (Laps)
Stage Winners
S1Austin Cindric
S2Tyler Reddick
Lap Leaders
#22Logano51laps
#6Keselowski46laps
#9Elliott41laps
#54Gibbs32laps
#48Bowman32laps
#45Reddick18laps
#17Buescher15laps
#2Cindric12laps
#38Smith5laps
#7Haley3laps
#60Preece3laps
#35Herbst1laps
#47Jr1laps
Caution Breakdown
1L37–4812LPrecipitation [Red Flag: 14:34]LD #66
2L58–6811LNos. 3, 12, 20, 23, 16 Incident Turn 4 / Stage 1 ConclusionLD #66
3L70–767LNos. 1, 60, 22, 24, 99, 77, 60, 5, 19, 01, 11, 51, 6, 4, 7, 2, 21, 41, 48, 8, 43, 78, 3 Incident Backstretch
4L111–1177LNos. 35, 34 Incident FrontstretchLD #77
5L162–1687LStage 2 ConclusionLD #23
6L177–1815LNos. 42, 54, 88 Incident Turn 4LD #3
7L186–1905LNo. 23 Incident BackstretchLD #47
8L196–2005LNo. 43 Spin Turn 4LD #47
9L204–2074LNo. 66 Spin FrontstretchLD #71
10L228–2325LNo. 7 Incident Turn 3LD #71

KEY TAKEAWAYS

01Chase Elliott's last-lap pass and race win delivered a monster fantasy day -- his ability to navigate pack racing and strike at the perfect moment makes him a premium Atlanta play.
02With 46 lead changes and 12 cars eliminated by crashes, Atlanta is the highest-variance fantasy track on the schedule -- contrarian picks and survival-based roster construction are essential.
03Brad Keselowski's P2 finish and Tyler Reddick's Stage 2 win plus P4 result made them strong mid-tier fantasy values in the chaos of superspeedway-style racing.
04Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at P6 and Ty Dillon at P8 were classic superspeedway sleeper plays that paid off handsomely for bold fantasy managers willing to go off the board.
05Only 21 of 40 cars finished on the lead lap -- at Atlanta, simply finishing the race in one piece is half the fantasy battle.

VALUE PICKS

9.7
pts/$
Car #10
Ty Dillon$3
P8S2:P6
8.00
pts/$
Car #51
Cody Ware$3
P13
7.00
pts/$
Car #78
B.J. McLeod$3
P16
5.00
pts/$
Car #38
Zane Smith$6
P7S2:P8Led:5
4.57
pts/$
Car #43
Erik Jones$7
P5S2:P5

BUSTS

0.1
pts/$
Car #22
Joey Logano$15
P36S1:P3Led:51
0.07
pts/$
Car #24
William Byron$15
P37S1:P4
0.07
pts/$
Car #12
Ryan Blaney$15
P40
0.07
pts/$
Car #2
Austin Cindric$14
P38S1:P1Led:12
0.18
pts/$
Car #19
Chase Briscoe$11
P35

PERFECT LINEUP

Optimal 5-driver roster for this race

Salary
$50/50
Avg Finish
P3.6
Total Points
395.30
GroupDriverSalaryFinishPts
A
Car #9
Chase Elliott
$141
120.20
2 × 60.10
B
Car #6
Brad Keselowski
$122
97.30
1.75 × 55.60
C
Car #48
Alex Bowman
$93
75.30
1.5 × 50.20
D
Car #45
Tyler Reddick
$124
63.50
1.25 × 50.80
E
Car #10
Ty Dillon
$38
39.00
1 × 39.00