Elliott is in position to contend for 2nd NASCAR title following 'surreal' last-lap win in Atlanta

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Chase Elliott couldn't have picked a better setting for a drought-breaking win. Fans roared in approval after Elliott, the home-state favorite, passed Brad Keselowski on the final lap to end a 44-race drought by winning the NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta on Saturday night. Elliott's 20th career victory pushed him to second place in the Cup Series points race, putting him in prime position to return to the top of the NASCAR world after winning his first championship in 2020. Elliott earned a spot in the NASCAR playoffs with his first victory since April 2024 at Texas. He said he'll always remember the win as a career highlight, in part because of the ovation from fans who chanted "Chase! Chase! Chase!" Elliott, a Dawsonville, Georgia, native, climbed into the stands at EchoPark Speedway, formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway, to celebrate with the fans. "It was, truthfully, a pretty surreal moment," Elliott said. "Something I'll remember for the rest of my life. ... Saturday night under the lights, been a while since we won, just getting ourselves a win and advancing up on the playoff thing." It was his first Atlanta win since 2022. Elliott has 594 points, 37 behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, who has 631. A third Hendrick Motorsports driver, Kyle Larson, is third. Another Hendrick driver, Alex Bowman, played a key role in Elliott's comeback win. Bowman, who finished third, gave Elliott a push and then helped block Keselowski on the final lap. "I'm happy for the 9 team," Bowman said. "It's a big win for him in his hometown. ... I'm glad to have a Hendrick car in victory lane. I wish it was us." Elliott said he'll try to repay the favor by helping Bowman join the other three Hendrick drivers in the playoffs. "I recognize that he gave me a great shove," Elliott said. "I recognize that he took his run on Brad, too, to try to get himself to second, which ultimately helped me as well. "Yeah, those are all things that I remember." Elliott advanced to the second round of NASCAR's new In-Season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament. With the field cut from 32 to 16 drivers, Elliott will be paired against John Hunter Nemechek when the Cup Series moves to the Chicago Street Race next Sunday. A $1 million prize awaits the winner, and Elliott's odds improved after Atlanta wrecks knocked out the top two seeds, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe. Elliott wouldn't be the first family member to win a $1 million bonus. In 1985 his father, Bill Elliott, became the first winner of the Winston Million as a reward for claiming wins in three of the circuit's top four races at the time. The bonus earned the elder Elliott the nickname "Million Dollar Bill." Now the younger Elliott is a strong contender to become first in line for another $1 million prize. "It'd be a really cool thing to win for sure and hope it works out that way," Chase Elliott said. Elliott's victory drought came after he needed surgery to repair a broken tibia in his left leg suffered in a snowboarding accident and missed six races in 2023. He said the support of longtime crew chief Alan Gustafson was "in large part" responsible for helping him retain his confidence and reclaim his winning form. Gustafson said the win was more important for the 2025 playoff race than for ending the victory drought. "The points were getting tight for the playoffs, for sure," Gustafson said. "I think that's probably the biggest thing. I think all the cars contending to win, I don't think any of them had won. I think that's probably the biggest thing we needed was that cushion." Saturday night's win was Elliott's third consecutive top-five finish. "When you're fortunate enough to climb the mountain and be able to stand at the top of the mountain with someone, that's an incredible achievement, right?" Elliott said. "That's something that (Gustafson) and I will always cherish and remember that we did that together. "For me it's really, really important to climb that mountain with the same people that we did the first time and know that we never quit on each other. That's just a really important piece of the puzzle for me."