HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) 鈥� Chase Elliott couldn't have picked a better setting for a .
Fans roared in approval after Elliott, the home-state favorite, 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 鈥淐hase! Chase! Chase!鈥�
Elliott, a Dawsonville, Georgia, native, climbed into the stands at EchoPark Speedway, formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway, to celebrate with the fans.
鈥淚t was, truthfully, a pretty surreal moment,鈥� Elliott said. 鈥淪omething I鈥檒l 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.
鈥淚鈥檓 happy for the 9 team,鈥� Bowman said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big win for him in his hometown. ... I鈥檓 glad to have a Hendrick car in victory lane. I wish it was us.鈥�
Elliott said he'll try to repay the favor by helping Bowman join the other three Hendrick drivers in the playoffs.
鈥淚 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.
鈥淵eah, those are all things that I remember.鈥�
Elliott advanced to the second round of NASCAR鈥檚 new , 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鈥檚 odds improved after Atlanta wrecks knocked out the top two seeds, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe.
Elliott wouldn鈥檛 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鈥檚 top four races at the time. The bonus earned the elder Elliott the nickname 鈥淢illion Dollar Bill.鈥�
Now the younger Elliott is a strong contender to become first in line for another $1 million prize.
鈥淚t鈥檇 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 in 2023. He said the support of longtime crew chief Alan Gustafson was 鈥渋n large part鈥� 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.
鈥淭he points were getting tight for the playoffs, for sure,鈥� Gustafson said. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 probably the biggest thing. I think all the cars contending to win, I don鈥檛 think any of them had won. I think that鈥檚 probably the biggest thing we needed was that cushion.鈥�
Saturday night's win was Elliott's third consecutive top-five finish.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e fortunate enough to climb the mountain and be able to stand at the top of the mountain with someone, that鈥檚 an incredible achievement, right?鈥� Elliott said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something that (Gustafson) and I will always cherish and remember that we did that together.
鈥淔or me it鈥檚 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鈥檚 just a really important piece of the puzzle for me.鈥�
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AP auto racing:
Charles Odum, The Associated Press
