NASCAR star Chase Elliott reflects on special Atlanta victory

NASCAR Cup Series star Chase Elliott has reflected on his 'special' victory at Atlanta last season ahead of this Sunday's event.

Elliott, who was born in Dawsonville, Georgia, just north of EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway), won the 2025 Quaker State 400 last summer, adding his second home race victory to his tally.

It was an important win for Elliott in other ways, too. Before the race, the Hendrick Motorsports star had been winless in 44 Cup Series races, and the victory also secured his spot in the 2025 playoffs.

One year later, Elliott already has two wins under his belt in 2026, but nothing compares to winning in front of your home crowd.

Chase Elliott on 2025 win at Atlanta

“Yeah, it was definitely a big win," Elliott told the media when asked about winning at Atlanta last year. "Anytime you can win at your home track, it’s just always a really big deal.

"It just feels a little different. It’s not like I’m trying any harder… I try hard every week. It’s not like I’m necessarily doing anything different, but I do think to cross that bridge and to kind of check that box, it had a little different feel to it.

"I have a lot of pride being from here and sharing a home state with a lot of the people that are going to be sitting up in the crowd tomorrow night, which I think is really cool. The home wins are really neat.

"I don’t know how much it really changed the course or direction of our season with how different this race is and it kind of being a speedway-style race, but it was a great night and one I’ll never forget, for sure.

"It was special for a lot of reasons, so hopefully we can run that back.”

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