After a weekend impacted by the weather, the NASCAR Cup Series will come back to the track for the first time since the Daytona 500 when the Autotrader 400 starts at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta on Sunday, February 22.
Qualifying was rained out on Saturday morning, leaving some drivers at a serious disadvantage.
With the session rained out, the start order was set in order of NASCAR's Performance Metric, made up as follows. 15% of a fastest lap time position, 25% of the driver’s previous race finish position, 25% of the owner’s previous race finish position, and 35% of the owner points position.
With just one race run so far this season, that leaves things almost entirely based on how teams did at the Daytona 500 – putting Tyler Reddick on pole alongside Joey Logano, but leaving a number of title challengers well down the order.
Two of last year's Championship 4 will start down in the bottom ten, with Denny Hamlin kicking off in 29th and Chase Briscoe all the way down as the 34th starter. Team Penske didn't get out unscathed despite Logano's good fortune, with Ryan Blaney starting on the 11th row and Christopher Bell slotting in between Hamlin and Briscoe in 32nd.
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What time is the Atlanta NASCAR Cup Series race today?
The Autotrader 400 has an official start time of 3pm ET on Sunday, February 22.
| City (Time Zone) | Official Start Time |
|---|---|
| Charlotte, NC (ET) | 3:00PM |
| New York, NY (ET) | 3:00PM |
| Columbia, SC (ET) | 3:00PM |
| Charleston, WV (ET) | 3:00PM |
| Augusta, ME (ET) | 3:00PM |
| Chicago, IL (CT) | 2:00PM |
| Pierre, SD (CT) | 2:00PM |
| Nashville, TN (CT) | 2:00PM |
| Des Moines, IA (CT) | 2:00PM |
| Montgomery, AL (CT) | 2:00PM |
| Denver, CO (MT) | 1:00PM |
| Salt Lake City, UT (MT) | 1:00PM |
| Albuquerque, NM (MT) | 1:00PM |
| El Paso, TX (MT) | 1:00PM |
| Los Angeles, CA (PT) | 12:00PM |
| Las Vegas, NV (PT) | 12:00PM |
| Seattle, WA (PT) | 12:00PM |
| Portland, OR (PT) | 12:00PM |
| San Francisco, CA (PT) | 12:00PM |
What TV channel is the NASCAR Cup Series race on today?
Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series action at EchoPark Speedway will be broadcast live on FOX in the United States.
For those wanting to tune in to the action on the radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and MRN have the call.
Live stream options
Some NASCAR fans may want to live stream today's Autotrader 400, and there are several options to do so.
With the race being broadcast on FOX, the FOX Sports App, FOX Sports website, and FOX One are some of the places to go.
As well as being available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, the FOX Sports App can also be downloaded in several other places, such as:
- Apple TV
- Roku
- Xbox
- Vizio
- Google Chromecast
- Fire TV
- Android TV
- Samsung Smart TV
Both the FOX Sports App and FOX One are free to download, but you will need to log in with your paid TV provider details to watch.
Other streaming services may also be available.
The grid for Sunday's race will look as follows...
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NASCAR Cup Series Atlanta starting grid
| Pos. | Car No. | Driver | Organization (Manufacturer) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing (Toyota) |
| 2 | #22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske (Ford) |
| 3 | #47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Hyak Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 4 | #9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 5 | #6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing (Ford) |
| 6 | #38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) |
| 7 | #17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing (Ford) |
| 8 | #35 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing (Toyota) |
| 9 | #23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing (Toyota) |
| 10 | #21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing (Ford) |
| 11 | #4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) |
| 12 | #7 | Daniel Suarez | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 13 | #24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 14 | #8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 15 | #77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 16 | #5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 17 | #10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 18 | #51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 19 | #16 | A.J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 20 | #71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 21 | #1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 22 | #12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske (Ford) |
| 23 | #43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club (Toyota) |
| 24 | #42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Legacy Motor Club (Toyota) |
| 25 | #54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) |
| 26 | #60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing (Ford) |
| 27 | #41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team (Chevrolet) |
| 28 | #97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 29 | #11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) |
| 30 | #2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske (Ford) |
| 31 | #88 | Connor Zilisch | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 32 | #20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) |
| 33 | #3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 34 | #19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) |
| 35 | #34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) |
| 36 | #48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 37 | #78 | B.J. McLeod | Live Fast Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 38 | #44 | J.J. Yeley | NY Racing Team (Chevrolet) |
Autotrader 400 FAQs
NASCAR Cup Series Atlanta stages
The stage breaks in today's Autotrader 400 will take place after 60 laps and 160 laps, with the race concluding after 260 laps, providing there is no overtime.
Who won the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta?
Christopher Bell won last year's spring race at Atlanta (then called the Ambetter Health 400), taking the flag in an overtime finish. It was his first win at the EchoPark Speedway, and kicked off a run of three Cup Series wins in three weekends.
How many laps is the Autotrader 400?
The Autotrader 400 is 260 laps in length, with each lap being 1.54 miles long.
Where is the Autotrader 400 located?
The Autotrader 400 takes place at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta, which is a 1.54-mile track.
How many miles is the Autotrader 400?
The Autotrader 400 is a 400-mile race.
Autotrader 400 pit road speed limit
All tracks on the 2026 NASCAR schedule have a single pit road speed limit that drivers must abide by, except at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta). At that track, drivers entering pit road are subjected to a 90 mph limit at the entry, and then a 45 mph limit once they reach the pit stalls.
This was introduced in July 2023 following changes to the track layout at Atlanta in 2022 resulted in superspeedway-type racing and the pit road entrance being extended to turn three for 2023.
However, in the first 2023 Atlanta race, with a flat 45 mph pit road speed limit in place, some drivers began to fall behind the lead lap during green flag pit stops.
Therefore, ahead of the summer race at Atlanta that year, NASCAR introduced two separate speed limits to help minimize a team’s chances of falling off the lead lap during such pit cycles. It has remained ever since.
Which team has the most Autotrader 400 wins?
Hendrick Motorsports is the NASCAR team with the most wins at the Atlanta spring race, with 10 in total.
Which driver has the most Autotrader 400 wins?
Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Bobby Labonte, and Jimmie Johnson all share the Atlanta spring race win record with four each, although Earnhardt's five in the summer race put him in the overall lead for the track with nine. The only active driver with multiple Atlanta spring race wins is Brad Keselowski (2017, 2019).
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