Chase Elliott heads into his home track of Atlanta Motor Speedway as the most recent NASCAR Cup Series following his win a week earlier at Road America.
NASCAR’s formula for setting race starting grids that includes previous race results and fastest laps and car owner points put the reigning Cup Series champion and local driver on the pole for Sunday’s Quaker State 400.
“I am super excited for Atlanta this weekend for a lot of different reasons. Number one is, obviously, it’s my home track, and that’s always an important thing for any driver – to want to do well at your hometown track,” Elliott said. “A place where you have a lot of family and friends that tend to want to go and watch and support. It just means a lot to me to be racing there.
“And then, number two, we are bringing on a new partner this weekend with A SHOC. It’s a race, I think, we have all been really excited for and looking forward to for a while. This partnership has been a lot of fun, and it’s always exciting to bring a new partner into the sport, and we just hope we can bring them in the right way and have a good run for them here in Atlanta. It is good to see them on board and I’m looking forward to a fun week down there.”
Kyle Bush, a day after winning what he says was his last NASCAR Xfinity Series race, also at Atlanta, starts second for Sunday’s Cup race, alongside Elliott on the front row.
“Atlanta is one of those places where anything can happen and we’ll definitely have to be on our toes there this weekend with our Skittles Gummies Camry. You have to have good grip there: you have to have good [tire] fall-off. You have to be fast to start a run, yet you don’t want to fall off more than anybody else. So you have to take care of your stuff and bide your time a little bit. That lends itself to options by the driver to either push hard early or save a little and be there late.”
Busch is surrounded by Joe Gibbs Racing teammates for the start of the Quaker State 400, with all four of the team’s drivers starting in the top-five. Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell start in the third and fourth positions, in row two, and Martin Truex Jr. in fifth.
Truex shares the third row with one of Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates, 2021 series wins leader Kyle Larson.
“I definitely learned a lot in the moment, but I can learn even more by rewatching the race,” Larson said of a second-place finish at Atlanta earlier this season. “You learn from everything – the good races and you definitely learn from the ones you feel got away. The track will certainly be different with the temperatures and the heat, so we’ll need to learn quickly and adapt quickly so we can hopefully battle for stage wins, the race win and the playoff bonus points that goes along with that.”
Tyler Reddick starts seventh and Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Kurt Busch and Ross Chastain line up eighth and ninth. Joey Logano is the highest-starting Ford driver in the 10th starting spot.
