By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service
Atlanta Awaits as Last-Lap Thrills Dominate Drafting Tracks
HAMPTON, Ga. – Fresh off a huge television audience and a sell-out DAYTONA 500 grandstands witnessing 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick’s dramatic last lap victory, the NASCAR Cup Series moves to another of the sport’s thrill-ride venues EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta as part of a NASCAR triple-header weekend.
The recently reconfigured 1.54-mile Atlanta oval, hosting Sunday’s AutoTrader 400 (3 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) races like a superspeedway – similar to the Daytona big track – and is renowned for its own brand of high-excitement and exhilarating finishes.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell earned the headlines in last February’s EchoPark Speedway race, a last lap pass for victory that started a streak of three consecutive NASCAR Cup Series wins for the popular and perpetual championship challenger.
His single lap out front at Atlanta last February wasn’t only dramatic but historic as the last time a race winner at the track led only one lap happened decades ago – 1961 – by NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson.
Reddick’s win last week at Daytona was reminiscent of Bell’s trophy-work and actually extended a last-lap victory streak by drivers to an amazing seven races at the drafting-style tracks in Daytona, Talladega, Ala. and Atlanta.
Whether by last lap dramatics or complete race day domination, Bell, would love to right the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team’s ship after being in contention for a DAYTONA 500 victory last Sunday only to be collected in a multi-car accident 12 laps from the end and suffer a 35th-place finish. With his NASCAR Cup Series win last year, Bell now has wins in all three of NASCAR’s national series at Atlanta.
When it comes to the drafting tracks, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing owner-driver Brad Keselowski actually leads all active drivers with seven wins – and is coming off a fifth-place finish in the DAYTONA 500. Fellow Ford driver, Team Penske’s Joey Logano is next with six wins. Logano’s teammate Ryan Blaney, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron (Chevrolet) and Bell’s JGR teammate Denny Hamlin all have five wins on the drafting tracks.
Of note, Ford drivers have claimed six poles since Atlanta’s reconfiguration, however the make has only two trophies (Logano in 2023 and ’24) to show for it. Hendrick Motorsports drivers William Byron and Chase Elliott each have a pair of wins.
Logano’s 333 laps out front is most in the eight races on the new track. Elliott’s 9.14 average finish is best in that time. And it’s worth noting, Kyle Busch – who is coming off his first career DAYTONA 500 pole position – has finished top-10 in five of the six Atlanta races he’s competed in for Richard Childress Racing – his best work in the No. 8 RCR Chevrolet.
Busch Light Pole Qualifying is set for 11 a.m. ET on Saturday, February 21 (on Prime, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Blaney won pole position for this race last year.
Atlanta Is Austin Hill’s Playground — Good Luck Changing That
The strategy for most teams coming into Saturday’s Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 (5 p.m. ET on The CW, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Atlanta’s EchoPark Speedway looks a whole lot like it did in the Daytona season-opener last weekend.
The field needs to figure out a way to beat Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, who is not only the defending winner at his “home” track, but has won five of the last seven races at the 1.5-miler.
Hill, 31, comes into the race weekend following a strong victory in the No. 21 RCR Chevrolet at Daytona last Saturday, when he led an impressive 78 of 120 laps. His closest challenger was his RCR teammate Jesse Love, who also spent most of the day at Daytona running among the frontrunners.
The 2025 spring Atlanta race results actually looked a lot like the season-opening Daytona race last week. Hill and Love set the pace and ultimately Hill edged former series champion Justin Allgaier to the finish line. Last year at Atlanta, Hill led a completely dominating 146 of 163 laps. He has claimed a series record 11 wins at drafting tracks.
And…. Should Hill win Saturday evening, he would become the first driver in series history to win the first two races of the season multiple times – answering his work at Daytona and Atlanta in 2024.
Only three drivers scored top-10 finishes in both Atlanta races last year, but AM Racing’s Nick Sanchez is the only one competing this weekend. The 24-year-old finished fifth in this race and scored his only career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory in June.
Of note, a win for Allgaier in 2026 would give him a victory in 10 straight seasons, an all-time record breaking the mark he currently shares with NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin and Kyle Busch.
NASCAR Cup Series regular Ross Chastain will drive the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet in the first of his four scheduled starts this year in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Kennametal Pole Qualifying is set for 5 p.m. ET Friday, February 20 (CW App). Love is the defending polesitter and has won pole position in three of the last four races.
Champions Collide in Atlanta CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Showdown
Saturday’s FR8 Racing 208 at EchoPark Speedway (1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will pit some of the best ever in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series with last year’s dominant champion Corey Heim back on the grid, alongside two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch.
A record-setting eight-time winner at the track Busch will make the first of his eight season starts this weekend. He’s won the last two Atlanta races giving him an average finish of 1.0 in his two races on the re-design.
The series is coming off an absolute ratings bonanza at Daytona last week, the FS1 season-opener watched by almost 1.4-million viewers – making it the most-watched truck race since 2016. Front Row Motorsports’ Chandler Smith prevailed in a dramatic run to checkered line capping a night that featured the most lead changes (32) in any race ever for the series.
The RAM All-Star truck entrant this week is NASCAR Cup Series regular Ty Dillon. The make marked its return to NASCAR competition last week at Daytona with Brenden Queen’s seventh-place finish best among the five RAM trucks. Rookie Mini Tyrell earned a 19th-place finish in his series debut.
Kennametal Pole Qualifying is Friday at 3 p.m. ET (FS1). Connor Mosack won pole position last year.
