With his dramatic and wildly popular victory on Saturday night at EchoPark Speedway just outside Atlanta, Chase Elliott snapped a winless streak dating back to April 2024.
Perhaps even more importantly, though, Elliott finally has the momentum that only comes with winning.
Now the question is what he will do with it and how far he can ride it.
While no one, Elliott included, knows the answer quite yet, the next couple of stops on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule play directly to the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s strengths.
And it’s also important to realize that prior to his breakthrough this past weekend at his home track, the Dawsonville, Georgia native — though winless for more than a year — hadn’t exactly been struggling.
CHASE ELLIOTT WINS IN ATLANTA! pic.twitter.com/EQfNV9JuNR
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 29, 2025
Chase Elliott Was Already On A Roll Before Atlanta Win
Although Chase Elliott’s failure to win a race in 2025 was the focus of much attention coming into the Atlanta weekend, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion had actually been on a hot streak.
Sure, it was somewhat of a quiet hot streak, but it was a hot streak, nonetheless.
In the two races leading up to Atlanta, Elliott had finished fifth (at Pocono Raceway six days earlier) and third in the inaugural race at the Mexico City road course. And at Michigan, the week before Mexico, Elliott finished 15th but led 19 laps in his No. 9 Chevrolet.
So, it wasn’t like Elliott showed up in Atlanta with his head tucked between his knees. Far from it, in fact.
“I’m excited,” NASCAR’s perennial most popular driver said immediately after his Atlanta breakthrough. “I mean, I’m really just kind of proud of the last four weeks.
“Honestly, we had a really fast car at Michigan, and I thought we were really respectable up there. Good in Mexico. I thought we were also really respectable up at Pocono.
“Those are a lot of different styles of racetracks that I feel our team has done a solid job.”
More Great Days Could Be Just Around The Corner For Chase Elliott
Almost forgotten given that Chase Elliott has won so infrequently over the past couple of seasons is the fact that he’s one of the NASCAR Cup Series’ best road racers.
Of his 20 wins at the sport’s highest level, seven have come on road courses.
Well, guess what?
The next two stops on the Cup Series schedule — this weekend’s Chicago Street Race and the following weekend’s event at Sonoma Raceway in Northern California — are both tracks where drivers turn both left and right.
Although Elliott has never prevailed at either venue, his history on road courses gives him reason to feel confident.
Confidence should likewise be in high supply for the second-generation driver on July 20 when the Cup Series competes at Dover, where Elliott is a two-time winner.
For now, though, being fresh off his Atlanta triumph and several strong finishes in succession is enough to put a bounce in his step.
“We’re really close to having all the pieces of the puzzle (together),” Elliott said. “There’s really nowhere I’m not looking forward to going to. I’m embracing whatever challenge comes next.”
