HAMPTON, Ga. – Chase Elliott won round one of NASCAR’s inaugural In-Season Tournament at Echopark Speedway and snapped a winless streak dating back to April 2024.
The driver from nearby Dawsonville, Georgia picked up the trophy in a race littered with wrecks that jumbled the Tournament bracket. Elliott broke through his glass ceiling of consistent top-10 finishes, locking himself into the Playoffs and vaulting to third in the points standings.
“I’ve never in my life,” Elliott said repeatedly after the checkered flag flew. “What a crazy race.”
With a push from teammate Alex Bowman, Elliott drove a specially designed NAPA No. 9 paint scheme around Brad Keselowski to win. Elliott said, “All the cards fell in the right places there.”
The car was inspired by 11-year-old Rhealynn Mills, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2022, as part of Elliott’s DESI9N TO DRIVE program. It raises money for cancer research and treatment.
“Huge thanks to NAPA Auto Parts and everything they do for me and to benefit Children's Healthcare of Atlanta,” Elliott said. “This right here is something I'll never forget.”
Keselowski came home second, 0.168 seconds off of Elliott. Keselowski emerged unscathed from the two major wrecks before lap 100 that damaged 26 cars and took nine drivers out.
“Every loss hurts,” Keselowski said. “I don't dwell on them, we go on to next week and try to win.”
All three Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Fords advanced into the next round of the In-Season Tournament. Another driver moving into Round 2 with momentum was Bowman in third place.
“Glad to continue to step in the right direction after those two months of hell,” Bowman said. Bowman fell from third to 13th in points after seven finishes of 27th or worse since Martinsville.
“We've bled so much (points) over the last couple months,” Bowman said, now 12th in points. “If we just run how we how we're supposed to, we wouldn't even be looking at the cut line.”
The 400-mile race was chaotic from start to finish, featuring 10 cautions and 46 lead changes split between 13 different drivers. Points leader William Byron recorded his first DNF of 2025.
This cost Byron valuable points heading into the final eight regular-season races. Polesitter Joey Logano who led a race-high 54 laps and No. 1 seed Denny Hamlin were also wrecked on lap 69.
The In-Season Tournament battle for $1 million will move to the streets of Chicago on Sunday, July 6 for the Grant Park 165. This will be the third straight year for the NASCAR Street Race.
Coverage for the 75-lap battle around the 2.2-mile street course begins at 2 p.m. ET on TNT Sports with streaming on MAX. Bowman enters the Chicago weekend as the defending race winner.