Elliott On Pole As Rain Washes Out Qualifying At Atlanta

Chase Elliott will start Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway from the pole after rain washed out Saturday’s qualifying session. Photo: NASCAR/Twitter

Rain showers in the Atlanta area on Saturday ultimately cancelled NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Atlanta Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Quaker State 400.

Season owners points instead decided the grid order with Dawsonville, Georgia’s Chase Elliott starting from the pole position, alongside Ross Chastain. Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick will start from the second row, giving Chevrolet a lock on the top four positions on the grid.

Kurt Busch is the defending race winner. However, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron won in the March 2022 debut of the newly-configured 1.54-mile Atlanta high-banks.

Elliott is still racing for his first victory at his home track. He has an impressive six top-10 finishes in eight starts at Atlanta with a best showing of fifth in 2017. He was sixth in this season’s spring race.

“I would love to win here,’’ Elliott said. “That would be one of the best things to do, to win at your home track. I’ve watched guys do that over the years and you can tell that means a lot to them. I think it would be very much the same for me. It would be meaningful to be able to check that box.

“We’ve been okay here. We had one really good run, I would say and the rest of them, just kind of mediocre. Now the way that it is with speedway racing, it’s a bit of a toss-up. I think anybody has a shot this weekend the way the event is now.’’

NASCAR Cup Series
Atlanta Motor Speedway – Hampton, GA
Quaker State 400 – July 9, 2022

Saturday’s Qualifying Results

1. Chase Elliott
2. Ross Chastain
3. Kyle Larson
4. Tyler Reddick
5. Austin Cindric
6. Ryan Blaney
7. Daniel Suarez
8. Alex Bowman
9. Martin Truex, Jr.
10. Kevin Harvick
11. Chris Buescher
12. Michael McDowell
13. William Byron
14. Chase Briscoe
15. Christopher Bell
16. Denny Hamlin
17. Joey Logano
18. Cole Custer
19. Kyle Busch
20. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
21. Kurt Busch
22. Aric Almirola
23. Ty Dillon
24. Justin Haley
25. Erik Jones
26. Austin Dillon
27. Harrison Burton
28. Todd Gilliland
29. Noah Gragson
30. Corey LaJoie
31. Brad Keselowski
32. Bubba Wallace
33. Garrett Smithley
34. Cody Ware
35. B.J. McLeod
36. Landon Cassill