Chase Elliott highlights Alex Bowman's pivotal push in securing Team Hendrick's Atlanta victory

Chase Elliott pulled off a thrilling finish in front of his hometown fans, as he snapped his 44-race winless streak. The Hendrick Motorsports ace now has 20 premier-level victories to his credit, his latest one coming at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, June 28.

Elliott led nine times for 41 laps and is now in the playoffs. It wouldn’t have been possible without that last-lap push from his teammate, Alex Bowman. During a post-race interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Chase Elliott recalled the final moments before bagging his second career triumph at the famous car racing venue in Georgia.

Amid the din and bustle, Chase Elliott didn’t notice the drivers in contention as the field took the white flag. He wasn’t even sure how Bowman got him to second, trailing behind his No. 9 Chevy. Detailing the same, the 2020 Cup Series champion said,

“I couldn't really tell how that happened. And when I saw him in my mirror, I thought, well, you know, that's better than somebody else. I know he wanted to win, too. But then, yeah, you know, we kind of came off four.”

Both drivers knew that if they tried to pass each other, the lead would fall into the hands of Brad Keselowski, who was charging them at the time. Bowman made the right call and pushed his teammate forward.

“Hats off to him,” Chase Elliott said of Bowman. “He did a great job giving me good shoves. And then, you know, he took a run on Brad, you know, there on that last lap that kind of dismantled his final push, you know, coming to the flag.”

As things stand, Alex Bowman is the only one from the HMS camp who has yet to make the postseason. He sits 12th in the driver standings, 39 points above the provisional cut line. However, he has to win to corkscrew himself into the playoffs.

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NASCAR insiders react to Chase Elliott’s Atlanta win, drawing parallels with Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s playoff saga

Recently on The Teardown podcast, veteran journalists and NASCAR insiders Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi spoke about how Chase Elliott’s win at Echopark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) was like Chase Briscoe’s victory last week at Pocono Raceway.

“I mean, here’s a guy who currently has his career-best average finish. 10.3. Here’s a guy who has not finished outside the top-20 all year long,” Gluck said of Elliott. “In fact, he has only finished outside of the top-15 in three races this year.”

Those three races happened at Atlanta (in February), Homestead, and Texas. Bianchi, however, thought that Elliot’s win wasn’t out of the blue. It was much like Chase Briscoe’s. When one drives for big-shot teams like Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, they are expected to win.

“Like, you’re expected to win, you know, and it’s not just to win once. You’re expected to do this again and again. And it’s nice that you get a win, that’s great,” Bianchi added.

Next up is the Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Circuit. The 75-lap race is scheduled for this coming Sunday, July 6. Fans can watch it live on TNT Sports (2 pm ET onwards) or listen to radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua