Good and bad for NASCAR Cup drivers ahead of Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway

EchoPark Speedway will host the Challenge Round 1 - Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart, marking the 18th start of the 2025 season. However, the race will take the green flag this weekend with some positives and negatives for the NASCAR Cup Series drivers.

Firstly, 23XI Racing's star driver, Tyler Reddick, will make his 200th Cup Series start. On the flip side, the #45 Toyota driver has had a bit of tough luck with only three top-five finishes in 17 starts this season.

Also, Bubba Wallace has been out of form and secured four P33 or worse finishes in the past seven races. Notably, he leads the series with six DNFs this season.

Moving to Front Row Motorsports, the team has secured six pole positions in the past eight drafting track races. Noah Gragson has finished fourth at Talladega Superspeedway and holds a 60-race streak with no pit road speeding penalty. But the team driver, Todd Gilliland, has yet to secure a spot inside the top 20 drivers from the past four races.

Positives for the Haas Factory team, ahead of the Quaker State 400, include all four of Cole Custer's top-20 finishes in the past eight races. He started the Pocono Raceway event with his season-best fifth start. But on the other hand, the biggest negative for them is the 134-race winless streak of the Cup Series driver.

Following the same, Hyak Motorsports driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has all four Cup Series wins on drafting tracks. However, he has placed 27th or worse in three of the last four races.

Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott has clinched back-to-back top-five finishes for the first time in the 2025 season. Also, William Byron leads all the Cup Series drivers with four drafting wins in the NextGen era. But their ace, Kyle Larson, has five DNFs in the past seven Atlanta races with zero wins in 50 drafting track starts.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell won this year's EchoPark race in February and has three top-five finishes in his last five starts, making a solid case for him at the Quaker State 400. His teammate, Denny Hamlin, has been in great form this year with eight top-five finishes and three wins in 16 starts. Despite a solid performance this season, Hamlin has been on a winless streak on the drafting tracks in the NextGen era. Meanwhile, Chase Briscoe has only one top-ten finish in the last eight starts on drafting tracks.

AJ Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing has an impressive average finish of 11 at the EchoPark Speedway. But he has been winless in 48 starts at drafting tracks. Also, his teammate, Ty Dillon, has not finished better than 19th in the five starts on the track.

The good news for Legacy Motor Club ahead of the Quaker State 400 features John Hunter Nemechek's two sixth-place finishes at the EchoPark Speedway. Also, his teammate Erik Jones has five top-15 finishes in the last seven races. The downside is that Jones has only two top-ten finishes in the last 12 starts on drafting tracks.

Former NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch has secured top-ten finishes in all five Atlanta races with RCR. For the bad news, Busch has only one top-ten finish in the last nine races, and Austin Dillon has six finishes outside of the top-10.

The good news for Rick Ware Racing ahead of the Quaker State 400 is out: Corey LaJoie has two top-five finishes in the last seven starts at the track. But the bad news is Cody Ware has finished 30th or worse six times in the past nine races.

RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher has brought positives to the team with three top-ten finishes, and Ryan Preece joins him with four top-ten finishes in the last six races. But the team co-owner, Brad Keselowski, becomes the bearer of bad news with poor performance and a mishap at Pocono Raceway. Also, he has not won a race on a drafting track since 2021.

Carson Hocevar has some good news for Spire Motorsports ahead of the Quaker State 400, as he finished as the runner-up at the EchoPark race in February. Meanwhile, his teammate Justin Haley has been winless since 2019, and Michael McDowell has been struggling this season for a good finish.

Team Penske led 131 laps of the 266-lap race in February 2025 at EchoPark Speedway. Also, Ryan Blaney has clinched six top-ten finishes at the track, giving the team a boost. But Joey Logano has only one top-ten finish in the last ten starts on drafting tracks.

The good news for Trackhouse Racing ahead of the Quaker State 400 features Daniel Suarez claiming three top-two finishes in the past four races on the track. Also, Ross Chastain has four top-ten finishes in the past seven races. But Shane van Gisbergen had the worst finish since April at Pocono Raceway, disturbing his momentum.

For Wood Brothers Racing, Josh Berry led 56 laps at EchoPark Speedway in February 2025, making a strong case for himself. But on the other hand, he has secured only one top-ten finish in the last 12 races.

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Official entry list for the 2025 Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway

Ahead of the Quaker State 400, NASCAR analyst Bob Pockrass revealed the names of the 40 drivers set to compete in the event on Sunday:

1. #01 - Corey LaJoie (i)
2. #1 - Ross Chastain
3. #2 - Austin Cindric
4. #3 - Austin Dillon
5. #4 - Noah Gragson
6. #5 - Kyle Larson
7. #6 - Brad Keselowski
8. #7 - Justin Haley
9. #8 - Kyle Busch
10. #9 - Chase Elliott
11. #10 - Ty Dillon
12. #11 - Denny Hamlin
13. #12 - Ryan Blaney
14. #16 - A. J. Allmendinger
15. #17 - Chris Buescher
16. #19 - Chase Briscoe
17. #20 - Christopher Bell
18. #21 - Josh Berry
19. #22 - Joey Logano
20. #23 - Bubba Wallace
21. #24 - William Byron
22. #34 - Todd Gilliland
23. #35 - Riley Herbst
24. #38 - Zane Smith
25. #41 - Cole Custer
26. #42 - John Hunter Nemechek
27. #43 - Erik Jones
28. #45 - Tyler Reddick
29. #47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
30. #48 - Alex Bowman
31. #51 - Cody Ware
32. #54 - Ty Gibbs
33. #60 - Ryan Preece
34. #66 - David Starr (i)
35. #71 - Michael McDowell
36. #77 - Carson Hocevar
37. #78 - B. J. McLeod (i)
38. #87 - Connor Zilisch (i)
39. #88 - Shane van Gisbergen (R)
40. #99 - Daniel Suárez

The Quaker State 400 is scheduled for Sunday, June 28, 2025, at EchoPark Speedway. TNT Sports, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90 will cover the event live at 7 pm ET.

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Edited by Hitesh Nigam