Echo Park Speedway
By Roy J. Akers – www.skyviewsports.net
Hampton, Ga. — NASCAR is stretching out to two speedways this weekend with CUP action happening at the Newly rechristened Echo Park Speedway. With nine races to go in the regular season, there are ten drivers that have won at least a race, and multiple drivers that have won three times this season.
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Team Chevy going into Echo Park and Lime Rock
| Stacking Stats NASCAR’s return trip to EchoPark Speedway will mark the series’ fourth drafting-style race of the season. Chevrolet has earned one trip to victory lane on the configuration this season, which came in the series’ season opener when Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron became a back-to-back DAYTONA 500 champion. Byron’s crown jewel triumph marked Chevrolet’s 12th victory on a drafting-style track in the Next Gen era, with the manufacturer continuing to pace the series with a winning percentage of 57 percent on the configuration heading into the weekend. Over four seasons of competition in the Next Gen era, seven drivers representing four different Chevrolet organizations have contributed to the manufacturer’s winning ways on drafting-style tracks, led by Byron and the No. 24 Chevrolet team with four wins – two of which have come at the Georgia-based venue. Despite just narrowly missing victory lane in the other two drafting-style races this season, the Bowtie brigade had a strong presence in the fight – earning a pair of podium results in each event, as well as its season-best seven top-10 finishes in the series’ most recent superspeedway race at Talladega. |
 Zilisch Basking in Momentum Ahead of Double-Duty WeekendNASCAR Xfinity Series rookie, Connor Zilisch, became just the series’ third repeat winner of the season at Pocono Raceway. The victory – his third in just 19 career starts in the series – was a milestone feat in his young NASCAR career, with the win marking Zilisch’s first on an oval. The victory carries on a strong summer stretch for the 18-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native. The Chevrolet driver will head to Georgia with a streak of four-straight top-five finishes, which dates back to a pair of back-to-back runner-up results at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway. The boost of confidence comes at the perfect time, with Chevrolet’s rising star on the horizon of his third career start in NASCAR’s top division – getting back behind the wheel of the No. 87 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet for Saturday’s Quaker State 400 |
Team Toyota
In-Season Challenge begins … This weekend’s Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway begins NASCAR’s inaugural In-Season Challenge, a five-week event made up of 32 drivers with the winner taking home $1 million. The 32 drivers competing in the event will take on each other in a tournament bracket style format, with the higher-finishing driver in each matchup advancing to the next round for a chance at the big payout that will be determined at the Brickyard 400 in July. Toyota Camry XSE drivers in the challenge field are: Denny Hamlin (No. 1 seed), Chase Briscoe (No. 2 seed), Christopher Bell (No. 4 seed), Ty Gibbs (No. 6 seed), Bubba Wallace (No. 9 seed), John Hunter Nemechek (No. 12 seed), Erik Jones (No. 20 seed) and Tyler Reddick (No. 23 seed).
Bell looks for Atlanta sweep … Capturing the first of his three points-paying victories this season in dramatic fashion back in February, Bell returns to EchoPark Speedway in hopes of a sweep at the 1.54-mile drafting track this weekend. The driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing has three top-five or better finishes in the last five Atlanta races coming into this weekend.
Nemechek continues great success … A sixth-place finish at Pocono last weekend, after starting the day fourth, gave John Hunter Nemechek and his No. 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team their sixth top-10 of the 2025 Cup Series season – their second in a row and fourth in the last seven races. Nemechek will be happy to return to a drafting track this weekend, having posted top-10 finishes in two of the last three speedway races, including a 10th-place result at EchoPark Speedway in February.
| DENNY HAMLIN No. 11 King’s Hawaiian Toyota Camry XSE HAMLIN AT ATLANTA: Denny Hamlin owns one win in 30 NASCAR Cup Series starts at EchoPark Speedway. Overall, he has posted six top-five finishes, 11 top-10s, and 452 laps led at the 1.54-mile track. In seven races at the track since its reconfiguration, Hamlin’s best finish is a pair of sixth-place results (March 2023 and February 2025).ATLANTA WINNER: Hamlin visited Cup Series victory lane at EchoPark Speedway in September 2012. That night, the Virginia native led a race-high 105 laps, but it was a blistering-fast pit stop under a caution with less than 10 laps remaining that put Hamlin in the top spot for an overtime restart where he ultimately secured the victory..IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT: After winning at Michigan International Speedway and finishing second at Pocono Raceway, Hamlin is the top overall seed in the inaugural In-Season Tournament beginning this weekend at EchoPark Speedway. Hamlin will face off against Ty Dillon with the head-to-head winner of their matchup advancing to the next round. Through 16 races where both drivers have competed this year, Hamlin has finished higher than Dillon 12 times, including the past four races and earlier this season in Atlanta when Hamlin placed sixth and Dillon finished 29th. |
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| CHASE BRISCOE No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE POCONO WINNER: Chase Briscoe scored his third career NASCAR Cup Series victory and his first win as a Joe Gibbs Racing driver last weekend at Pocono Raceway. Briscoe led a race-high 72 laps and held off teammate Denny Hamlin in the closing laps to secure the checkered flag. Briscoe became the seventh different driver to secure a win at Pocono under the JGR banner bringing the team’s total number of wins at the track to 18. The win was crew chief James Small’s ninth career win and first at Pocono.BRISCOE AT ATLANTA: Chase Briscoe has 13 starts at EchoPark Speedway across NASCAR’s three national series. His best finish was a ninth-place result in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race in June 2020. In the Cup Series race earlier this year, Briscoe finished 21st after suffering damage during the final stage.2025 SO FAR: Briscoe leads the Cup Series with four pole awards this season, including the Daytona 500 and three consecutive poles at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, and Michigan International Speedway. His four pole awards this season are twice as many as he had in his first 144 career Cup Series starts. Briscoe is one of six drivers to have earned six or more top-five finishes in 2025. His six top-five finishes this year match his previous best for an entire season (2022).IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT: With his victory at Pocono Raceway, Briscoe is the second seed in the inaugural In-Season Tournament beginning this weekend at EchoPark Speedway. Briscoe will face off against Noah Gragson with the head-to-head winner of their matchup advancing to the next round. Through 17 races this season, Briscoe has finished higher than Gragson 13 times, including the past seven races and earlier this season in Atlanta when Briscoe finished 21st while Gragson placed 34th. |
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| CHRISTOPHER BELL No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE BELL AT ATLANTA: Christopher Bell won the most recent NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway in February. In that race, Bell started 32nd and worked his way forward throughout the event. Late in the race, the Oklahoma native surged ahead and was scored as the leader when a caution on the final lap froze the field. It was his first Cup Series victory at the 1.54-mile track. Overall, he has three top-five finishes and four top-10s in 10 career Cup Series starts in Atlanta.TRIFECTA: With Bell’s Cup Series win earlier this season, EchoPark Speedway joined New Hampshire Motor Speedway as tracks Bell has conquered in all three of NASCAR’s national series. During his 2017 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series championship season, he won the pole and led 99 of 130 laps on the way to victory lane. In 2019, Bell started third and led 142 of 163 laps to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the track .IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT: Thanks to his runner-up finish in Mexico City, Bell is the fourth seed in the inaugural In-Season Tournament beginning this weekend at EchoPark Speedway. Bell will face off against Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with the head-to-head winner of their matchup advancing to the next round. Through 17 races this season, Bell has finished higher than Stenhouse 13 times, including the past six races and earlier this season in Atlanta when Bell won the race and Stenhouse finished fifth.POCONO RECAP: Bell started ninth and finished 17th in last weekend’s race. |
