NASCAR Atlanta Sunda, February 15, 2026
ATLANTA
Last year in this race Christopher Bell led only the final lap in what started as a 3-race winning streak that included Austin & Phoenix. In the summer, most popular driver & Georgia native Chase Elliott ended a 44-race winless streak.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Atlanta is like Daytona & Talladega on fast forward
124th Atlanta NASCAR Cup Series race – First race: 1960 (66 Years ago)
50 Different winners in 123 NASCAR Cup Series Atlanta races
23 NASCAR Cup Series champions won at Atlanta – 26 NASCAR Hall of Fame drivers won Atlanta
5 Different winners in 8 races on reconfigured Atlanta track –
William Byron 2, Chase Elliott 2, Joey Logano 2, Christopher Bell 1 & Daniel Suárez 1
Hendrick Motorsports won 4 of 8 races on reconfigured Atlanta track
5 Different winners last 5 Atlanta races – Byron, Suárez, Logano, Bell & Elliott
Joey Logano only repeat winner last 7 Atlanta races (2 Wins last 6 races) – 5 Others 1-win each
Joey Logano led most laps both Atlanta races last season – Finished 12th & 36th
Atlanta 2/25
Christopher Bell winner – Started 32nd, finished 24th in Stage 1 & 26th in Stage 2, avg. running pos.: 16th, only final lap led
First of 3 straight wins last season
Lead changes: 50 (Record)
Best Hendrick finisher: Kyle Larson 3rd (Other HMS drivers finished 20th or worse)
Laps Led – Ford 195, Chevrolet 65, Toyota 6
Atlanta 6/25
Chase Elliott winner – Started 15th, finished 9th in Stage 1 & 2nd in Stage 2, last lap pass for win, ended 44-race winless streak
4 Not involved in crashes – Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick & Zane Smith
Lap 69 – 25 Involved in crash (Largest Atlanta crash)
2 Finished top 10 both Atlanta races last season – Carson Hocevar (2nd & 10th) & Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (5th & 6th)
Leader of most laps failed to win last 5 Atlanta races
10 To go leader failed to win last 3 Atlanta races
Final lead change with 2 or fewer laps to go last 4 Atlanta races
Last season, both Atlanta races settled by pass in the final lap
9 Atlanta races settled by last lap pass
Hendrick Motorsports won 18 Atlanta races with 8 different drivers
6 Won first career NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta including Kevin Harvick a quarter-century ago
Won by 6 one-thousandths of a second over Jeff Gordon
Bill Elliott & Chase Elliott only Georgia drivers to win Atlanta
14 Times drivers won consecutive Atlanta races – Chase Elliott won last Atlanta race
Last back-to-back Atlanta winner: Jimmie Johnson 3/15 & 2/16 – Chase Elliott won last Atlanta race
History
Atlanta hosted season finale for 14 years from 1987 through 2000
8/1/71 Atlanta win by Richard Petty was 5th consecutive win (Malta, Islip, Trenton, Nashville & Atlanta)
10/28/07 Atlanta win by Jimmie Johnson was 2nd win in 4-straight win streak
3/9/08 Kyle Busch wins first NASCAR Cup Series race for Toyota (First win for Kyle Busch with Joe Gibbs Racing)
2/28/16 Jimmie Johnson 76th career win tying him with Dale Earnhardt
2/25/24 Daniel Suárez over Ryan Blaney by 3 one-thousandths of a second
Top 3 separated by 7 one-thousandths of a second