NASCAR is back in Atlanta for the second time this Cup Series season. The drivers will compete in the 2023 Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, and they will be racing under the lights. Sunday night’s race will begin at 7 p.m. ET and air on the USA Network and NBC Sports App.ย
Aric Almirola will lead the pack on Sunday as he won pole for the race. It’s the fifth time the 39-year-old has claimed pole for a NASCAR Cup Series race, which gives him a great chance to win the fourth Cup Series race of his career. Almirola’s last victory came in 2021 when he finished first at the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.ย
Videos by PopCulture.com
Almirola won pole in Atlanta back in 2019, but this time around was different because the track has made some changes to make it more like a superspeedway. “Here, with the track starting to degrade some over the winter, and now we’re in the hot summer months of July in Atlanta, the car’s a handful to try to run wide-open,” Almirola said, per NASCAR.com. “A lot more nerve-wracking, much like it was with the Gen 6 car when you’re absolutely flying around here, slipping and sliding on that old surface.”
Chase Elliott would love nothing more than to win in his home state again. Last year, the 27-year-old finished first at the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway making him the second Georgia-born driver in NASCAR history win at the track along with his father Bill Elliott. Chase Elliott needs a strong performance on Sunday to climb back in the Cup Series standings as he’s currently in 24th place and 55 points beneath the elimination line that separates the 16-driver playoff field.ย
“It was a very special race for me,” Elliott told reporters this week when asked about last year’s race, per NASCAR.com. “I think any time any driver who over the course of their career has had the privilege of not only racing at their home track or a place that they grew up racing at in some capacity, but then to go and win? Yeah, it was a really big deal for me. I spent a ton of time at AMS as a kid on the quarter mile and racing down there so I thought it was super cool. That’s something that I’ll always, always remember and hope I can add to that and hope we can have a run like we had a year ago.”
