Trackhouse Racing rolls into Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday night for the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart NASCAR Cup Series race that kicks off the sport's first-ever in-season tournament.
Daniel Suárez and Ross Chastain are among the 32 drivers who will compete in the head-to-head, knockout-style format over the next five races, paying a $1 million prize to the driver left standing.
Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch aren't in the tournament, but each has plenty to accomplish on Atlanta's high banks. Van Gisbergen seeks to improve his seeding over the next nine races before the NASCAR playoffs begin, while the 18-year-old Zilisch tackles the Atlanta track in his third Cup Series start.
Chastain (13th seed) will face Erik Jones (20th seed) in the tournament's first round of competition on Saturday. The winner will face the winner of the Christopher Bell/Ricky Stenhouse Jr. matchup at the Chicago Street Race on July 6.
Suárez (24th seed) faces Bubba Wallace (9th seed), with the winner taking on either Alex Bowman or Joey Logano in the second round competition in Chicago.
The field will be narrowed to eight drivers after Chicago, four drivers after the July 13 road course race at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, and two after the July 20 race at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway. The remaining two drivers will battle for the in-season title and the $1 million prize on July 27 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Saturday also marks the debut of TNT/Max television coverage of the next five Cup Series races.
ROSS CHASTAIN
Wendy's at Atlanta: On Saturday night, Ross Chastain will pilot the No. 1 Chevrolet featuring Wendy’s® Fresh Ways to Frosty® highlighting their new Frosty Swirls™ and Frosty Fusions™ at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga. Wendy’s refresh on a classic is emphasized with a colorful paint scheme for their second race with Chastain. The Florida native most recently drove a Wendy’s livery two weeks ago at the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race in Mexico City. Chastain would love nothing more than to make his competitors hungry for a Frosty Swirl or Frosty Fusion while they follow behind him on the track for the 260-lap race.
Atlanta Stats: Saturday night marks Chastain's 12th Cup Series start at the 1.54-mile track. The Chevrolet driver reeled off two consecutive runner-up finishes at at Atlanta in 2022. Since driving the No. 1 for Trackhouse Racing, Chastain has four top-10 finishes at Atlanta and has led 117 laps.
Listen to Chastain: On Friday, Chastain will join the Performance Racing Network broadcast booth to call the Xfinity Series race beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Last Weekend at Mexico City: Chastain qualified the No. 1 Chevrolet third for the inaugural race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. He finished the first stage in third. After being spun, Chastain was towards the back of the field. He was able to recover and run in the top-10 until a long green flag run wore his tires out and he finished 16th in his first ever international race.
Meet Chastain: On Saturday at 10 a.m. ET, Chastain will appear at Sprouts, 1040 Chen Parkway, McDonough, Ga., with the Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety and Georgia Watermelon Ambassador. At 2:30 p.m. he will sign autographs at Trackhouse Racing merchandise hauler located in the Fan Zone - wristband required and distribution begins on Friday. At 3 p.m., Chastain will sign autographs at the Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety booth - wristband required and distribution begins on Friday.
Last Weekend at Pocono: Chastain started the race 21st and spent time in the top-10 on Sunday, but an ill-timed caution cost him several spots which prevented him from mounting a charge in the final stage to challenge the leaders. He finished 26th.
Crew Chief: Chastain and crew chief Phil Surgen have worked together since 2021. The duo are the third longest active driver and crew chief pairing.
Crew Chief: Chastain and crew chief Phil Surgen have worked together since 2021. The duo are the third longest active driver and crew chief pairing.
Most Wins for No. 1 Car in Cup Series: The No. 1 car has been to victory lane six times with Chastain since 2022, the most wins by a driver with that number. Jamie McMurray previously held the record with four victories in the No. 1 car.
Chastain Quotes
Are you looking forward to Atlanta?
"I'm looking forward to Atlanta this weekend. We've been close a couple of times with the reconfigured track. My teammate Daniel has found success there with a win last year. The most important part about Atlanta is you've got to be around at the end of the race. It's a night race and that makes it fun, especially with our very colorful Wendy's Frosty Chevrolet that should be easy to spot on the track."
Over the last couple of weeks with your teammates winning in various series, there seems to be a camaraderie between you guys. Why is that?
"A lot of that is credit to Justin for creating a culture at Trackhouse. I knew how huge Daniel's win at Mexico City was for him personally. It was an extremely important race for him to be in his home country and get a win. And then Shane followed it up with a win on Sunday and he did it with so much skill. It was great to see him get to victory lane. While all of us drivers are from three different countries, we all want to win and support each other."
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CONNOR ZILISCH
Connor Zilisch will start his third NASCAR Cup Series race on Saturday night at Atlanta. He made his Cup Series debut at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on March 1 when he started 14th in the 37-car field and ran well before he was sidelined by an accident midway through the event.
Crew Chief: 24-time race winner Darian Grubb will serve as crew chief for Zilisch this weekend. Grubb was the crew chief when Shane van Gisbergen won the Chicago Street Race in 2023. He also led Tony Stewart to a Cup Series title in 2011 and was the interim crew chief when Jimmie Johnson won the 2006 Daytona 500. He has served as crew chief for Trackhouse Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing.
Zilisch made his second Cup Series start at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway on May 25. The young driver survived contact with another car in Stage 2 and then ran an incident-free race to post a 23rd-place finish.
Double Duty: Zilisch is a Trackhouse Racing development driver who competes full-time with JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He scored his second Xfinity Series victory of the 2025 season last weekend at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, his third victory in 19-career starts and first NASCAR win on an oval. The 18-year-old Mooresville, N.C., driver enters Friday night's the 250-mile Xfinity race at Atlanta fifth in the series driver standings.
Zilisch stormed onto the NASCAR scene in 2024, winning in his first-ever Xfinity Series start at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. He also won the pole position and led the most laps on the way to claiming the victory at Watkins Glen. That same year Zilisch earned victories at the Rolex 24 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, the Twelve Hours of Sebring at Sebring (Fla.) Raceway, four ARCA races and a CARS Tour event.
Zilisch Quotes
What are your thoughts on Atlanta this weekend?
"I know this weekend at Atlanta will be a lot different than Charlotte and COTA (Circuit of the Americas). The Cup cars are a little bit quicker than my Xfinity car and are a lot more rigid and twitchy. Trackhouse has been good at Atlanta in the past and I showed speed there earlier this season in the Xfinity race. Hopefully we can run all the laps and have a good day. I just want to learn as much as I can. I’m very thankful to Red Bull and Trackhouse for this opportunity to get some more experience in the Cup car.”
Would you like a practice session at Atlanta?
“Not this weekend at Atlanta. You wouldn’t learn much in practice given the fact that you’re running wide-open. The only thing you’re going to do is wreck if you try and practice in a pack.”
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SHANE VAN GISBERGEN
Drafting in the Peach State: Shane van Gisbergen will make his third Cup Series career start at Atlanta. In February, Van Gisbergen started 30th and was on his way to a top-15 finish before a last lap crash collected the No. 88 Chevrolet, leaving him with a 23rd-place finish.
Last Weekend at Pocono: Van Gisbergen qualified 23rd and persevered in his first trip to Pocono's "Tricky Triangle" in a Cup car, overcoming two spins to finish 31st in the final rundown.
Two-Time Inaugural Race Winner: Van Gisbergen has etched himself into the NASCAR history books. The New Zealand native is now a two-time NASCAR inaugural race winner after capturing a victory in Mexico City this month. In 2023, Van Gisbergen won his debut Cup Series race with Trackhouse's PROJECT91 at the Chicago Street Race, becoming one of six foreign-born drivers to win a Cup Series race and the first driver since Johnny Rutherford in 1963 to win his first Cup Series start.
Playoff Bound: Van Gisbergen's Mexico City victory locked him into the 2025 Cup Series Playoffs. This will be his first appearance in the Cup Series Playoffs. Last season, he clinched a playoff spot in his full-time season in the Xfinity Series.
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Doran's First Win: Stephen Doran scored his first win as Cup Series crew chief at Mexico City with Van Gisbergen. Doran is in his first season as Van Gisbergen's crew chief on the No. 88 Chevrolet and his second year as a crew chief at the Cup level.
Rookie Year: Van Gisbergen is a Sunoco Rookie of the Year Contender during the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. Van Gisbergen leads Riley Herbst in the rookie standings (248-197) entering Atlanta.
Van Gisbergen Quotes
It's been two months since you've raced on a drafting track. Are you looking forward to Atlanta this weekend?
""I like Atlanta. I led some laps there earlier in the year. We didn't have much speed in qualifying, but in the race we were running pretty well until the field wrecked on the last lap and we got collected. Anything can happen on the drafting tracks. They are a bit full on when the field is racing three-wide and sending it. But yeah, if we can keep our WeatherTech Chevy clean all race, we should get a decent result."
You now have win under your belt and are heading into two back-to-back races on road courses. Is the 88 team's confidence high right now?
""You can feel the confidence in the team and the pit crew guys. Everyone is just uplifted the last few weeks, especially after the win. Not that everyone was down, but it was a bit of a grind. Last weekend in Pocono wasn't very good, but things have started to come a lot easier over the last few weeks. Our pit stop averages are much quicker. All the simple things are getting a lot better. My restarts are finally in the positive, with it being well negative for the first half of the year. We seem to be getting a lot better in every single area so it's been fun."
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DANIEL SUAREZ
Last Week at Pocono: Suárez raced in and out of the top-10 throughout the 160 laps. He restarted the race in 11th-place with 30 laps remaining, but unfortunately the No. 99 didn't have the handling it needed to contend for victory and he finished 15th.
Atlanta History: In 13 starts, Suárez owns a win (Spring 2024), four top-five and six top-10 finishes at Atlanta. An accident in February ended his three-race streak of finishing first or second at the track.
Atlanta in February: Suárez saw his day end on lap 184 in a multicar accident that left him with a 33rd-place finish.
Mexico: Suárez returned to his native country earlier this month when NASCAR held its inaugural race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. A week of fan and media activity included a 19th-place finish in the Cup Series race. But few will forget his drive from last place to first in the No. 9 Quaker State Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in Saturday's Xfinity Series race and the celebration in front of the raucous fans. It marked the first time in any NASCAR series a driver has gone from last to first on a road course. His victory, coupled with Shane van Gisbergen's Cup win, was the first time since 2009 when international drivers swept a race weekend.
Cup Career Highlights: Suárez owns two victories (Sonoma 2022 and Atlanta 2024) and three Busch Light Pole Awards - Pocono (Pa.) Raceway July 2018, Kentucky Speedway July 2019, and on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway August 2023. He owns four Xfinity Series and a Craftsman Truck Series victory
Personal Life: Suárez married Julia Piquet, daughter of three-time Formula One World Champion Nelson Piquet, at a ceremony on July 30 in Brazil. The couple took a delayed honeymoon trip to Japan in the offseason. He is also now a dual citizen of Mexico and the United States. He took the American Oath of Allegiance at a naturalization ceremony on June 18 in front of media, friends, the NASCAR industry and NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps who gave the keynote address to the 48 new citizens from 28 countries who joined Suárez at the ceremony. The 33-year-old, Monterrey, Mexico native came to America about 13 years ago without speaking English.
Suárez Quotes
What are your thoughts on the first in-season tournament?
"It's something different and fun. I don't think it is going to be something that changes our strategy. We focus on winning and getting into the playoffs; if we do that, we know we will advance. Getting a chance at winning $1 million will always get your attention, plus I think it will be good for the fans. It creates interest, and that's always a good thing."
What are your thoughts on the Atlanta track?
"Atlanta is maybe our best track in recent years. Trackhouse has brought great cars, and we've had great strategy. We struggled a bit in February, but before that, we were as good as any team in Atlanta. I think we will be that way again."
Is there a strategy for the rest of the season?
"Our strategy is pretty clear. We need to win a race and get into the playoffs. We'll do everything we can to make that happen."
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