MOTORSPORT AMERICA FILE PHOTO
by Derek Jackson
As NASCAR Fans everywhere look forward to the return of the racing series to Atlanta, local race fans are excited to see their favorite hometown hero.
Georgia has a long list of drivers who hail from the Peach State that will be competing in this weekend’s NASCAR Races at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
COREY HEIM
Corey Heim from Marietta, Ga competes full time in the NCTS driving the #11 Toyota Tundra for TriCon Garage. Corey started with the Legends series, winning championships at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2016 & 2017. Heim switched to the ARCA Menards Series in 2019, racking up 50 top ten wins in four years. In 2021 Kyle Busch Motorsports gave Corey his first ride in the Truck Series.
The following year, Heim collected his first truck series win at his home track in Atlanta with a last lap pass of teammate and fellow Georgian Chandler Smith in the 2022 FR8 208. 2023 & 2024 were very successful seasons for the young standout driver, finishing in the top five in the points race. Heim collected his first win of 2025 in last week’s season opener in Daytona.
CHANDLER SMITH
In 2013, Smith won the bandoleros national championship after two wins at Atlanta, one at Charlotte and one at Bethel Motor Speedway in White Lake, NY. In 2018, Smith made his ARCA Menards Series debut, running 35 races in five years. In 2019 Kyle Busch Motorsports hired the young Georgian and has run 63 races in the truck series over six years. Smith finished 3rd in the points standing in 2022.
2024 was a stellar year for Chandler Smith, with 33 starts in the Xfinity Series with 2 wins, 3 poles and 17 top five finishes. Smith finished 6th at last week’s season opener at Daytona, while leading 34 laps in the race. He will pilot the No. 38 Ford F-150 in the Atlanta FR8 208 Truck Series race for Front Row Motorsports.
MASON MASSEY
Mason Massey of Douglasville Georgia has more than 20 years of racing experience and is no stranger to success. Mason’s racing career on asphalt and dirt started when was just 5 years old. Since then, Mason has piled over 200 feature wins, 11 championships, and 10 track records across multiple classes.
Massey is the newest driver to join the Alpha Prime Racing stable for the 2025 Xfinity Series season. The team announced that the Georgia native will pilot the No. 45 BRUNT Workwear Chevrolet for 11 races during the upcoming campaign. Mason has made 55 career Xfinity starts, with 24 of those coming during the 2022 season.
Last year in 2024, he made a trio of starts for SS-Greenlight racing, finishing a season-best 11th at Talladega Superspeedway. He also made 16 starts in the Craftsman Truck Series for Young’s Motorsports. Mason also found time to return to his Late Model roots and run at the Senoia Raceway, where he went from 6th to 1st on the 1/4-mile dirt oval.
JAKE GARCIA
Jake Garcia hails from Monroe, Georgia and he got his start in racing in 2016 with the USAC Eastern Midget Series. Garcia raced in midget cars for three years and made his first late model debut in 2018 for the Champion Racing Association, winning the track championship at Five Flags Speedway in pro late models.
In 2020, he ran full time in the Super Southern Series, winning Rookie of the Year honors. He would win the championship a year later, making him the youngest champion in the series at 16 years old. In 2022 Garcia switched to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and has collected 11 top tens along the way.
In the Atlanta Fr8 208, Jake will be driving the #13 Quanta Services Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing.
BRANDON JONES
Brandon Jones hails from Atlanta and got his start in racing in 2010 at the age of 13, racing full time in the Pro Truck at Lanier Raceplex and Gresham Motorsport Park in Georgia, winning track points championships at both facilities.
Jones has run over 400 races in the ARCA Menards, NASCAR Craftsman Truck and Xfinity Series. Brandon Jones drives the # 20 Menards Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.
AUSTIN HILL
Winston, Georgia’s own Austin Hill is a superstar in the Xfinity Series that got his start at the age of six in Quarter Midgets. He won the 2002 championship before moving on to excel in Legends Cars, Bandolero Racing and Pro Late Model Series.
Austin made his debut in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2014, where he ran 122 races over the next 10 years. He collected 8 wins, 54 top tens and 3 poles during his time in the Truck Series.
In 2021, Hill was announced as a full-time Xfinity Series driver for Richard Childress Racing where he signed a multi-year agreement with the legendary NASCAR Team Owner.
Austin Hill has collected 10 wins and an impressive 69 top tens in his short six years in the Xfinity Series.
Austin Hill, who drives the # 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, will be the marquee driver for this weekend’s 34th Annual Bennett Transportation and Logistics 250 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
CHASE ELLIOTT
Chase Elliott has already achieved legendary status and is a fan favorite worldwide.
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion lists his hobbies as flying planes and helicopters, snowboarding, wakeboarding, dirt bikes, fitness training, following his home state Atlanta Braves baseball team and Georgia Bulldogs football team, plus attending country music concerts.
The Elliott name has been prominently featured in NASCAR for nearly 40 years, and Chase Elliott is doing his part to keep it that way for decades more.
The youngest Elliott notably has won in every level of racing, from NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the ARCA Racing Series, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, and countless late model racing series.
With an incredible 2020 season performance, Elliott now has added NASCAR Cup Series Champion to the family legacy, joining his father Bill who won the Cup championship in 1988. With Chase’s title, the Elliotts become the third father-son duo to win Cup Series titles, following Lee and Richard Petty, and Ned and Dale Jarrett — all NASCAR Hall of Famers.
The reigning, seven-time Most Popular Driver Award winning driver for Hendrick Motorsports drives the famed No. 9, the number his father Bill Elliott brought to fame in the 1980s.
Great seats are still available for this weekend’s races at Atlanta Motor Speedway!