Hendrick mainstay Alan Gustafson has a penchant for working with young talent, developing them into true champions, as evidenced by drivers like Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott. A young KFB stormed into victory lane at Fontana in 2005 for the first time, driving the iconic No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet under the guidance of Gustafson. And almost 15 years later, the shock absorber specialist turned chief engineer turned champion crew chief won his first ever Bill France Cup with Chase Elliott and the No. 9 in 2020. What a career for Gustafson!Today, ahead of the monumental 40th anniversary celebration of Rick Hendrick’s racing team at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 24-25), crew chief Gustafson reflects on one of his favorite Kyle Busch memories, forged during their two wild years together, sprinkled with a bit of classic Busch “Rowdy” spirit.
Favorite winning memories for Alan Gustafson
The respective triumphs of Busch and Elliott were equally monumental for Hedrick Motorsports and Gustafson. First, the Sony HD 500 of 2005 made the distinction with the disposal of the youngest racing winner in the Cup series, 20 years, 4 months and 2 days. Kyle Busch to Joey Logano 2009’s victory in Louden, New Hampshire, recorded at a young age of 19, 1 month, 4 days, pushed the current RCR director lower in the list. Secondly, Elliott’s 2020 championship with his favorite crew flying made him the third year Nasters in history, behind Bill Rexford and Jeff Gordon. Ironically, this monumental triumph was for the first premier trophy of Alan Gustafson n. 9 In almost two decades, after periods with Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Casey Mears and Jeff Gordon.
Still, it was only fitting that Gustafson picked up his very first HMS Wheelman in anticipation of the former No. 5 and No. 84 driver’s appearance at the free fan event that spanned Memorial weekend Day to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports -First victory remembered as his ultimate victory KFB-Moment.He featured Kyle Busch’s record-breaking performance at Fontana in a recent promotional clip on Hendrick.Official Motorsports Instagram: “Yeah, I think one of my favorite memories is just the first win there in California when we ended up winning the race, like the day before when he (Kyle Busch) was able to beat the record, the youngest driver. to do this, win. And yes, it was a great race, it was a lot of fun.
Ironically, over a decade and a half later (2023) in Auto Club Speedway’s last-ever sanctioned race, Busch won his first-ever outing driving for Richard Childress’ #8 car, just two races into the regular season. This win at Fontana was Rowdy’s 200th in NASCAR, establishing himself as the new record holder over Richard Petty for 19 consecutive seasons with at least one race triumph in stock car racing’s premier National Touring Series.
However, the 2023 Pala Casino 400 also marked the last race for Chase Elliott before his momentum-shattering skiing injury early in March that had him sidelined for over a month.
Fan favorite Chase had finished right behind Rowdy at California, rebounding off a P38 DNF at Daytona the week prior. Many speculated on the potential fortunes of the 6x MPD had he not been injured at that unfortunate moment. Ever since, the #9 driver has steadily recovered in the 2024 season, with one win at Texas and five top-5 finishes. On the other hand, RCR’s #8 driver is currently on his worst-ever 12-race run heading into Darlington this weekend since 2015. KFB has no wins yet, alongside three top-10 finishes and two top-5 finishes.
But as Gustafson once stated in an official release to NASCAR, back in 2019, Kyle Busch is “One of the most competitive people I’ve ever been around — almost to a fault sometimes… But I think that drives him to be successful.” Hence, to count Kyle Busch out heading into only the fourth month of the NASCAR calendar would be foolishness.
Regardless, on the 65th running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend, Hendrick Motorsports will also make its first-ever Indy 500 run with Kyle Larson. NASCAR fans at Hendrick Homecoming will also have a chance to grab an autograph and chat with “Rowdy” himself. He’ll be signing on Saturday, May 25th, at 10:00 a.m. ET. But Busch isn’t the only champion coming to the party!
Hendrick legends like Dale Jr, Jeff Gordon, and Terry Labonte will also be signing autographs throughout the weekend. Chase Elliott will also be there on Friday, May 24th, at 11:00 a.m. ET, ready to meet his fans. Keep an eye on the Hendrick Motorsports website for the full schedule of appearances and times for all the drivers and alumni.
