Chase Elliott woke up like a storm from a winless slumber a few weeks ago. After being sidelined from his career for most of 2023 due to his tibia fracture, Elliott has slowly but surely returned to the racing scene. His dedicated pit team was by his side to support him through this long and difficult process. And the most anticipated moment came when the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team won the trophy in Texas.
The unique dynamic between Elliott and his crew chief Alan Gustafson propelled him to this victory. The duo has been working together since Elliott’s rookie year in 2016, and has amassed 19 wins to date. As Chase Elliott recently revealed, a relationship this long requires healthy, supportive communication.
Transparency is the key to Chase Elliott’s teamwork
Elliott and Gustafson are the longest serving driver-crew chief pair at the Hendrick shop, and are in their ninth season together. Gustafson has supported Elliott at both his best (the 2020 championship) and worst (last year’s playoff appearance). He recently criticized media personnel for not showing enough “respect” for drivers. Chase Elliott missed out on a ticket to the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs last year. The No. 9 team failed in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 race at Daytona, which sealed Elliott’s tragic fate. But the victory in Texas proved the doubters wrong. Now, Chase Elliott has further elaborated on his unique relationship with the team to further refute rumors of failure.
Kevin Harvick was intrigued by the No. 9 team’s winning dynamics. On a recent episode of “Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour,” Chase Elliott answered Harvick’s request. Elliott summed it up in terms of healthy communication. “We can have open and honest conversations with each other that are hard to have.”
Chase Elliott expanded on this aspect and created an imaginary scenario with crew chief Alan Gustafson. “There are days when I feel like I’m not doing my part, he’s not doing his part, or vice versa, but we can have those conversations and then it’s hard.” “Yeah, I see, you’re right.” Our working relationship has always been that way. In that sense, it’s very easy. ”
Chase Elliott expressed his admiration for his hard-working captain and highlighted his low-key media presence. “I’m a big fan of his…He’s not the kind of guy who makes a lot of noise in the media or on the internet or whatever. That’s one of the things I love about him…He just stands there and keeps his head down. He makes me better by focusing on my job and making the whole team better by having the right people in place.”
This isn’t the first time Chase Elliott has publicly praised his crew chief. Last August, people blamed Gustafsson for Elliott’s mid-race failure. However, Elliott defended Gustafsson to the media.
Elliott offered a shield for his crew chief’s reputation
In August 2023, Chase Elliott’s already mounting problems had a new addition. His fuel tank ran dry at a critical juncture at the Watkins Glen International race. That was his second-last opportunity to make it into the playoffs, and the Most Popular Driver’s fans were thrown into a flurry of speculation. Fingers were pointed at his crew chief, who was blamed for the on-track mishap
Yet Chase Elliott stood strongly by Alan Gustafson, trashing all criticism. “We have a lot of trust in one another and the job that we do. I think a lot of him, and I think he’s a great dude, he’s a great crew chief, and I don’t really care what anybody says about that because I work with him every week, and no one else does. So it’s kind of unfair, really, for anybody to feel like they have a good hold on what our team sees and the things we talk about every week and the things that we go to work on together, and I’m really proud of that.”
The driver-crew chief duo stand by each other through thick and thin. With this healthy dynamic, they are bound to storm into the playoffs this year.
