After a pit call that cycled him to second on a late-race restart, Chase Elliott drove away from the field and won Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville.
The call made by Elliott’s crew chief, Alan Gustafson, certainly played a pivotal role in the No. 9 driving to victory lane.
However, when things are not going the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s way, Gustafson is not a favorite in the eyes of many Chase Elliott fans.
Following Elliott’s Martinsville win, retired NASCAR champion and current HMS vice chairman Jeff Gordon responded to the criticism of Gustafson.
Jeff Gordon on Alan Gustafson criticism: ‘You can not let that tear you apart’
During the post-race press conference on Sunday, motorsports insider Jordan Bianchi asked Gordon whether or not they pay attention to fans’ negative impressions of Gustafson.
The four-time Cup Series champion joked that Gustafson was his “favorite.” In the final five years of his racing career, Gordon and Gustafson won 11 races as a driver-crew chief pairing.
Gordon believes the backlash from Gustafson at times stems from Elliott’s popularity. Elliott has won NASCAR’s most popular driver award every year since 2018.
When a driver has a lot of fans, Gordon said that comes with a ton of passionate fans who are not afraid to voice their opinions. Yet, the 93-time Cup Series race winner does not believe it gets to Gustafson or Elliott.
“You’ve always seen this, right? Whether it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Chase Elliott, whoever is the popular driver in the series, there’s a lot of critics that want to sit on the sidelines and evaluate it. You can not let that tear you apart. You’ve got to keep strong on the inside and believe in yourself and believe in your team and all the things you’re doing. That’s what Alan and Chase fall back on,” Gordon said.
When Gordon retired from NASCAR competition at the end of 2015, Elliott was the next man up. He piloted the No. 24 for two seasons (2016, 2017), then switched to the No. 9 in 2018.
One constant in Elliott’s Cup career is Gustafson. The duo have been paired up since Elliott entered the Cup Series. Together, they have won 22 Cup Series races and the Cup Series championship in 2020.
Chase Elliott nabs early-season victory at Martinsville
Following a caution on lap 314 of 400 on Sunday at Martinsville, things fell into place for Chase Elliott to grab his first win of the 2026 season.
The driver of the No. 9 overtook Ross Chastain on lap 334, then fended off Denny Hamlin in the final laps to secure the victory. Seven races into 2026, it is the earliest Elliott has won a Cup race in a season.
The win marked Elliott’s 22nd career Cup Series win and his second at Martinsville. His first victory at “The Paperclip” came in November 2020, which he followed up by winning the championship race at Phoenix the following week to claim the 2020 title.
After seven races, Elliott finds himself fourth in the points standings. He is currently 104 points behind point leader Tyler Reddick.
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