Just when we thought Chase Elliott was down and out from the 2024 Championship battle owing to his lackluster form, NASCAR’s most popular driver quickly turned the tables back in his favor with a stellar win at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend. Not only did this win mark the end of his absence from victory lane after 42 painstaking starts, but it also opened the floodgates for fans to shout Eureka as the #9 Chevy seems to have rediscovered its lost pace. With that said, all of that hard work put in by the #9 Hendrick Motorsports crew may go up in flames as Chase Elliott hints at the departure of crucial key members during the pre-race conference at the Talladega Superspeedway.

‘Those things just don’t last forever” Chase Elliott gets candid about the #9 HMS garage’s resurgence

Speaking of the important factors behind the success of the #9 garage, it’s no secret that crew chief Alan Gustafson has played a vital role in helping Elliott become the dominant force he is seen as today. Though that stellar form may have disappeared ever since the Next Gen car arrived, the weekend at Texas Motor Speedway was truly a push in the right direction. To prove just how formidable the pairing of Elliott and Gustafson has been, the #9 crew delivered a record-breaking four-tire pit stop at 8.49 seconds, the fastest in all of NASCAR history.

Though it was inevitable that Chase Elliott would bounce back sooner or later, the fact that Alan Gustafson had the utmost faith in his driver may have played a major role. Going over how the #9 garage has been building up ever since 2022, Elliott revealed just how crucial it was to have all the stars align. He stated, “I have been fortunate to experience it a couple of times throughout my career where you just have a really good group of people that are working well together, and I feel like we have that right now and we’ve had it other times too.”

However, the #9 driver seemed to showcase signs of concern as he repeatedly highlighted how all that momentum could go away with the change of a few key crew members. The HMS driver shared in the Cup Scene video, “It just becomes really important to try and take advantage of that, because people are going to move on, you’re going to have other opportunities, take new jobs, get promotions at other teams, who knows right? Those things just don’t last forever.”

As the #9 garage picked up pace with the win at Texas, Elliott shared his wishes for the #9 to maintain that start. Elliott feels that the team has been working wonders with their current roster, squeezing every ounce of performance out of his car as the season unfolds. He shared his wishful thinking about the current squad staying together as if he were privy to some information that could mean otherwise.

Elliott concluded, “Everyone is driven to work for and with each other and push one another to be better and that’s a special thing, and it’s really fun to be a part of so I hope that we can all stay together for a long time but unfortunately that’s just not how it works but what’s cool about it is that we have a really good group right now. And I think we’re all very driven to make the very most of that while things are clicking.”

Though it seems like NASCAR’s most popular driver is eager to keep the ball rolling as it is within the #9 Hendrick Motorsports garage, Elliott is well aware that the tides could change any minute on the sport’s winningest team too.

Elliott reveals his helplessness against NASCAR’s cyclical nature

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As things stand, Chase Elliott seems to be in the most trustworthy hands possible with the combination of Hendrick Motorsports and the Chevy Camaro ZL1, the combination of which has proven lethal for the Cup Series competition throughout the season. That said, the 28-year-old driver was quick to point out that variables could change in a second in a sport like NASCAR. One second, it could be Chevy dominating; the next, it could be Toyota.

Naturally, Elliott is aware that some things just aren’t in his control. He shared with the media ahead of the Talladega race, “I think that this sport goes in cycles and it goes in ups and downs and I’ve been around it long enough to see that certain manufacturers will have an advantage for a certain period and then it will swing a different direction and vice versa. I think that’s just the way it works, and I’m not sure you can do anything to combat that.”

According to the #9 driver, the constant ebb and flow of the team’s dominating and falling behind the frontrunners was an unavoidable reality. As a top team gets too comfortable or messes up with a package, others quickly swoop in to claim the top spot. Elliott believes there is no point in trying to resist that eventual change, but to try and swim out of it effectively will be the key.

He concluded, “When you get behind, you probably work a little harder in certain areas to make it better and I think it just creates this natural flow of people, you know, manufacturers being good and struggling, and you just have to ride that wave, I don’t think you can ever stop that.”

After taking a look at Chase Elliott’s uncertainty regarding the future of HMS and the #9 garage, do you think he’s aware of some internal changes that could have a major impact on his performance shortly?