Chase Elliott’s 2025 season has been a masterclass in almost. Almost winning. Almost dominating. And almost back to full form. While he’s been clocking in consistent finishes, hovering around the top 10 most weeks and never finishing outside the top-20, there’s a lingering feeling that something always gets in the way. Whether it’s pit strategy, timing, or just plain bad luck, there’s something off. But fans haven’t lost faith yet.

If anything, their online presence has only grown louder and more loyal, dissecting every move the No. 9 team makes like seasoned analysts. But after Dover, even some of NASCAR’s own started scratching their heads. Despite ending the weekend with the points lead, a mid-race call that cost him the race win didn’t sit right with anyone, especially Elliott Nation, who set social media on fire. And now, a few familiar voices are joining the noise, pointing fingers where it hurts the most.

Chase Elliott’s Dover disaster dissected

Chase Elliott’s weekend at Dover Motor Speedway promised so much! But, ended in frustration. Awarded the pole after qualifying was rained out, Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the dominant car early. He led a race-high 238 of the 407 laps and won Stage 1, putting himself in prime position to add to his win column and solidify his return to form in the summer stretch.

As the race wore on, shifting Dover weather brought new complications. With rain on the horizon and most of the leaders cycling through pit stops, Elliott and Denny Hamlin pitted on Lap 327. Moments later, a caution for rain froze the field with Christopher Bell, who hadn’t pitted yet, in the lead. When pit stops resumed under caution, Elliott’s crew chief Alan Gustafson called for just two tires in hopes of gaining track position, but the move backfired.

With most key rivals taking four fresh tires, or staying out altogether as Hamlin did, Elliott struggled to keep up on the restart. He eventually faded to a sixth-place finish despite his earlier dominance. Insiders and fans were quick to criticize the two-tire call. Bubba Wallace‘s spotter Freddie Kraft was blunt. The veteran said on the Door Bumper Clear podcast, “The one thing questionable… as Alan [Gustafson, #9 crew chief] decided to come in and put two on the #9… even putting two on, he wasn’t going to jump the guys that were putting four on… two tires there is probably worth like, I know, ten to twelve spots or something like that. But there was such a gap… That doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

And this is not something new from the Elliott camp. Faulty pit strategies have been a dominating narrative for many of Elliott’s shortfalls in 2025. In fact, it happened just last week at Sonoma! While Shane van Gisbergen was dominating as he does on road courses, Elliott was running third in hopes of a lucky break. When a caution came out with 14 laps to go, SVG stayed out, and Elliott chose to pit for fresher tires, entering pit road in 3rd place and leaving in 14th. This did not end well.

Eventually, two more cautions in the race would allow the rest of the field to pit, leaving Elliott with no advantage and an uphill battle to regain track position. While he did manage to muscle his way to third place by the end of the race, he couldn’t battle Chase Briscoe hard enough for second, as his older left-side tires got loose at the wrong time. Dover was yet another example of a pit strategy mishap, and this time, it potentially cost him the win.

Veteran crew chief Tommy Baldwin echoed Kraft’s sentiment, noting that if Elliott was too far back, “Probably should have did four,” he said. But overall, the strategy simply left Elliott stuck in traffic and outmaneuvered in the crucial closing laps. The stinging result sparked intense debate online, with the #9 fanbase venting about a win that slipped through their fingers.

Strategy frustrations and hope for Elliott’s next win

Chase Elliott fans found themselves in a familiar but intensely frustrating place after Dover. They were certain that another win is around the corner, but a single call kept the No. 9 team from Victory Lane. “Another win is coming VERY soon! Yesterday should’ve been it but it came down to 1 single call. If you ask me that’s kind of comforting,” one fan wrote.

This perfectly channeled both exasperation and optimism over Elliott’s season with just one win so far. Despite starting on pole and leading the most laps, Elliott’s day unraveled with critical pit road decisions that ultimately handed the race to Denny Hamlin. Then, another fan put it. “This team is one of the favorites, but they’ve got to be better on pit road. The cars they’ve unloaded have massively improved, but mistakes and poor strategy will cost this team if it doesn’t get cleaned up.” Well, another pit lane incident took place in the race for Elliott. During Stage 2, a jack mishap turned Elliott’s stop into a 15-second slog, costing him the lead and forcing the team to play catch-up.

Fans are also left dissecting strategy calls after the rain caution. Many believed that had Elliott stayed out, he could have chased down Hamlin. “If Chase stayed out, I feel he would have passed Denny on the bottom. He did earlier, and his car was one of the stronger cars of the day,” one fan wrote. Elliott pitted just 10 laps before the Lap 337 yellow and then again on lap 341, while Hamlin decided to stay out.

Fans, along with analysts, assigned blame to crew chief Alan Gustafson, arguing, “Yesterday it was Alan’s fault. Denny isn’t gonna say that because he either doesn’t know what happened or he benefitted from it.” Meanwhile, Hamlin’s bold weather gamble and clean pit road execution cemented another victory. It perfectly highlighted the razor-thin line between heartbreak and heroics at the highest level of NASCAR. Still, despite this outrage over pit strategies, Elliott leads the points standings, putting him in the best place possible as the playoffs loom large.