As the curtain is set to fall on the regular season of the 2023 Cup Series, the eleventh hour awaits NASCAR luminary Chase Elliott to grasp victory and punch his ticket to the playoffs. Yet, where pressure mounts, missteps often follow in its shadow.

Recalling the Watkins Glen debacle, where an ill-fated tryst with fuel strategy went awry, the echelons of devoted fans were none too pleased. The HMS crew chief bore the brunt of their ire, facing a barrage of criticism for Elliott’s miss. Yet, on the eve of the Daytona showdown, #9 took to the fore, shedding light on the maelstrom surrounding his crew chief and the online harassment he faced.

Chase Elliott comes out in support of his crew chief

The race at Watkins Glen had the pulse of every NASCAR aficionado racing. Given Chase Elliott’s sterling performance at the Indianapolis Road Course, where he finished P2, expectations were sky-high. However, the race took an unexpected detour when Elliott’s HMS team took a gamble with their fuel strategy.

The gambit backfired; No. 9’s car sputtered to a stop in lap 55, stalling inside the bus stop behind a promising P7. The aftermath was a tempest of fan frustration, with many fingers pointing squarely at Elliott’s crew chief, Alan Gustafson. The chorus grew so loud that some even opined that a change of crew chief was imperative for his success.

However, as the Daytona race loomed, the No. 9 Chevy driver addressed the uproar. His measured response not only shed light on the unshakable camaraderie he shared with Gustafson but also perhaps garnered him more admiration.

Dismissing the maelstrom of social media outrage, the HMS driver affirmed, “That’s not something we worry about. He doesn’t worry about social media, and I don’t either. So, we have a lot of trust in one another and the job that we do. I think he is a great dude; he is a great crew chief. I don’t really care what anybody says about that. I work with him every week; no one else does.”

Expounding on their solid partnership, Elliott remarked, “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 we go to work on together. I am really proud of that. We have been working together for about 8 years now, so I am not worried about him.”

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Furthermore, on the Watkins Glen conundrum, Rick Hendrick‘s driver clarified that what appeared to many as a strategic gambit was far from a mere ploy.

The No. 9 labels the Watkins Glen episode as bad timing

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While many, including NASCAR titans like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin, speculated that Chase Elliott’s mid-race fuel debacle might have stemmed from a misjudged strategy, the No. 9 Chevy driver offers a contrasting perspective.

In Elliott’s view, it wasn’t a calculated move gone awry but rather an instance of ill-timing. He elucidated, “I don’t think there was anything trick or anything like that. It was just an unfortunate error that was bad timing more than anything. But it wasn’t as obvious as I would say as an average watcher would think it was.”

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Regardless of whether it was strategy or fluke, the incident undeniably robbed the poster boy of NASCAR of a pivotal opportunity to seal a berth in the playoffs, a fact that understandably riled the legions of devoted NASCAR enthusiasts. Yet, as the countdown to the Daytona race begins, all eyes will be on how Elliott and his team regroup and rebound.