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NASCAR Fans Speculate After Curious “I’ll Tell You Later” Radio Exchange Between Chase Elliott & Hendrick Motorsports Crew Chief in Richmond

Published 04/04/2022, 11:56 AM EDT

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During the NASCAR Cup Series race in Richmond, an event that seemed to have slipped under the radar of many in Richmond was the curious exchange between Chase Elliott and his crew chief, Alan Gustafson.

The Hendrick driver started in seventh on lap 253 but within 3 laps, he slipped back to the eighteenth position because of an unexplained problem.

“I don’t know what happened to this thing dude,” Elliott told his crew chief on the radio. “Just be nice and smooth with it, just take care of it,” his crew chief replied back.

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As for what the problem really was, when Elliott asked his crew chief, Gustafson said it was “another problem.” “I’ll tell you later,” he said.

Fans react to Chase Elliott’s interesting exchange

This exchange led to NASCAR fans wondering what that problem could’ve been.

One fan wrote, “Sounds more like a case of “we put the lefts on the rights and right on the lefts” more than anything else. My guess is Alan knew not to go into detail about it after what happened last week when Chase got super pissed off at the team and was cursing them for like 10 laps straight after losing him 11 spots on pit road.” 

Another reaction read, “It was just weird to what happened as I watching and cheering him on. But then he just fell off really fast. I’ve never seen a car just do that, that fast. Something else was going on for his crew chief to say ‘I know, I know just take care of it.'” 

“Probably swapped right/left side tires,” was one fan’s reaction while another wrote, “Most likely a team mistake. But possibly rule bending.”

“Normally when they know they did something NASCAR wouldn’t be ok with they talk in code or like this.. My guess is they either mixed up the tires or they made an illegal adjustment,” read one comment. 

Chase Elliott feels solid despite remaining winless this season

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In an interview leading up to the race in Richmond, Chase Elliott described how he feels about not taking his No.9 Camaro to the victory lane this season yet.

“I felt we’ve been solid at times,” Elliott said. “I feel like other than Vegas, I felt like there’s been signs of pace for us, we just haven’t put a whole day together, unfortunately.”

USA Today via Reuters

The 2020 Cup champion said that it’s only the month of April, that the “deal pays” in November.

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“We want to win, we want to gain as many bonus points as we can, don’t get me wrong, but a lot of racing to be done,” he added.

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Written by:

Shaharyar Khan Chauhan

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Shaharyar is an F1 & NASCAR writer at EssentiallySports. A graduate in Journalism from Amity University, he has been a passionate follower of motorsports for a better part of the decade. A Max Verstappen and Ferrari supporter, he dreams of a pairing of the two in future.
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Edited by:

Niranjan Deodhar