Chase Elliott Breaks Silence on Controversy over Alan Gustafson’s Dover Pit Call That Cost Him the Win

Chase Elliot responded to the controversial strategy gamble made by his crew chief Alan Gustafson in last weekend's race at Dover.

Chase Elliott Breaks Silence on Controversy over Alan Gustafson’s Dover Pit Call That Cost Him the Win

Chase Elliot and Alan Gustafson (via Getty images)

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Hendrick Motorsports star Chase Elliot had a disappointing end to the Cup race at Dover last weekend. The 29-year-old was in the mix for victory but a race strategy gamble failed to pay off, allowing Denny Hamlin to make his way to Victory Lane. Now, Elliot has spoken up on his crew chief’s pit stop call that ultimately cost him the victory.

On Lap 340 of the race, Elliot’s crew chief Alan Gustafson brought the No. 9 Chevrolet into the pits to change two tires during a caution. The Hendricks Motorsports driver was just one of the six cars on the lead lap at that stage, having pitted just seven laps earlier.

While Chase Elliot made his way to pit road, Denny Hamlin and JGR decided to stay out on older rubber. This strategy paid off as the No. 11 car clinched victory. On the other hand, Elliot finished sixth, despite leading 238 laps on Sunday.

The 29-year-old accepted that it might be easy to see the late pitstop as a mistake now. However, if the situation was reversed with Hamlin deciding to make a pitstop, it would’ve caused chaos within HMS. Chase Elliot might’ve followed his rival into pit road in such a scenario.

Easy to look back on that and realize you made a mistake, But look, [if] we don’t come down pit road and the 11 [Hamlin] comes down pit road, then everybody’s fussing about that because the rest of them were going to pit.

Chase Elliot told The Athletic.

It was just bad luck for Elliot and his crew as Hamlin’s decision to stay out paid off. The HMS star claimed that it is easy to look back and judge past decisions. However, when it comes to making calls in real-time, one can only know what works once the race is over.

 And of course, that’s going to get the same reaction. So, the point I’m trying to make is when you have all the answers to the test after it’s over, it’s really easy to sit back and look at what was the right thing to do and what wasn’t.

Chase Elliot added.

Chase Elliot praises Denny Hamlin’s tire management at Dover

Denny Hamlin managed to pull off an impressive drive at Dover. The 44-year-old’s strategy gamble paid off, as he defeated Elliot despite being on older tires. Once again, Hamlin showcased his brilliance in the field, something that he has learnt during his vast NASCAR career.

Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin
Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin (Via IMAGO)

Chase Elliot applauded the Toyota driver’s ability to manage older tires. The 29-year-old wondered whether Hamlin would’ve opted to stay out if he decided not to make the late pitstop. This could’ve changed the situation with the JGR star getting the opportunity to attack on fresher tires. However, such speculation will not change the end result, with Elliot facing a disappointing setback. Nevertheless, the HMS star hopes to learn from the race and make amends going forward.

Denny did a really good job holding off the tires behind (him). Does he stay out if we stay out as well, knowing that (new) tires was going to line up right behind us on the second row and he didn’t have control of the restart? I don’t think they do…We can’t change it, but we can certainly take some lessons from from the day and from the weekend and try to apply that forward to put ourselves in positions like that more often.

Chase Elliot added.

Certainly, Hendrick Motorsports and Chase Elliot will be going back to the drawing board when it comes to race strategy. However, such gambles are always risky particularly in tricky situations. Sometimes a bold strategy call pays off immensely, and sometimes it can destroy a driver’s race. Thus, Elliot and his crew should not be demoralized over this fiasco.

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