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MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Alan Gustafson, crew chief for Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, was at his dwelling packing a suitcase for the weekend race at Martinsville Speedway final Friday when his boss, the boss, Rick Hendrick referred to as.
“He wished me to ship a message to the crew,” Gustafson recalled. “The quote for him was, ‘this can be a marathon not a 10K race. We’re in it for the long term. Whatever the manner it begins, it’s about the way in which it finishes.’”
And the way in which it completed Sunday night on the Martinsville half-miler was optimum – precisely the outcome Hendrick, Gustafson, Elliott and the larger crew had hoped to ship Chevrolet’s first victory of the season and the earliest win in a season that the 2020 sequence champion Elliott had ever earned.
For the hassle, the 30-year-old Georgia-native now sits fourth within the NASCAR Cup Sequence championship standings. The crew’s strategic, hard-fought win was particularly encouraging contemplating it got here on a day when Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin, began from pole place, gained each phases and led a dominating 292 of the 400 laps.
The return for Chevrolet to the winner’s circle was notably vital in a season when Toyota had gained 5 of the primary six races and Ford, the opposite.
And because the telephone name from Hendrick demonstrated, the motivational energy the revered championship crew proprietor gives shouldn’t be underestimated. Hendrick Motorsports is perpetually racing for wins and championships. That’s the minimal expectation.
And who might argue with Sunday’s outcomes?
“Typically that’s a kick within the butt, typically that’s simply assist,” NASCAR Corridor of Famer and Hendrick govt Jeff Gordon reiterated of the boss reaching out to Gustafson. “He [Hendrick] desires it dangerous. No one’s extra aggressive than he’s. Nevertheless it’s simply all the time attention-grabbing to see how he views it and the way he feels what the crew wants greatest.”
Elliott’s victory at Martinsville was certainly a shot of adrenaline for the four-car Hendrick crew, which additionally consists of two-time and reigning sequence champion Kyle Larson and William Byron, who each had top-10 Martinsville finishes as effectively.
And it was a official increase for the whole Chevrolet contingent.
Toyota, with the assistance of four-race winner Tyler Reddick and Hamlin [who won at Las Vegas two weeks ago] has confirmed itself ‘The’ producer most on its recreation early on this season. Even with a Fifteenth-place end Sunday within the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota, Reddick maintains a dramatic 82-point benefit atop the factors standings. Together with his win Elliott strikes into fourth place, first among the many Chevrolets, however nonetheless 104 factors behind Reddick.
“Man, that is superior,” Elliott stated of his early season victory. “Actually cool and going into an off-week too which suggests we get to take pleasure in it for 2 weeks, not one.
“It’s the little issues, man. You type of study to take pleasure in that stuff. … I do know we nonetheless have a number of room for enchancment, don’t get me unsuitable, however nice option to type of cap off this primary stretch [of races]. Plenty of good momentum for the entire group, actually, I feel.”
Whereas Elliott cautioned that his win Sunday – aided by a clutch late race technique name by Gustafson – doesn’t imply he and the remainder of the sphere have essentially “caught” the Toyota contingent. It does no less than present strong encouragement and a reminder that it’s nonetheless early within the season with loads of highly-motivated groups and drivers ready to present Toyota a run for the massive trophy
“I feel we’re nonetheless figuring it out,” Elliott stated. “However definitely profitable, that’s petty self-explanatory, whenever you get that many extra factors from second you need to get that accomplished. How the remainder works out we’ll simply must type of see as we go.
“It’s easy,” Elliott stated of his appreciation for crew management. “We simply present up and go to work, man. We attempt to do one of the best we will to place one of the best outcome on the market for everyone concerned.”
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