Chase Elliott Fans Are Demanding His Crew Chief, Alan Gustafson, Be Fired After Yet Another Disappointing Finish For NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver

Chase Elliott fans are down bad right now.

And there are a LOT of Chase Elliott fans. The driver of the #9 car for Hendrick Motorsports and the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion has been voted NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver for seven years in a row now. But his results this season have fans questioning what’s going on and demanding changes to the race team.

It’s kind of weird, because Elliott is currently 5th in points and comfortably in position to make the playoffs despite having not won a race yet in 2025. But his finishes so far this season haven’t been what his fans – or Elliott himself – are used to.

Elliott only has three top 5 finishes so far this season, and eight finishes of 15th or worse. In the past five races, he’s finished 15th three times along with a 16th place finish at Texas and a best finish of 6th at Charlotte. In fact, his best result all season has been a pair of 4th place finishes at Martinsville and Circuit of the Americas.

Safe to say it’s not been a great season.

Well over the past few weeks, much of the frustration with Elliott’s season has been directed at his longtime crew chief, Alan Gustafson. The two have worked together since Elliott began driving full-time in the Cup Series back in 2016, and have obviously had a ton of success together, including their 2020 season championship.

Gustafson is a veteran in the Cup Series, having previously served as crew chief for Kyle Busch way back in 2005 when he was still at Hendrick Motorsports, as well as for veterans like Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon.

But fans are starting to think that it may be time for Hendrick to make a change atop Elliott’s pit box.

Yesterday at Michigan, Elliott led 19 laps during stage 2 of the FireKeepers 400, and seemed to have a fast car, but an ill-timed caution unfortunately messed up Gustafson’s pit strategy and forced the car to pit road for fuel, sending them back to 30th and forced to work their way back up through the field.

Elliott ultimately ended up finishing a disappointing 15th, and Gustafson’s pit calls had fans demanding that he be replaced as crew chief:

Of course it’s hard to put the blame entirely on Gustafson for the team’s performance. If the pit strategy had worked out he would have looked like a genius, and there’s no doubt he’s taking more risks right now because the team feels more pressure to turn things around.

Elliott also hasn’t seemed to be running as well since he returned from his snowboarding accident back in 2023. He’s only won one race in that time period, and finished a disappointing 7th in the final points standings in 2024. And fans have speculated that he doesn’t seem to be having as much fun or be enjoying racing as much these days – although that could be due to his recent performance. Not as fun when you’re not running well.

Whatever the issue is, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Hendrick make a change at crew chief for Elliott if things don’t turn around this season. Having their most popular driver battling for 15th every week isn’t something that anyone wants to see, and I have a feeling it’s not something Hendrick will put up with for much longer.