For the past three seasons, it's been the same song nearly every week for Chase Elliott: run pretty well, usually toward the back half of the top 10, but seldom ever lead or contend for wins. It's a "strategy" that would be foolproof if the year was 1995 instead of 2025.
The No. 9 team has seemed to find another gear as of late, winning at Atlanta Motor Speedway (his second victory in the past 91 races; ring the sireeeen!) and vaulting into the battle for the points lead.
In Sunday's Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway, he finally showcased the dominant speed his fans have been waiting to see by leading 238 of the scheduled 400 laps around the four-turn, 1.0-mile (1.609-kilometer) high-banked oval.
Then, Alan Gustafson happened.
Dover disaster makes No. 9 team's problem crystal clear
The leaders had just completed their final green flag pit stops of the day when the caution came out for a light rain shower with 63 laps to go.
Christopher Bell and Austin Dillon had yet to pit, and Chase Elliott was set to inherit the lead. Except, despite Elliott having only stopped a handful of laps ago, Gustafson decided to bring his driver back to the pits for two tires, handing Denny Hamlin the top spot.
Hamlin led the rest of the race on his older tires. Elliott finished sixth.
Went back and listened to the conversation on the No. 9 team radio before that pit stop where they took two tires.
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) July 20, 2025
Gustafson: "Seven on the lead lap, seven on our tires. ... The question is do we want tires or do we want the front row or the lead?"
Elliott: "Ehhhh...I don't…
Everything about this interaction is a pure masterclass in how to beat yourself. Not only did Gustafson make a move that was nothing short of nonsensical, but he second-guessed his own gut instincts.
It's far from the first time Gustafson has singlehandedly given away a race this way, and it highlights what has been a consistent theme for the past several seasons. He never puts Elliott in a position to control a race via strategy, and it's no secret by now that track position has never been more paramount than it is with the Next Gen car.
This is why NASCAR's Most Popular Driver has generally lagged behind in the laps led department, but on Sunday, he was given a gift when qualifying was rained out and the field was set by the metric (a combination of his most recent result and standings position). Had it not been for that, there's no guarantee Elliott ever sniffs the lead to begin with.
In other words, this was the type of race the No. 9 team needed to maximize, and while the driver did his job, Gustafson did not. A great crew chief will find ways to position his driver for wins even when they don't have the fastest car, but a good one will at least capitalize on the occasions that they do.
Gustafson, far too often, is neither. He is the Doc Rivers of NASCAR: privileged to work with a long list of Hall of Fame talents whom he has largely piggybacked off of rather than elevated, all while they've provided him with unlimited job security.
The pairing on the No. 9 team is the longest running in NASCAR, because for 10 years, the crew chief has been "just good enough".
"Just good enough" isn't good enough. It's been long past time for Gustafson to go, and the disaster at Dover should be the final nail in the coffin.