Does Chase Elliott need to fire crew chief Alan Gustafson to retrieve his lost glory?

Chase Elliott and his crew chief Alan Gustafson have been under fire after a disastrous outing at Watkins Glen where the #9 team failed to deliver in a must-win situation.

Elliott started the weekend on the back foot as his fastest lap was only good enough for a top-15 start. On Sunday, the #9 Chevy driver had the pace to deliver a top-10 result, but a strategy miscalculation left his fuel tank dry as he came to a halt at the bus stop chicane.

Although Chase Elliott has made plenty of mistakes this season, Alan Gustafson and those at Hendrick Motorsports, who were crunching the numbers, were at fault last weekend. The incident has put Gustafson under serious scrutiny from NASCAR fans with a growing outcry to fire him from his position.

The demands of Elliott's faction naturally emerge as the NASCAR Cup Series' most popular driver is currently out of the playoffs. But if one considers the #9 Chevy driver's entire season, the blame rests on his unfortunate mistakes rather than the crew chief.

Elliott has missed seven races this season, as he recovered from his leg injury early in the season and also served a one-race suspension. Ever since his return from injury, Gustafson and the #9 have been consistent if one looks at the results.

Since his comeback at Martinsville, Elliott has racked up five top-five results and three top-10 finishes. His worst result, whenever he has taken the checkered flag, is 13th. On the rest of the three occasions, he wrecked out at Charlotte and Michigan and then ran out of fuel in Watkins Glen.

This shows that Gustafson and his team have given Chase Elliott a quick car and made the right strategy calls on most occasions. However, it was the team's relative decline in pace compared to the start of the season that has put the #9 driver in such a desperate situation.

NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400

It is hard to replace a person of Alan Gustafson's pedigree who has previously worked as a crew chief for Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, and Jeff Gordon. He has amassed 38 Cup victories in his career and also won a championship with Chase Elliott.

The 48-year-old has worked with Elliott since his rookie year and 2023 marks their eighth season together. It is better for HMS to let the #9 team regroup its efforts rather than break it apart.

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Exploring the reasons why Chase Elliott finds himself below the cutoff line

The 2020 Cup Series champion started his season on a strong note with a second-place finish at Auto Club Speedway. His leg injury the following week derailed his entire season as he was out of his car when the team was dominating the field.

During the period in which Chase Elliott was sidelined for six weeks, teammate William Byron won two races, and Kyle Larson took one victory. Considering how the #9 driver had started the year, he could have made hay when Hendrick Motorsports had the best car.

Upon his return, Chase Elliott also compounded his misery when he got himself banned for one race for wrecking Denny Hamlin. This left Elliott with plenty of ground to make up. A few hiccups were enough to put him below the cut line.

He enters the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona in a must-win situation as his last-gasp chance of entering the postseason.