Chase Elliott calls Alan Gustafson biggest source of support after snapping winless streak

Chase Elliott's long winless drought finally came to an end over the weekend in Texas.

Between his win at Talladega in October 2022 to his win last week, Elliott and his team, especially crew chief Alan Gustafson, have received plenty of criticism. However, the racer has always stood by Gustafson and insisted that changing his crew chief wasn't the answer to solve their woes.

After his latest win, a reporter asked Elliott:

"Who has been the most important person to you during this journey of trying to get back? Who has been that one person that made sure the days don’t get as down as you might let them?"

In response, he praised Gustafson for standing by him during his winless period.

"I think really that starts with Alan and the people that ultimately have a role in how fast we go on the weekend sitting in our little meeting room on Mondays, the pit crew guys that work at the shop throughout the week, too," Chase Elliott said.

He further credited the "little group" he travels with and spends most of his time with, claiming that they have "a big impact" on the process:

"I think we just have a special group. Everybody’s clicking and working for each other. I think that starts with Alan and his leadership. He’s been doing it a long time. I’ve been doing it a long time, but he’s been doing it a lot longer than me. It’s nice to have that experience to lean on. He’s pretty much seen it all throughout his career. That’s a nice thing to lean on."

---

Chase Elliott came to Alan Gustafson's defence after latter's slip up last year

The 2023 season was a fairly painful experience for Chase Elliott and his team. He missed the playoffs, went winless and at Watkins Glen, he ran out of fuel in the final third of the race.

This instance saw Alan Gustafson receive plenty of backlash, with many fans on social media demanding that the crew chief be replaced. For Elliott, though, replacing Gustafson was out of the question.

In fact, Elliott, who isn't known to be particularly vocal with his thoughts, publicly defended his crew chief.

"I don’t really care what anybody says about that because I work with him every week, and no one else does. So it’s kind of unfair, really, for anybody to feel like they have a good hold on what our team sees and the things we talk about every week and the things that we go to work on together, and I’m really proud of that," Chase Elliott said.

This season, Elliott and Gustafson's partnership is reaping rewards again. In his last three races, Elliott has finished first, third, and fifth, and finally seems to have found his groove again.