"WHAT AM I MISSING?"- CHASE ELLIOTT'S CREW CHIEF COUNTERS UNFAIR CRITICISM AGAINST TEXAS WINNER

The 2024 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 winner Chase Elliott's crew chief defended the former after his racing prowess was questioned despite his domitable run on the Texas Motor Speedway.

Elliott disrupted his 42-race winless streak after surviving through the wrecks, and cautions and benefitting from the double overtime when Denny Hamlin spun out on turn 4 as he lost control while battling for the lead against him.

However, nothing on Sunday could stop the 28-year-old from clinching his maiden win of the season and third consecutive top-5 finish. After leading 39 laps on the Texas-based track, Chase Elliott marked his 19th Cup Series victory.

Regardless of his consistent progression in his #9 Chevy, the 2020 Cup Series champion seemingly received criticism regarding his ability to gel with the NextGen cars. Recently, his crew chief Alan Gustafson hit back with his arsenal of facts countering the notion.

Gustafson said (via Bob Pockrass on X):

"If you look at his [Chase Elliott] body of work in this [NextGen] car, regular-season champion the first year [2022] of the car, five wins, to the Playoffs, runs two races, Daytona 500, which we all know is a crapshoot, finishing second at Fontana." (0.45)

The crew chief added:

"Now we start this season with this car. Anybody know where we're at in points now? Have we moved up? Fourth in points, one win, three top fives, average run position before we started was fourth. What am I missing? What is he not doing that he should be doing? I think he's pretty good."

Denny Hamlin expresses confidence in Chase Elliott's championship odds after grabbing "legitimate win" at Texas

After an underwhelming P11 finish at the Martinsville Speedway, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver is eyeing his third victory of the season after recently grabbing one at the Richmond Raceway. During Lap 260 of the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400, Hamlin led the field, inching closer to another triumph.

The double overtime leading to a restart placed Chase Elliott next to the #11 Toyota Camry, once again. Unlike the previous time, Hamlin failed to make way against the HMS driver and spun out while overtaking through the outside of Turn 4. Not only did the odds of a victory disappear but a near-end track position of P30 served as the season-worst result.

Post his lost battle against Elliot at Texas, the Florida native lauded the HMS driver's run while addressing him as a "championship threat." During the Actions Detrimental podcast, the 53x Cup Series winner said:

"He didn't do it on strategy or fuel mileage or anything like that. He made a move. He passed me and the #45 [Tyler Reddick] on the restart, went three-wide bottom, cleared us, took the lead...so it's a legitimate race win...so absolutely I would consider them a championship threat."

2024-04-16T12:55:47Z dg43tfdfdgfd