Hendrick Motorsports star Chase Elliott missing out on the playoffs for the first time in his career has garnered most of the discussion on social media the past couple of weeks. Throughout the remainder of the regular season, there were hopes and expectations for Elliott to get that one win and make it to the postseason.
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Due to various circumstances, that chance slipped out of Elliott’s hands. Meanwhile, on social media, there were negative comments by fans regarding Elliott’s crew chief Alan Gustafson. The negative stance was surrounding how he was the reason the #9 car didn’t make the playoffs, most of it attributed to Elliott running out of fuel at Watkins Glen.
Recently, while speaking about all the negative chatter surrounding Gustafson, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. lost his cool. He suggested that Elliott not making the playoffs was not anybody’s fault but just how the circumstances played out for the HMS driver.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is agitated by fans accusing Chase Elliott’s crew chief
While speaking about Elliott and Gustafson on his podcast, Junior mentioned, “He did everything we asked him to do leading up to the playoffs. But no he will not be racing for a championship this year. And I don’t think it’s anybody’s fault. I keep seeing all this crap about Alan (Gustafson) what the hell is wrong?”
His co-host then chipped in and said, “Oh, who’s saying that that’s that’s lunacy…”
When they learned that the chatter about Gustafson had been going on over social media, Junior said, “It’s stupid. Like, those people not remember why he (Elliott) missed races and then he was even out for several weeks and then he got penalized and was suspended for an event. None of that had anything to do with Alan…”
Later on, he added, “If you take Alan and he goes somewhere else, crew chief’s somebody else’s he’s gonna whoop your a**.”
Elliott is not completely out of the playoffs
While his winless streak did not contribute to a spot in the driver’s playoffs, his #9 HMS car did make it into the owner’s playoffs. Therefore, in all essence, Elliott can still win the title, albeit in the owners’ championship if everything goes well for him during the postseason.
Had Elliott won the final regular season race at Daytona, he would have eliminated Bubba Wallace and taken over his spot for the postseason. Interestingly, just last season, Wallace was in a similar situation, not being in the playoffs but eligible for the owners’ playoffs in the #45 car.
It is not the end of the world for Elliott. He still has a chance to compete in the owner championship and also perfect and improve on things over the postseason, so that he can come back stronger next season.
