Chase Elliott message speaks volumes as ‘enough is enough’ noise grows louder
Chase Elliott's fans are growing impatient with his No.9 team but the Hendrick Motorsports driver has made his stance very clear.
Chase Elliott’s fans are growing impatient with the results of the No.9 team - but their driver sent a strong message to them before their latest disappointment.
Elliott finished 15th at Michigan International Speedway in a race won by Denny Hamlin. He led 19 laps after an outstanding move to hit the front early in Stage 2 but paid the price for a decision to pit for fuel only for a caution to come out.
Before the race, Elliott put the ball in Hendrick Motorsports’ court with a simple message on the future, while Carl Edwards made a revelation at the start of the interview that took many aback.
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In the interview on Amazon Prime Video, Elliott defended crew chief Alan Gustafson and his team to his army of loyal fans.
He declared: "I think Alan deserves a lot of credit for just helping to manage this entire process, because there’s a lot to it.
"“Look, there is no one here, and we have some great race fans and I appreciate them, but there is no one here who wants to perform as much as we do.
"And we put a lot of effort and work into that, and I think that’s always important to remember because we might not do the flashiest work, but we sure do care a lot."
And that message was particularly notable given what transpired in the race, with fans flooding replies to the final result posted by his Hendrick No.9 Team account to demand changes, not for the first time.
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“When is enough enough?” One fan asked. “AG should’ve been replaced years ago”, while another replied: “No more excuses, Alan needs to be fired. Enough is enough”.
Another fan said: “This was easily the worst display of team effort and coordination in a hot minute. (Sorry @Hendrick9Team admin for being the punching-bag for all this for so long)” and another added: “Terrible. Absolutely terrible. Drastic changes need to come to this team”.
Despite the calls for change growing among his fanbase, Elliott’s post-race interview, consistent with all his comments on his team, indicate he is firmly backing Gustafson and wants his fans to do the same.
