A NASCAR insider realized that Chase Elliott fans are very passionate and will defend him at any chance they get. On The Teardown podcast, Jeff Gluck of The Athletic detailed the anger he received from fans for defending Elliott’s crew chief, Alan Gustafson.
“This week, because I defended Alan Gustafson, the Chase Elliott fans this week started yelling at me for everything bad that happens to Chase Elliott,” Gluck said. “Every single thing that they think that Alan Gustafson did in the race, Elliott fans were tweeting at me like I was Alan Gustafson. They wanted my scalp. These people are very, very angry because I defended Alan Gustafson.”
Gluck then said that Gustafson “made the right call” at Richmond. The insider then talked about how Elliott fans were mad because Elliott fell back in Stage 1 to save a set of tires. They used the extra set of tires in Stage 2, but Elliott was involved in a wreck that took him out of the race.
“Because Kyle Busch randomly wrecked Chase Elliott after he made it through the wreck, that was Alan Gustafson’s fault for getting the strategy, what I thought was correct,” Gluck added. “This is intense.”
Chase Elliott talks about the wreck at Richmond
Chase Elliott, who has been named NASCAR Cup Series’ Most Popular Driver for the last seven sesaons, has been one of the more consistent drivers thisyear. His DNF at Richmond was his first of the year, and it was the second time he didn’t finish inside the top 20.
Elliott is heading to the playoffs, as he won the second Atlanta Cup Series race of the year in June. He was in the running to potentially win the Cup Series regular season title, but the wreck helped William Byron clinch the championship.
After the Richmond race, Elliott talked about the wreck. “I have no idea what happened,” he said, per Nate Ryan of NBC Sports. “Obviously, I saw them crashing, and we were all just stacking up trying to get stopped, and then after the wreck was over, I thought we were done wrecking. I was just trying to squeak by, and I guess Kyle (Busch) just didn’t know I was to his left, and we were, so I hate that.”
