"He's like, 'Be a little more pissed off'": Dale Earnhardt Jr. gives his insight into Chase Elliott-Alan Gustafson radio exchange from COTA

Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently shared his take on Alan Gustafson's radio message to Chase Elliott at COTA. During Sunday's race on the road course, Elliott, who started the race from top 5, got wrecked by Ross Chastain on the very first lap.

This led to the #9 crew chief telling his driver to deliver a payback to the #1 driver when the opportunity comes. Because of this, Chastain got told by his crew chief to let Elliott pass whenever he spots him in the rear-view mirror, which is what ended up happening.

During the recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was asked by his co-host whether threatening to wreck another driver is a smart decision considering Elliott was allowed to pass by Chastain.

"Perfect scenario is the driver says nothing and the crew chief tells the driver, instructs him to do something. We know spotters aren't supposed to do that so they probably shouldn't. But I liked what Alan said because it meant Chase didn't have to say it. I'd rather the crew chief say it because if a driver says it, then NASCAR can react if something actually goes down. Just like a driver can't admit or pre-emptively say he's going to wreck somebody or spin himself out on purpose. We've seen that in the past. You can't admit guilt in that scenario," Dale Earnhardt Jr. described. [45:20]

Dale Jr. further shared his insights on Chase Elliott's personality, claiming that the #9 driver is the type of person who would've 'probably race the s**t out of' Chastain and then passed him cleanly. Junior said Elliott would've done that so in his mind, he would've shown Chastain how to make a clean pass without wrecking another driver in the process.

However, Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed Elliott's crew chief, Alan Gustafson, would've had different thoughts in this scenario.

"Alan's more like, 'Look I know Chase's thought process here. I need another level. So Chase, not today buddy. This is what I need from you.' And Chase's like, 'Well, alright. Got it.' So that's kind of what I think Alan was doing at that moment, he's like, 'I know what you're probably thinking Chase, I need you to step it up a little bit, be a little more pissed off,'" Earnhardt Jr. added.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressed his wish to be more like Chase Elliott in 2021

During an interview in 2021, Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressed his desire to be more like NASCAR's current most popular driver, Chase Elliott. Earnhardt Jr. mentioned the Hendrick driver's mindset and his command of the narrative whenever he races as something he wished he possessed.

"I wish I was more like Chase Elliott, like he just races and if he wins, he wins. He don't care if he doesn't run good, he goes and runs the Chili Bowl and does it all these other things. He knows in his mind what the reality of the situation is and if he gets outran by them guys, he knows why that happened and he's fine with that," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.

The JR Motorsports co-owner emphasized his wish to be 'a little bit more like that', where he could just drive and compete without getting worried about 'getting outran.'

If he would crack that, Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed he'd probably race more on local tracks.