"I expect to be surprised": Chase Elliott's crew chief makes his feelings known about 'anything can happen' aspect of Martinsville's short track

Chase Elliott's crew chief Alan Gustafson expressed his feelings about the Championship 4 ticket decider at the Martinsville Speedway. Gustafson outlined that minute changes to the car and strategies can flip the race outcome and hence, he is expecting surprising moments during the 500-lap battle.

The #9 Hendrick Motorsports driver is in the playoffs but is currently placed last among all the drivers and is 43 points shy of the qualifying cutoff entering the XFINITY 500. Moreover, Elliott is in a virtually must-win situation, with only two Championship Race spots left and six drivers competing for them.

It's worth mentioning that Goodyear will introduce a new left-side compound, one of the company's softest, at the Martinsville race. After testing the right-side option tires at the North Wilkesboro Speedway and Richmond Raceway earlier this year, it was discovered that the rubber wore out much quicker, though it produced higher speeds in the short runs.

Ahead of the 35th Cup Series race weekend, Chase Elliott's crew chief was asked about his take on a surprising moment at the upcoming race. The question arose from numerous incidents, including Tyler Reddick's Homestead-Miami strategy, where he made a late-race pitstop, and the following caution by Kyle Larson benefitted the 23XI Racing driver.

Gustafson said in a recent interview:

"The margin of each winning and losing has never been smaller in any little thing. I can go back to the home setting and pick things that people probably think are insignificant that I would argue could have certainly changed the outcome of the race. I think there's tons of things, it could be anything."

"It could be someone who's not in the (championship) chase decides to stay out or do some different strategy...so anything can happen. It could be super surprising. The unknown of the tire, when it comes to the context of performance with the car and the strategy, I expect to be surprised," he added.

NASCAR will provide an extended 45-minute practice session so the teams and the drivers can get a hold of the new compound.

Chase Elliott's road to the virtual must-win situation entering the Championship 4 race decider

Chase Elliott's 2024 Cup Series season has seen the HMS driver collect a solitary win at the Texas Motor Speedway. Since the last 68 races, the regular season triumph has been the driver's only win, arguably the only moment that secured his spot in the playoffs.

However, the playoffs have been a mixed bag for the 2020 Cup Series champion. After finishing second at the Round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott revived from his P8 and P19 finishes in Atlanta and Watkins Glen, respectively.

A similar incident happened at the Charlotte Roval, where the #9 Chevy driver mastered a P5 finish in the elimination race and safeguarded his Round of 8 ticket, redeeming himself from the P29 finish at the Talladega Superspeedway.

However, after the brutal setback at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which saw Chase Elliott make contact with Tyler Reddick, and later succumb to a DNF due to suspension issues, a fifth-place finish at the recent Homestead-Miami race proved insufficient to lift the HMS driver above the cutline.