Chevrolet’s winless drought came to an end this weekend, when Chase Elliott entered the Victory Lane at Martinsville. The No.9 Hendrick Motorsport driver grabbed the lead from Denny Hamlin, who almost looked set to win this one.

After the end of the race, the No.9 crew chief, Alan Gustafson, and vice chairman Jeff Gordon spoke to the press, and one of the topics that came up was Rick Hendrick and his leadership. Gustafson revealed he received a call from Hendrick on Friday.

The crew chief mentioned that the owner personally calls the crew from time to time, and on this particular occasion, he praised Hendrick’s perspective on the team’s long-term performance and his ability to know what to say when.

“He doesn't do it extremely often, but it was nice to get a call from him, and he was super positive and wanted to reiterate," said Gustafson. "He was in our meeting at Darlington, so I think it was kind of fresh on his mind."

Gustafson revealed the analogy Hendrick used to help send a message to the team.

"He asked me to deliver a message to the team: ‘This is a marathon, not a 10k race, and we're in it for the long run.’ Regardless of the way it starts, it's about the way it finishes, and he wanted to take as much pressure off us as possible."

Hendrick Motorsports is a legacy team in NASCAR, and all the success has been due to the culture Richard has helped build. Having won 15 championships, Hendrick certainly knows how to get the best out of the team.

"He’s the master of knowing what to say at the right time; he's better at it than anybody I've ever met in my life. So it's just good to hear from him,” Gustafson said.

Elliott's win was certainly instrumental as it put an end to a long wait.

Chase Elliott Ending Chevrolet’s Losing Streak

Denny Hamlin seemed like the likely driver to take home the checkered flag, as he led for 292 out of 400 laps. However, a change in strategy by Gustafson played an important role in Elliott’s victory.

While other drivers were on old tires, the No.9 crew chief decided to call Elliott in twice, which would give him newer, fresher tires and thus an edge over his rivals.

The short-pit gamble eventually gave Elliott the lead. By the time a late caution flag flew, he climbed from 9th place to 2nd, successfully closing the gap and snatching the momentum away from Hamlin.

“Nice to kind of get to end this first stretch of the season going into the off week with the win is really cool," said Elliott. "We still have a lot of room for improvement, don’t get me wrong, but great way to kind of cap off this first stretch. A lot of good momentum for the whole organization."

The week off certainly has come at the right time. Elliott will be hoping to take some time off, but when the race starts at Bristol, he will be hoping to carry the momentum from Martinsville and secure another win.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Aaradhya Singh