CONCORD, N.C. – Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 team, spent his off week racing his way through the rocky terrain of the Pisgah National Forest for the Jerdon Mountain Challenge on July 24.
The 45-year-old championship-winning crew chief biked 26 miles and climbed more than 3,600 feet of elevation in 2:34:23.8, placing 14th in his division.
Although Gustafson started mountain biking when he was 18, living in Florida and riding the trails with his friends, his competitive drive did not flourish until he got back on the bike a few years ago after leaving CrossFit to find a new way to train.
“Steve Hlinak, our shop foreman here, got into mountain biking a lot and was always telling me, ‘Hey man, you need to mountain bike, you need to mountain bike,’” Gustafson said. “Coming from the sports background and loving to do that stuff, I needed to do something other than CrossFit because it is so hard on your body. So I bought a bike off Craigslist and went with him on a ride and was like, ‘What have I been missing out on for so long?’
“It’s just so much fun and just nice to be in the woods. Just you and your bike. It’s just so simple, it’s refreshing.
Gustafson and a group of teammates from Hendrick Motorsports ride every day, taking a break from preparing for the next NASCAR Cup Series race to ride and get some exercise.
“We have a lunch ride here at Hendrick Motorsports,” Gustafson said. “Steve Hlinak and Darrell McDonald were the two original guys here and they would go out by themselves and now, depending on the day, there are 12 or so guys that are avid cyclists that work here. We have six or seven different routes that we will do and usually you can get in 16 to18 miles a day.”
But the training is only part of the preparation for Gustafson. He knows the importance of preparation and planning as the crew chief of the No. 9 team and will put in the same effort that he would for a Cup Series race, planning out his refueling strategy while riding and mapping the route help to keep his skills and endurance at the top of his game.
“To finish it is one thing and then to be competitive is another,” Gustafson explained. “I ride a lot, 100 to 150 miles a week, and I will recon that course two or three times… It’s hard because they have two rest stations for drinks and food but if you want to get a good time, you don’t want to do that. I think I burned over 3,000 calories, so it is hard to eat and drink enough on a bike. Going up there a week before was all about figuring out how much I need to eat and drink, because if you don’t, you will crack.”
Since finishing his recent event, Gustafson plans to compete in two more races in 2021. Circled on the No. 9 team’s crew chief calendar are the 104-mile Belgian Waffle Ride in Asheville, North Carolina on August 21 and the Swank 65 on November 14 in Brevard, North Carolina.
“It’s hard through the season to race these races, so having these two weeks off and the opportunity to do that race was a lot of fun,” Gustafson said.