CONCORD, N.C. – With his team just six points back in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, there’s not many hours for Alan Gustafson to spare in order to think about the past.
In racing, the pursuit of victory lane quite often postpones a detour down memory lane.
But luckily, everybody needs a lunch break. So, in between bites of broccoli and rice on Wednesday afternoon, Gustafson had just enough time to lean back in an office chair and reflect on 699 Cup races as a crew chief before returning to strategizing on how to win his 700th.
That landmark start will come Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at Michigan International Speedway. The race will air on USA Network.
“The number is kind of staggering,” Gustafson admitted. “To make it 700 races is an accomplishment for sure. To compete and be fairly successful in 700 races, yeah, it’s special, for sure. I’d love to win the 700th race, that’d be very cool. So, that comes to mind.”
Hey, you don’t get to 700 starts looking in the rearview mirror for very long.
And for nearly 20 years, not many in the business have been better than the 49-year-old from Ormond Beach, Florida.
He has helmed the pit box for more races than any crew chief in Hendrick Motorsports history, surpassing Chad Knaus’ total of 673 late last season. Gustafson is also tied for second with Paul Wolfe among active crew chiefs with 39 victories, just one behind Rodney Childers.
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He was hired as a shock specialist for the No. 5 team back in 2000 and began ascending from there, working his way up to lead engineer in 2002 before taking over as the team’s crew chief ahead of 2005.
And since has come nearly two decades change and a subsequent rolling with the punches. He’s led Hendrick Motorsports entries with seven drivers including full seasons with Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Casey Mears and Elliott. And more so than maybe the drivers, cars and rules packages have come and gone, including “The Car of Tomorrow,” (2007-2012), the Gen-6 (2013-2021) and the latest iteration, the lower-on-horsepower, higher-on-grip Gen-7 car (2022-present).
But while personalities, equipment and standards have changed, Gustafson insists that the core of finding success in NASCAR hasn’t.
“When you first go through those rule changes or tire changes or track changes -- and you’re probably oversensitive to them and maybe I’m desensitized now -- but as you’ve gone through so many of them you realize that the fundamentals (haven’t changed),” Gustafson said. “The cars have changed, the rules have changed, tires have changed, whatever you want to talk about, but I think the core fundamentals of what makes somebody successful in the NASCAR Cup Series and certainly what makes Hendrick Motorsports successful hasn’t changed.”
While the NASCAR world has evolved around him, Hendrick Motorsports has served as an anchor and almost a quarter century after his career began in the Concord, North Carolina-based shop, Gustafson can’t imagine being anywhere else.
“It’s super special to start here, really at 24 years old, and see so many phases of this place,” Gustafson said. “There are so many people that are here that really took me under their wing and helped me when I was starting and helped progress my career and to be able to spend it with them and hopefully repay them back some for the help they’ve given me … I’ve been here for 25 years. I’m here all the time, so this becomes your family and becomes your friends. My closest friends are people that work here.
“This place is very special and I’m super appreciative. I knew the minute I started working here how special it was.”
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In his time with the organization, Gustafson has only helped grow that organizational prestige. Certainly, that includes the championship he helped bring to Hendrick Motorsports with Elliott at the wheel in 2020.
And sure, Gustafson said there are a few boxes left unchecked. He cited Richmond Raceway as one and, of course, the Daytona 500, a hole only amplified for a man who grew up virtually in the shadow of Turn 4’s high banks and the track’s even loftier grandeur and historic significance.
But the Great American Race can wait until next spring. Gustafson isn’t about to change his approach now 699 races into his career.
So, when it comes to talking racing, it’s no surprise he returns to the Irish Hills and the task at hand.
“Chase is really good there, his first two years, all four of those races, it’s a shame we didn’t win all of them, really,” Gustafson said. “The biggest thing about Michigan is you have to have stability. You have to be able to really carry a lot of pace with this car into the corner and really have comfort to do that. And if you can do that, you can kind of load the car and the exit is important. The old car was a little bit opposite. You wanted to get this real big arc and this huge drive off and this big run down the back straightaway. It seems this car has transitioned to where we carry a lot of throttle down into the corner.
“That was always the irony about Michigan. If you can use a lot of throttle you burn a lot of gas and that’s why I think that races traditionally come out to a fuel mileage race or can be, because the guys who are really good are just in the gas a lot so burn a lot of fuel, use a lot of throttle. That always comes into play.”
Alan Gustafson career wins
(Wins with Kyle Busch)
- Sept. 4, 2005: Auto Club Speedway
- Nov. 13, 2005: Phoenix Raceway
- July 16, 2006: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
- March 25, 2007: Bristol Motor Speedway
(Wins with Mark Martin)
- April 18, 2009: Phoenix Raceway
- May 9, 2009: Darlington Raceway
- June 14, 2009: Michigan International Speedway
- July 11, 2009: Chicagoland Speedway
- Sept. 20, 2009: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
(Wins with Jeff Gordon)
- Feb. 27, 2011: Phoenix Raceway
- June 12, 2011: Pocono Raceway
- Sept. 6, 2011: Atlanta Motor Speedway
- Aug. 5, 2012: Pocono Raceway
- Nov. 18, 2012: Homestead-Miami Speedway
- Oct. 27, 2013: Martinsville Speedway
- May 10, 2014: Kansas Speedway
- July 27, 2014: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
- Aug. 17, 2014: Michigan International Speedway
- Sept. 28, 2014: Dover Motor Speedway
- Nov. 1, 2015: Martinsville Speedway
(Wins with Chase Elliott)
- Aug. 5, 2018: Watkins Glen International Speedway
- Oct. 7, 2018: Dover Motor Speedway
- Oct. 21, 2018: Kansas Speedway
- April 28, 2019: Talladega Superspeedway
- Aug. 4, 2019: Watkins Glen International Speedway
- Sept. 29, 2019: Charlotte Roval
- May 28, 2020: Charlotte Motor Speedway
- Aug. 16, 2020: Daytona International Speedway Road Course
- Oct. 11, 2020: Charlotte Roval
- Nov. 1, 2020: Martinsville Speedway
- Nov. 8, 2020: Phoenix Raceway (Championship)
- May 23, 2021: Circuit of the Americas
- July 4, 2021: Road America
- May 2, 2022: Dover Motor Speedway
- June 26, 2022: Nashville Superspeedway
- July 10, 2022: Atlanta Motor Speedway
- July 24, 2022: Pocono Raceway
- Oct. 2, 2022: Talladega Superspeedway
- April 14, 2024: Texas Motor Speedway