Chase Elliott has won championships in Xfinity and Cup and become a perennial playoff contender, yet crew chief Alan Gustafson sees even more success in his future.
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The veteran crew chief believes that Elliott will spend his entire career as an elite competitor, just like NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon and future Pro Football Hall of Famer Tom Brady.
"Is it winning a championship every year," Gustafson asked during a sitdown with FanBuzz. "No. Is it being the best every year? No. But is it being an elite-level competitor over 20 years? Yes. That's hugely difficult, and that's the path that I think Chase is on.
"I think he's done a really good job of continuing to (be this elite competitor). Where is the bookend on that? That's up to him. I think he has the ability to do that."
Achieving success early in a career is not easy whether it's in NASCAR, the NFL, or another sport. However, some athletes enter their respective sport and immediately begin winning.
Gordon won two races in his second season in the Cup Series. He won seven more races and his first championship in his third season. Gordon won 93 races — the third-most in NASCAR history — and four championships during his Hall of Fame career.
To Gustafson's point, the Hendrick Motorsports driver won at least one race in 20 of his 23 full seasons. He also won a race in his final full season and reached the Championship 4 before retiring.
Winning a race in the final season is something that so many NASCAR drivers have failed to do. Recent examples are Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, and Martin Truex Jr. They all went winless before entering retirement.
"No one, in my opinion, in stock car racing has come in winning and left winning, besides Jeff Gordon," Gustafson said. "That is a huge, monumental task, obviously, because no one else has done that.
"The guy came into his first race and had a chance to win it, and the guy came into his last race and had a chance to win the championship."
The NFL is not a direct comparison to NASCAR, but Brady's stats are an intriguing part of this conversation.
The former Michigan quarterback became the starting quarterback of the Patriots early in his second season (2001). He posted an 11-3 record as the starter and he led the team to a Super Bowl win.
Brady was the starting quarterback of the Patriots for 18 seasons. He missed the majority of another season due to an injury. He led the Patriots to unprecedented success during this stretch while winning 219 regular-season games and six Super Bowls.
Brady never had a losing record while playing in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The longevity aspect came into play after the 2019 season. Brady parted ways with the Patriots and headed to the Buccaneers. He spent three seasons with the NFC South team and reached the playoffs twice. His first season (2020) ended with him celebrating his seventh Super Bowl title.
Elliott, who Gustafson has guided to 19 wins, didn't win a race in his first season or even his first two seasons. However, he delivered consistency.
He made the playoffs in both seasons and advanced beyond the Round of 16 both times. Elliott nearly made the Championship 4 as a second-year driver.
The Georgia native scored his first win in his third season and then added two more trips to victory lane for good measure. He then won a championship in his fifth season.
Elliott has won at least one race in seven of the past eight seasons. The lone exception was 2023 when he missed multiple races with a broken leg.
Now 29 years old, Elliott likely has at least a decade of Cup Series racing ahead of him if he wants to keep competing. The expectation is that he will remain a playoff contender the entire time, especially if he remains at Hendrick Motorsports.
Yet Gustafson sees wins and playoff appearances as only a glimpse of what Elliott can achieve if he keeps pushing to get better. He believes the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet has an opportunity to join an exclusive club of competitors.
"I have huge amounts of respect and admiration for the guys who can do it from bell to bell," Gustafson said. "I think Chase is on that journey."
