9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 27 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 17th
No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
WINNING MOMENT: Chase Elliott has one win at Phoenix Raceway, which he captured in the 2020 season finale to secure his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. The five-time National Motorsports Press Association Most Popular Driver started the race at the rear of the field and maneuvered his way to the front, leading a race-high 153 laps en route to the victory.
PHOENIX 411: The driver of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will make his 15th Phoenix Cup Series start this Sunday. In his previous 14 races at the track, he’s amassed one win, five top-five finishes and eight top-10s. Elliott has paced the field for 546 laps at the 1-mile oval, which is his second-most on active tracks and places him with the third-most laps led among current Cup drivers at the track since the start of stage racing in 2017. Additionally, the 2020 Cup champion’s average start of 5.57 at the desert oval is his second-best on active tracks with more than two starts, only trailing the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course (4.67).
EVERY MILE A MEMORY: In 55 Cup starts on tracks measuring 1 to 1.37 miles in length (Darlington Raceway, Dover Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Phoenix and WWT Raceway), Elliott has four wins. His first came at Dover in 2018 and was followed by his championship-winning performance at Phoenix in 2020. His two most recent victories came last season at Dover and Nashville. Accompanying his wins are 22 top-five finishes, 29 top-10s and 1,246 laps led across those starts on tracks in this range.
GUSTAFSON AT PHOENIX: On Sunday, Alan Gustafson will call his 38th Phoenix race as a Cup Series crew chief. In his previous 37 starts there, the veteran team leader has collected four wins via four different drivers (Kyle Busch in 2005, Mark Martin in 2009, Jeff Gordon in 2011 and Elliott in 2020). He is tied with Hendrick Motorsports vice president of competition Chad Knaus for the second-most victories by a crew chief at Phoenix. Gustafson has also tallied 12 top-five results, 24 top-10s and 977 laps led. In his most recent race at the track, working with fill-in driver Josh Berry, the Ormond Beach, Florida, native led the No. 9 team to a 10th-place result.
PIT STOP POWER: With one race remaining in the 2023 season, the No. 9 pit crew holds the ninth-fastest average four-tire pit stop time of 11.237 seconds. In two races this season, the over-the-wall squad had the fastest four-tire pit stop in the field, most recently laying down a time of 9.409 seconds at Texas Motor Speedway in September. The 2021 Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew award-winning group is comprised of Chad Avrit (rear-tire changer), Jared Erspamer (tire carrier), John Gianninoto (fueler), Nick O’Dell (front-tire changer) and T.J. Semke (jackman).
HEADING HOME: Gianninoto will compete in front of his home-track crowd at Phoenix on Sunday. The Tucson, Arizona, native graduated with honors from Catalina Foothills High School and went on to play as an offensive lineman for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2006 – earning his first letter in 2007 and becoming a team captain in 2010. In 2012, he participated in the NFL’s Carolina Panthers training camp before signing with Hendrick Motorsports that September. Gianninoto set a Guinness World Record in 2018, teaming with Sunoco for the most vehicles refueled by an individual in one hour (148).
GET UP AND GO: NAPA Auto Parts is on board the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the season finale this weekend at Phoenix. The Atlanta-based company has been Elliott’s primary partner for eight of his 14 Cup starts at the desert oval, including his 2020 victory. This season marks NAPA’s 10th year partnering with the Dawsonville, Georgia, native dating back to his first season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
PLAYOFF LOWDOWN: For the second time in three years, Hendrick Motorsports has two drivers in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway. This is also the fourth straight season that the organization has had at least one driver eligible for the title in the season finale. Kyle Larson and William Byron are each set to compete for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series championship. This year’s playoffs have seen the organization triumph in the opening races in the Round of 16 (Larson at Darlington Raceway), the Round of 12 (Byron at Texas Motor Speedway) and the Round of 8 (Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway).
CHAMPIONSHIP COUNT: With 14 Cup Series championships, Hendrick Motorsports has the most titles in the sport’s top series. NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2024 inductee Jimmie Johnson accounts for half of those with seven (2006-10, 2013 and 2016). NASCAR Hall of Famer and team vice chairman Jeff Gordon racked up four titles (1995, 1997-98 and 2001). NASCAR Hall of Famer Terry Labonte (1996), Chase Elliott (2020) and Larson (2021) each have one championship for the team. Nine of those titles have come in the playoff era (2004-present).
NUMERICAL NOMENCLATURE: To date, Hendrick Motorsports’ 14 titles are divided up among four car numbers: No. 48 with seven, No. 24 with four, No. 5 with two and the No. 9 with one. The four different car numbers to win a championship for one team is a Cup Series record.
CREW COUNT: A record six crew chiefs are responsible for the team’s 14 Cup Series championships. Vice president of competition Chad Knaus won seven atop the pit box, while Ray Evernham has three. Gary DeHart, Robbie Loomis, Alan Gustafson and Cliff Daniels each have one. Rudy Fugle and Daniels are after titles this season in both the driver and owner championships.
FINAL FOUR: The organization has had five drivers reach the Championship 4 in the elimination-style format that began in 2014. Gordon (2015), Johnson (2016), Elliott (2020, 2021 and 2022), Larson (2021 and 2023) and Byron (2023) have all accomplished that feat. Johnson, Elliott and Larson each won the title in their first Championship 4 appearance.
RECORD SETTERS: Hendrick Motorsports has posted a series-best 58 wins in the playoffs, which is 21 more than the closest team. Johnson has the most with 29 victories. Among the current driver lineup, Larson tops the board with eight wins, then Elliott at seven victories and Byron and Alex Bowman with one each.
GOOD SIGN: In six of the last seven occurrences where a Hendrick Motorsports driver has won at least six races, that driver has gone on to win the title (Johnson in 2007-10 and 2013 and Larson in 2021). Byron has a half dozen wins in the 2023 season.
WINNER WINNER: In 2023, Hendrick Motorsports has won 10 points-paying races. This is the third straight season and 13th season overall that the organization has won at least 10 races. The run of back-to-back-to-back years with at least 10 wins is the second longest in team history behind the team’s four straight seasons of double-digit wins from 1995 to 1998.
CARUTH HOPS IN: Rajah Caruth will be behind the wheel of the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro during Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix. Greg Ives will be serving as the crew chief for the effort. Caruth, a 21-year-old driver, has run full-time in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series this year, with four top-10 finishes, including an eighth-place result in the last race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Over the last two seasons, he has made 18 starts in the Xfinity ranks.
EDGE OF SEVENTEEN: Hendrick Motorsports has made five starts in the Xfinity Series this year. Cup Series regulars Larson, Elliott, Byron and Bowman have each made at least one appearance in the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro with a combined three top-five finishes, four top-10s and one pole position. The No. 17 carries special significance to the Hendrick Motorsports family as it is the same number Ricky Hendrick drove and won with in the Truck Series. In its history, Hendrick Motorsports has earned one Xfinity Series championship (2003) and 26 race wins in the series.
BAKER’S DOZEN IN THE DESERT: The Rick Hendrick-owned organization has a series-best 13 wins among nine drivers at Phoenix. Johnson tops the board with four, followed by Gordon with two victories. Kyle Busch, Byron, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Elliott, Labonte, Larson and Mark Martin have each tallied one triumph at the 1-mile track for the team. Elliott and Larson’s wins came in the 2020 and 2021 championship races. The organization also leads the way in poles (14), top-five finishes (54), top-10s (100) and laps led (3,435) at the Arizona venue.
SPRING REWIND: In this year’s spring race at Phoenix, Hendrick Motorsports dominated the event as the team earned the win and led 265 of the 317 laps run. Byron notched the victory as he got the better of Larson in an overtime finish. Larson scored the pole position and led a race-high 201 laps. In addition, Bowman and Josh Berry (filling in for an injured Elliott) notched top-10 finishes as all four cars placed in the top 10.
NEXT GEN NUMBERS: Phoenix has hosted three races in the Next Gen era (2022-present). In those events, Byron (621) and Larson (585) rank one-two in laps run in the top five. Byron (840) and Larson (771) are also third and fourth for laps run in the top 10.
WEST SUCCESS: Of the last 17 races on the West Coast, nine have resulted in victories for the Concord, North Carolina-based team. Larson has five wins, while Byron has two and Bowman and Elliott have one each. On this year’s three-race western swing following the DAYTONA 500, Byron won two of the three races (Las Vegas and Phoenix). Larson’s win in the playoff race at Las Vegas secured his spot in the Championship 4. The team’s 44 wins on the West Coast are the most in the series.
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on what he values most about his team: “They’re top notch. Just a really good group. I enjoy going to work with them each week. There’s not a lot of ego. They enjoy having fun, putting in the work and showing up prepared. Ultimately, as a teammate and a competitor, that’s all I can ask for. If we are all showing up and we are as best prepared as we can be and go and give it our best effort each week, that’s all I can ask for from my side. I try to give that back to them as well. I think we all know each other well enough at this point that when we show up we are going to give it our best effort and give it our all. I don’t question that out of them and they don’t question that out of me.”
Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the keys to performing well at Phoenix: “The corners are quite a bit different, so getting those as similar as you can is key. Having comfort and security on corner entry, with good center turn and drive off is also important. The fact that the corner entries are significantly different make it challenging, but that’s also what makes it fun and unique.”
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
