Cliff Daniels has multiple options. Alan Gustafson has one.
The two Hendrick Motorsports crew chiefs come to Martinsville Speedway with significantly different points of view entering Sunday’s Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Daniels, who calls the shots from Kyle Larson’s pit box, has the luxury of a 36-point margin above the current elimination line in the final race in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Round of 8.
Much of his focus will center on the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Christopher Bell, who enters the race in third place, 37 points above the cut line. If Larson can outscore Bell, he’s likely to claim one of the two remaining spots in the Championship 4.
Daniels believes both drivers will execute similar strategies, such as staying out for stage points while others in more desperate straits may short-pit to set up a potential race win.
“Ultimately, I think there’s a scenario where us and Bell would probably end up being very similar to each other, and what that would look like, unless there’s a big disparity in our running positions,” Daniels said on Saturday morning at Martinsville.
“I think that will (be) almost dictated in the moment. If we’re really close on track, we may end up matching each other. If we’re not, then either of us could end up doing something different.”
The best case for Larson and Bell is for none of the four drivers below the elimination line—William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano or Chase Elliott—to steal a berth in the title race by winning on Sunday.
But that’s not an assumption Daniels can afford to make.
“We’ve looked at it from a lot of different angles, and certainly our goal is to execute a good enough day that we can take care of our own circumstance without relying on whatever may happen with the others around us.
“Certainly, that’s one of those scenarios we have to look at, that if a car below the cut line wins, have we done enough to get through? I think the way the race could play out could present a lot of different circumstances for that, and it’s going to be our job to cover those and execute in the moment.”
Every decision Gustafson makes will be guided by one objective—to win the race. His driver, Elliott, comes to Martinsville in eighth place, 62 points below the cut line. Elliott’s only path to the Championship 4 goes through Victory Lane at the 0.526-mile short track.
That circumstance isn’t a new one for either Elliott or Gustafson. In 2020, Elliott won at Martinsville to qualify for the Championship 4 and went on to win the Cup title.
“I think it helps a little bit,” Gustafson said of the experience he and Elliott gained five years ago. “I think it gives you confidence to know that you can accomplish that, right? I think any time that you do that—whatever it is in your life—you do something, and you’re like, ‘OK, this isn’t impossible.’
“Past that, I’m not sure that… in racing years, it’s been forever ago. You’ve just got to make it happen again. Really, for me, it’s more about how we’re running currently and how we ran in the spring. I feel good about all those things and the preparation leading up to it.”
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