Chase Elliott’s downfall in the race at Darlington wasn’t sudden. It slipped away, lap-by-lap. While Denny Hamlin states some clear reasons why he kept losing positions in the race, the finger seems to be indirectly pointed at his crew chief, Alan Gustafson.

Despite starting the race on the second row, Elliott fell with every progressing lap, only to find himself towards the back of the field as the final stage came to an end.

Denny Hamlin explains Chase Elliott’s crippling Darlington performance

During the Actions Explained podcast, Hamlin alluded to the fact that the strategy wasn’t right for Chase Elliott to begin with. Elliott kept dropping back, and that is where the call has to come from the crew, especially the chief Alan Gustafson.

“His speed was masked by his track position early in the race. And once you lose a little bit of that track position, your pace is going to continue to deteriorate,” Denny Hamlin said.

As witnessed in the race, Elliott had a good starting position but was quick to lose positions. This was rather odd, but there was also a strategy to blame. Now, this call was more dependent on Alan Gustafson; however, Hamlin felt that the right calls were not made. That further compromised his overall race.

“At that point, you’ve got to have your strategy right to make sure you don’t lose your track position. But they just always had a gap in front of them. I just noticed on restarts after a few laps. Chase always just had a gap, which means he couldn’t keep pace with the cars in front,” Hamlin added.

Elliott soon began losing positions. As Denny Hamlin mentioned, he initially had a better position than his pace, which could’ve been the reason for the massive drop during the race. However, the right strategy call might have helped him maintain his position at least in the midfield.

But could there be more to it? Chase Elliott definitely had some pace early in the season, so it would be tough to raise fingers at Hendrick Motorsports. But then again, the team hasn’t managed to win a single race so far as the Toyotas continue to dominate.

This does not seem to fit well, especially considering it was Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson who won the Cup Series title last year. So where is the team missing out? One possible issue could be with the OEM, Chevrolet. They introduced some changes to their body for this season. However, Hamlin seems to be confused about that.

Is Chevy’s body change hampering their teams’ performances?

Earlier in 2025, Chevrolet introduced some changes to their existing ZL1 body used on the Cup Series field. This included tweaks to their overall aerodynamics, with changes in the front grille and more pronounced rocker panels.

This was their most significant change to the car in the Next Gen era. However, the OEM hasn’t performed well this season, and it is natural for some to question the changes to the car. But Denny Hamlin feels that the changes were not very significant.

“This is less of a downforce and drag change than what you have over the course of a race,” Denny Hamlin claimed. “From where your car starts when it’s in pristine condition to where it ends, you got all the crap sandblasted, the front nose, your under body’s got a little damage to it. That is far more of a change than what the Chevy’s experienced, a body change year to year.”

This seems to be a rather interesting statement. However, the OEM’s performance seems to be proving the other way. They have acknowledged their lack of overall pace compared to their competitors this season, and with the possibility of a new Chevy model making its NASCAR debut in the coming seasons, they might make it more stable.

As of now, however, the situation seems rather fragile for them. Toyota has won all races this season so far, except for one, which Ryan Blaney of Ford conquered. Moreover, Chevy hasn’t been leading races, either. Kyle Larson is the only one who has managed to lead the field on some of the laps, but this seems to justify Chase Elliott’s position on the track right now.