No. 24 driver and crew chief exchanged heated words at Pocono
RELATED: No. 24 team: “What the (expletive) is the problem?”
Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Pocono Raceway was particularly tough for the No. 24 team, with frustrations from both Jeff Gordon and crew chief Alan Gustafson bubbling over onto the radio.
Gordon has yet to get a win in his final full-time Sprint Cup season despite starting from the pole three times. He finished 14th at Pocono after starting fourth.
In one exchange late in the Axalta ‘We Paint Winners’ 400, Gustafson wanted to bring the car in for fresh tires and gas but Gordon wanted to stay out. Here’s how the exchange unfolded:
Gordon: “What do you think we’re gonna win from here?”
Gustafson: “I don’t want to finish (expletive) 20th.”
Gordon: “Tires are not our problem.”
Gustafson: “What the (expletive) is the problem?”
Spotter Eddie d’Hondt jumped into the fray, attempting to tamp down the tempers.
Crew chief Chad Knaus, a six-time champion with Jimmie Johnson, joined “NASCAR Race Hub” on FOX Sports 1 Monday to discuss the conversation between his fellow Hendrick Motorsports‘ teammates.
“Here’s the deal and I think everybody can understand this,” Knaus said. “If everybody around the table is getting along, someone is lying. Jeff’s doing everything he can and the guys are doing everything they can to get a fast car out there. It’s not personal.
“What Eddie did there was fantastic. He chimed in and tried to calm the waters and put some sense back into it.”
Steve Letarte, Gordon’s former crew chief, was an analyst on NBC Sports Network’s “NASCAR America” Monday and echoed much of what Knaus said.
“I think we had some conversations like that,” Letarte said of his 186 races atop the No. 24 pit box. “But we did a good job of keeping them off the radio.”
Letarte added that frustration has been a factor for Gordon all season with the current rules package. Among the changes this season are a reduction in horsepower and a shorter rear spoiler, which reduces downforce.
“I know Jeff Gordon well, and this package doesn’t suit Jeff’s style,” Letarte said.
Fellow analyst and former Sprint Cup driver Jeff Burton added that the rules package could be as damaging mentally for Gordon as it is technically.
“I think Jeff Gordon went into this year knowing he didn’t like this package. You can’t tell me that going into something thinking it’s not good is going to be good,” Burton said. “You gotta get your head around it. Whatever the rules are, you have to make it work.”