MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) — Alan Gustafson ignored the phone call while packing a suitcase for the Sunday morning drive to Martinsville Speedway. Then he saw whom he’d missed — NASCAR Cup Series team owner Rick Hendrick.

“I better get on it,” Gustafson said with a chuckle. “As soon as I got in the car, I called him right back.”

The founder of Hendrick Motorsports had a message that he wanted the crew chief for Chase Elliott to deliver to his team, and it set the tone for their first victory of the season.

“He just basically was super positive,” Gustafson said. “The quote from him was: ‘This is a marathon, not a 10K race. We’re in it for the long run. Regardless of the way it starts, it’s about the way it finishes.’"

That certainly was the case at Martinsville, where Elliott started 10th and was hardly a factor as Denny Hamlin led the first 292 of 317 laps from the pole.

But Gustafson made the critical call for an early pit stop that vaulted the No. 9 Chevrolet to the front, and Elliott led the final 69 laps for his 22nd career win despite having the sixth-fastest car, according to Racing Insights, a NASCAR analytics firm.

His victory in the seventh race is the earliest in a season for the 2020 Cup champion, who now enters an off week with some peace of mind.

“That was one of the first things I thought about,” Elliott said of winning early. “Man, this is awesome. We’ve never done that. Going into the off week with the win is really cool. I know we still have a lot of room for improvement, don’t get me wrong, but a great way to cap off this first stretch. A lot of good momentum for the whole organization.”

After a rough start of four top-five finishes among its four cars through the first six races, it’s fitting that Hendrick Motorsports earned its first victory of 2026 at Martinsville Speedway.

The team has a record 31 wins at the short track, which typifies the performance and resilience of NASCAR’s winningest outfit and its redoubtable founder.

Rick Hendrick lost his son, a brother, two nieces and two key executives when a Hendrick plane crashed en route to Martinsville on Oct. 24, 2004. The team pushed through the tragedy, and Sunday marked its record 321st victory in NASCAR’s premier series (along with 15 championships, most recently last season with Kyle Larson ).

This year’s struggles pale by comparison. With a new Camaro body necessitating setup adjustments, Hendrick also wasn’t alone in being behind — Chevy teams were winless through six races for the first time since 2019.

“I hate it when we go through stuff like this, but we’ve been through this before,” said Hendrick vice chairman Jeff Gordon, who had four championships and 93 wins in a Hall of Fame driving career for the team. “You lean on your tools more. You get back to the basics.”

Part of the team’s foundation is an actively engaged owner offering a constant source of encouragement behind the scenes.

Before calling Gustafson on Sunday morning, Hendrick rang Elliott on Saturday night. The driver said he “shot the breeze” with Hendrick about his car dealerships and the performance of Elliott’s car. Hendrick, who juggles racing with running an automotive empire, also revealed he’d miss Sunday’s race.

Though there was no discussion of his season, Elliott knew Hendrick had his back.

“I feel that all the time from him,” Elliott said. “He’s always done a great job of just showing support to me, whether things are going good or bad. Always cool to hear from him.”

Gordon said the conversations aren’t always pleasant. In fact, Hendrick’s “kick in the butt” sessions are legendary.

There was the “pork chop meeting” at a race in the early 2000s when Hendrick destroyed the dinner he was holding in his hand while railing about an issue (the meat allegedly flew off the bone he angrily waved and struck a crew chief).

Hendrick held the famous “milk and cookies meeting” with Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus when the pair wanted to split after the 2005 season. With milk and cookies as props, Hendrick underscored that his star driver and crew chief were acting like petulant children.

The message was heeded. Johnson and Knaus won the next five Cup championships and seven overall, and they entered the NASCAR Hall of Fame together in 2024.

“This is what I love about his style is that he mixes it up,” Gordon said about Hendrick. “He’ll surprise you. Some days, he will just get fired up. Then there’s the days where you think you’re going to get that, and he is calm and just positive and supportive. His experience of being in business, he knows how to read a room, how to read people and how to motivate them when they need it most.”

In this case, Gustafson said the check-in by the boss helped remove any prerace pressure.

“Ultimately, go out and have some fun,” Gustafson said. “Don’t focus on any of the noise, focus on what we can control. It was just nice to hear from him. He’s the master of knowing what to say at the right time.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing