Hendrick mainstay Alan Gustafson has a penchant for working with young talent, establishing them as true champions, as evidenced by drivers like Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott. A young KFB stormed to victory lane at Fontana in 2005 for the first time, piloting the iconic #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet under the guidance of Gustafson. And almost 15 years later, the shock specialist-turned-lead engineer-turned champion crew chief won his first-ever Bill France Cup with Chase Elliott and the #9 in 2020. What a career for Gustafson!

Now, ahead of Rick Hendrick’s race team’s monumental 40th-anniversary ‘Homecoming’ celebration at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 24–25), Crew Chief Gustafson reflects on one of his favorite Kyle Busch memories, forged during their two wild years together, sprinkled with some classic “Rowdy” Busch spirit.

Favorite winning memories for Alan Gustafson

Busch and Elliott’s respective triumphs were equally monumental for Hendrick Motorsports and Gustafson. First, the 2005 Sony HD 500 held the distinction of boasting the youngest race-winner in the Cup Series, at 20 years, 4 months, and 2 days old. Kyle Busch until Joey Logano’s 2009 victory at Louden, New Hampshire, registered at a tender age of 19 years, 1 month, 4 days, pushed the current RCR driver further down the list.

Second, Elliott’s 2020 championship with his favorite crew chief made him the third-youngest NASCAR champion in history, behind Bill Rexford and Jeff Gordon. Ironically, this monumental triumph for the #9 team was Alan Gustafson’s first-ever premier-tier trophy in almost two decades, following stints with Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Casey Mears, and Jeff Gordon. Nevertheless, in anticipation of the former #5 and #84 driver’s appearance at the free fan event stretching across Memorial Day weekend on Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary, it was only apt that Gustafson would recall his first-ever HMS wheelman’s debut victory as his ultimate KFB moment.

He evidenced Kyle Busch’s record-breaking Fontana feats in a recent promotional clip on Hendrick Motorsports’ official Instagram, “Yeah, I think one of my favorite memory is just the first win there in California when ultimately we won the race like one day before where he (Kyle Busch) could break the record to be the youngest driver to win in the Cup Series. And yeah it was a great race, a lot of fun.”

Ironically, over a decade and a half later (2023) in Auto Club Speedway’s last-ever sanctioned race, Busch won his first-ever outing driving for Richard Childress’ #8 car, just two races into the regular season. This win at Fontana was Rowdy’s 200th in NASCAR, establishing himself as the new record holder over Richard Petty for 19 consecutive seasons with at least one race triumph in stock car racing’s premier National Touring Series.

However, the 2023 Pala Casino 400 also marked the last race for Chase Elliott before his momentum-shattering skiing injury early in March that had him sidelined for over a month.

NASCAR royalty at Hendrick Homecoming

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Fan favorite Chase had finished right behind Rowdy at California, rebounding off a P38 DNF at Daytona the week prior. Many speculated on the potential fortunes of the 6x MPD had he not been injured at that unfortunate moment. Ever since, the #9 driver has steadily recovered in the 2024 season, with one win at Texas and five top-5 finishes. On the other hand, RCR’s #8 driver is currently on his worst-ever 12-race run heading into Darlington this weekend since 2015. KFB has no wins yet, alongside three top-10 finishes and two top-5 finishes.

But as Gustafson once stated in an official release to NASCAR, back in 2019, Kyle Busch is “One of the most competitive people I’ve ever been around — almost to a fault sometimes… But I think that drives him to be successful.” Hence, to count Kyle Busch out heading into only the fourth month of the NASCAR calendar would be foolishness.

Regardless, on the 65th running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend, Hendrick Motorsports will also make its first-ever Indy 500 run with Kyle Larson. NASCAR fans at Hendrick Homecoming will also have a chance to grab an autograph and chat with “Rowdy” himself. He’ll be signing on Saturday, May 25th, at 10:00 a.m. ET. But Busch isn’t the only champion coming to the party!

Hendrick legends like Dale Jr, Jeff Gordon, and Terry Labonte will also be signing autographs throughout the weekend. Chase Elliott will also be there on Friday, May 24th, at 11:00 a.m. ET, ready to meet his fans. Keep an eye on the Hendrick Motorsports website for the full schedule of appearances and times for all the drivers and alumni.