Alan Gustafson explains race-winning pit call at Martinsville

Alan Gustafson may as well have been the MVP of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Martinsville.

With his driver, Chase Elliott, being stuck around 10th-place in the race's final stage, Gustafson knew he needed to do something different regarding pit strategy to gain positions and have any chance of beating a dominant Denny Hamlin.

Alan Gustafson explains Martinsville strategy call

"We were just kind of trapped in 10th spot," Gustafson told Fox Sports. "It's really hard to pass. We just needed to do something different."

What Gustafson decided to do was bring Elliott down pit road with 139 laps to go, earlier than any of his competitors during the ongoing green flag run, and plan on pitting once more if the race continued under green flag conditions. 

Elliott drove his way to the front on new tires, but two well-timed yellow flags — one for debris and another for a pile-up on the frontstretch — helped Elliott keep his track position. 

Elliott eventually took the lead on the race's final restart and kept it despite a strong advance from Hamlin. 

"I just felt like it was worth a shot," Gustafson said. "When we pitted early, I think it trapped a lot of guys down. Obviously, the cautions [were] great. The rest is history."