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.”
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Chase Elliott celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in Martinsville, Va., Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Chase Elliott (9) drives down the front stretch during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in Martinsville, Va., Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Chase Elliott poses with the trophy in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in Martinsville, Va., Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Frustrating security lines dwindled at U.S. airports on Monday, removing some of the worst bottlenecks as Transportation Safety Administration officers began receiving backpay for working during the government shutdown.
What was a four-hour checkpoint line at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport turned into a wait of 10 minutes or less on Monday. Wait times pushed beyond two hours at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Monday morning, but that appeared to be an exception, with normal waits at previous trouble spots such as Baltimore-Washington International Airport and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
After weeks of airport chaos, there was finally optimism for the beleaguered aviation system.
Weary travelers hope the overdue paychecks will end the seemingly endless security lines and missed flights that many experienced in recent weeks. It remains unknown how long it will take for wait times to normalize — and how long federal immigration officers will maintain a visible presence in airport terminals — as the busy spring break travel season continues.
TSA workers told union leadership Monday that they received some — but not all — of their back pay, according to Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of the TSA union. He said the rest, from a partial paycheck at the start of the shutdown, is expected by next week.
The TSA chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees also raised concerns that some employees reported incorrect backpay amounts, including missing overtime and improper tax withholdings.
The union also said the TSA updated its furlough policy on Sunday, removing guidance that allowed officers to request a furlough if they could not report to work for reasons tied to the shutdown, such as lack of transportation or childcare.
“Working without pay forced more than 500 officers to leave TSA and thousands were forced to call out,” acting TSA Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in announcing the delayed payday.
The union agreed with these numbers, but said those who could not afford to report for duty now “have disciplinary actions looming over their heads.”
“Backpay alone does not fix those problems,” the union said.
The AP emailed TSA and DHS seeking comment and additional details on the agency’s updated furlough guidance.
The DHS shutdown resulted in not only travel delays but also warnings of airport closures as TSA workers missing paychecks stopped going to work. Those workers were just recovering financially since last fall’s extended government shutdown.
President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the Department of Homeland Security to pay TSA officers immediately to ease the lines plaguing airports. The move came after Trump rejected bipartisan congressional efforts to fund the TSA while negotiations continue with Democrats, who have refused to approve more funding without restraints on Trump’s immigration enforcement and mass deportation operations. The order left other DHS employees unpaid.
Democrats are demanding better identification for the officers, judicial warrants in some cases and for agents to refrain from conducting raids around schools, churches or other sensitive places. Republicans and the White House have been willing to negotiate on some points, but the sides have yet to reach a final agreement.
On Monday, there were few signs of progress on Capitol Hill, where the Senate held a short session without considering the House bill and resumed its two-week break. GOP Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota said afterward that Senate Republicans are talking with Democrats and also the House as they try to find a way to funding DHS.
The union again urged Congress to approve funding for the entire Department of Homeland Security. “To say we are utterly disgusted and disappointed with our elected officials is an understatement. Congress must come back to Washington, fix this crisis, and stop putting politics over people and vacation over values,” the union said.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that Trump has offered to host an Easter Dinner at the White House for members of Congress who return to resolve the impasse. As for the Democrats' demands, she said that despite a change in leadership at DHS with Markwayne Mullin replacing Kristi Noem, “There has not been a change in policy.”
“It has always been the policy of this president and this administration to deport the worst of the worst illegal alien criminals,” Leavitt said.
TSA employees had gone without pay since DHS funding lapsed in February. The department’s shutdown reached 44 days on Sunday, eclipsing the record 43-day shutdown last fall that affected all of the federal government.
The DHS shutdown has resulted in not only travel delays but also warnings of airport closures as TSA workers missing paychecks stopped going to work. Those workers had already endured the nation’s longest government shutdown last fall. Multiple airports experienced greater than 40% callout rates, and nearly 500 of the agency’s nearly 50,000 transportation security officers quit during the shutdown.
Trump deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to some airports a week ago to help with security as TSA callouts rose nationwide. How long they stay, White House border czar Tom Homan said, depends on how quickly TSA employees return to work. A TSA statement said the agency “has immediately begun the process of paying its workforce,” with paychecks arriving “as early as Monday.”
The overall absentee rate among TSA officers scheduled to work dipped slightly on Sunday, according to DHS. The highest were concentrated at major airports that have seen consistently elevated absences lately.
Those included BWI, both of Houston’s main airports; Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans; and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
Associated Press reporters Rio Yamat in Las Vegas and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed.
Stained-glass windows cast colorful shadows at LaGuardia Airport in New York, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
An estimated wait time sign stands in a TSA security line at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Monday, March 30, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Airline passengers make their way to the security lines in Terminal E at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Houston. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A TSA agent checks passengers at the security checkpoint in Pittsburgh International Airport Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
A traveler walks through TSA security lines at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Monday, March 30, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
A TSA agent hands a passport back to a passenger at the security checkpoint in Pittsburgh International Airport Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
A TSA agent hands a passport back to a passenger at the security checkpoint in Pittsburgh International Airport Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Travelers wait in long security checkpoint lines at George Bush Intercontinental Airport Friday, March 27, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
A traveler reaches for a bottle of water being handed out while waiting in a security checkpoint line at George Bush Intercontinental Airport Friday, March 27, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Airline passengers make their way through the security lines, next to a closed screening area, in Terminal C at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Houston. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A traveler moves in view of an air traffic control tower at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
