Kyle Larson won ten races and the championship at Phoenix, while new teams, a road-course Busch Clash and a crowded schedule changed the 50th modern-era Cup season.
Kyle Larson ended 2021 as champion after ten wins and a Phoenix finale on November 7. New teams such as 23XI and Trackhouse debuted that season, alongside schedule and rule changes that reshaped the year. Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. pushed him hardest in the playoffs.
Stock-car racing reached its 73rd season in the United States in 2021, and the modern Cup era reached its 50th. Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports won ten races and the championship at Phoenix on November 7, his first title. The year also brought new teams, including 23XI Racing and Trackhouse Racing, and the final season for Chip Ganassi Racing's Cup team.
How did Kyle Larson win the 2021 championship?
Kyle Larson won ten races in 2021 and took the title at Phoenix on November 7, his first championship. He had already won the regular-season title at Daytona in August, and in the final he held off Martin Truex Jr. after his crew's faster pit stop.
The regular-season title was decided at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on August 28, the last race before the playoffs, and it gave him the top seed for the post-season rounds.
Larson's ten wins came at a wide range of venues. They included the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma and the Ally 400 at Nashville, where his win was his third in a row and his fourth of the season. He also won at Watkins Glen, the Charlotte Roval, Atlanta, Kansas and Phoenix.
The final was close. Truex won stage one and Larson won stage two, and Truex moved ahead when his rivals in the Championship 4 pitted under yellow. Larson's crew then produced an 11.8-second stop, faster than Denny Hamlin's 12.1-second stop, and Larson exited pit road in front.
NASCAR had reinstated Larson in October 2020 after a suspension, and he was cleared to resume all activities on January 1, 2021. He signed a contract extension with Hendrick through 2023 on July 14, which secured his place in the team's line-up.
Truex, Hamlin and Elliott finished second, third and fourth in the final points standings, so the title race was a four-driver contest down to the last race.
Ten wins, a regular-season title and a Phoenix finale gave Kyle Larson his first Cup championship in a season of new teams.
Why was 2021 a season of new teams?
23XI Racing, which Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan co-own, and Trackhouse Racing, owned by Justin Marks, made their Cup debuts in 2021. Chip Ganassi Racing ran its last season before Trackhouse bought the team for 2022, and Pitbull co-owned Trackhouse with Marks.
23XI bought the charter from Germain Racing after that team closed at the end of 2020, and Bubba Wallace drove the No. 23. Wallace won the YellaWood 500 for the team, the first win in its history, after a rain delay ended the race under the red flag.
Trackhouse leased a charter from Spire Motorsports, and Daniel Suarez drove its No. 99 full-time. Spire itself expanded to three teams, after buying the Leavine Family Racing charter and a third charter from JTG Daugherty Racing.
Several teams changed hands or shut down. Germain Racing closed, Live Fast Motorsports took over Go Fas Racing's charter, and Hendrick renumbered its No. 88 car as the No. 5 for Larson, while Alex Bowman moved to the No. 48.
The Next Gen car was due in 2022, and the 2021 season was the last to use the Gen 6 car in the Cup Series.
What rule and schedule changes shaped 2021?
NASCAR made a roll-cage bar mandatory at Daytona and Talladega after Joey Logano's flip at Talladega in the spring. It also reduced the tapered spacer from 520 horsepower to 470 and removed the wickerbill from the spoiler for the two superspeedways.
The Busch Clash moved to a Tuesday, February 9, and it was run on the road course for the first time. Ryan Blaney took the pole, but Kyle Busch won after Chase Elliott's aggressive line spun Blaney out of the lead in the final chicane.
The season was run under Covid-19 protocols, and only eight of the 36 points races had practice and qualifying. The rest were held as one-day shows, which changed the rhythm of the season for teams and fans.
NBCSN's coverage ended with the 2021 season, and USA Network took over NASCAR's broadcasts from 2022.
Nashville Superspeedway hosted its first Cup race on June 20, and Road America returned to the schedule on July 4 for the first time since 1956. The spring Bristol race was run on dirt, the first Cup dirt race since 1970, and the playoff windshield banners were yellow for the first time since 2016.
Speedweeks and the Daytona 500
Speedweeks opened with the Busch Clash on February 9, which NASCAR moved from the Sunday before the 500 to condense the week. It was also the first year the Clash ran on the infield road course, a change made partly because of concern over the Big One in 2020. The Duels followed, with Aric Almirola holding off Joey Logano in the first, and Austin Dillon holding off Bubba Wallace in overtime to win the second.
Alex Bowman won the Daytona 500 pole, while teammate William Byron qualified second. Threatening rain and thunderstorms hung over the race from the start.
The Daytona 500 began to unravel on lap 14, when a multi-car crash in turn three, known as the Big One, collected 16 cars. A lightning strike then brought out a red flag that lasted 5 hours and 40 minutes. McDowell won on a finish under caution, after a late crash on the final lap brought out the last yellow.
Selected race results
| Race | Track | Winner | Notable detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Busch Clash | Daytona road course | Kyle Busch | First Clash on the road course |
| 63rd Daytona 500 | Daytona International Speedway | Michael McDowell | Won under caution after a red flag |
| Food City Dirt Race | Bristol Motor Speedway | Joey Logano | Seventh different winner of 2021 |
| Coca-Cola 600 | Charlotte Motor Speedway | Kyle Larson | Hendrick's 269th win |
| Verizon 200 at the Brickyard | Indianapolis road course | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing's first Cup win |
| EchoPark Texas Grand Prix | Circuit of the Americas | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet's 800th Cup win |
| Cook Out Southern 500 | Darlington Raceway | Denny Hamlin | Blocked the top line on the final lap |
| South Point 400 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway | Denny Hamlin | Beat Chase Elliott by 0.442 seconds |
| Bank of America Roval 400 | Charlotte Roval | Kyle Larson | Third different road-course win of 2021 |
| Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 | Atlanta Motor Speedway | Kyle Larson | Led 257 of 334 laps |
| Hollywood Casino 400 | Kansas Speedway | Kyle Larson | Third straight post-season win |
| Season Finale 500 | Phoenix Raceway | Kyle Larson | First Cup championship |
Which playoff races decided the title?
The playoffs began at Darlington, where Denny Hamlin won the Cook Out Southern 500 after blocking Larson's move on the final lap. It was Hamlin's first win of the season, and it moved him into the next round of the playoffs.
At the Federated Auto Parts 400, Martin Truex Jr. was penalised at the start for crossing the line ahead of the leader, but he later gained the lead and won. Larson advanced on points, and the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race eliminated McDowell, Busch, Reddick and Almirola.
At the YellaWood 500, the race stopped under a long red flag and NASCAR declared it official while Bubba Wallace led, giving him his first career Cup win. That was also 23XI Racing's first win, achieved in its debut season.
At Atlanta, Larson led 257 of the 334 laps there and took his eighth win of the year, becoming the first driver to advance into the Championship 4. At Kansas he won again for his third consecutive post-season race, the second driver to do so after Joey Logano in 2015.
At Martinsville, Alex Bowman won the Xfinity 500 after a late wreck involving leader Denny Hamlin. Chase Elliott had led 289 laps and taken the first two stages, but a spin in the closing laps ended his chance and he finished 16th, although he still advanced on points. Bowman's win was his fourth of the season, and the race was held on October 31.
The championship race itself turned at the restart with 24 laps left. Larson got away cleanly, and Truex stayed close behind him, but Larson held on for his tenth win of the season. Earlier in the year Hendrick had also swept the top four places at Dover.
Which teams and drivers changed in 2021?
The garage saw a wide set of driver moves that reshaped several rides for the season. Matt Kenseth left Chip Ganassi Racing, and Ross Chastain replaced him in the No. 42, while Clint Bowyer retired and Chase Briscoe took his No. 14 at Stewart-Haas Racing.
Erik Jones joined Richard Petty Motorsports in the No. 43, and Daniel Suarez moved to Trackhouse full-time after leaving Gaunt Brothers Racing. Corey LaJoie drove the No. 7 full-time for Spire, and Bowman's move to the No. 48 followed Jimmie Johnson's departure.
Trackhouse's Chevrolets were prepared under a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing, while 23XI's Toyotas were run in an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing. Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing had also formed a joint venture to share a common engine specification for Chevrolet teams from 2021.
Crew chief suspensions
NASCAR suspended several crew chiefs during the year, most often because a car had two loose lug nuts after a race. Paul Wolfe was suspended for the Dover race in May, and Kevin Bellicourt was suspended for Sonoma after the No. 77 car had two loose lug nuts at Charlotte.
Other suspensions followed the same pattern. Jeremy Bullins and Travis Mack were both suspended for the Atlanta race in March, and Mack was suspended again for an improperly attached ballast at Martinsville. Adam Stevens also served a suspension later in the season. Interim crew chiefs, usually engineers, took over for those races.
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