2021 Daytona 500

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
Race 1 of 36 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series
Date	February 14–15, 2021
Location	Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4 km)
Distance	200 laps, 500 mi (800 km)
Average speed	144.416 miles per hour (232.415 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports
Time	47.056
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing
Duel 2 Winner	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	98
Winner
No. 34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	Fox
Announcers	Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer
Nielsen Ratings	4.830 million[12]
Radio in the United States
Radio	MRN
Booth Announcers	Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers	Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Kyle Rickey (3 & 4)

The 2021 Daytona 500, the 63rd running of the event, was a NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on February 14–15, 2021 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 200 laps on the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) asphalt superspeedway, it was the first race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. In one of the biggest surprise upsets in Daytona 500 history, Michael McDowell, driving for Front Row Motorsports, won after Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski wrecked battling for the lead on the final lap.^[13][14] McDowell was a 100–1 underdog, making his 358th Cup Series start and driving for a team with only two previous Cup Series victories.

Report

Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida that is one of six superspeedways, the others being Auto Club Speedway, Pocono Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

Background

Daytona International Speedway, the circuit where the 63rd annual Daytona 500 took place

The program cover for the 2021 Daytona 500.

Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.^[15] The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.^[16] The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.^[16] The race will be the return of multiple retired drivers, such as 2010 winner Jamie McMurray^[17] and Derrike Cope, the 1990 winner.^[18] The race will also be the debut of drivers Anthony Alfredo, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric^[19] and Noah Gragson.^[20] Although Gragson missed the race due to Crashing in duel 2. The race will also be the debut of many new teams, most notably 23XI Racing.^[21]

This is the first Daytona 500 without two-time Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson since 2001.

Entry list

• (W) denotes past 500 winner.
• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
00	Quin Houff	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet
1	Kurt Busch (W)	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet
2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford
3	Austin Dillon (W)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
4	Kevin Harvick (W)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
6	Ryan Newman (W)	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford
7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet
8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
11	Denny Hamlin (W)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford
13	Garrett Smithley (i)	MBM Motorsports	Ford
14	Chase Briscoe (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
15	Derrike Cope (W)	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet
16	Kaz Grala	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet
17	Chris Buescher	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford
18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
21	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford
22	Joey Logano (W)	Team Penske	Ford
23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota
24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
33	Austin Cindric (i)	Team Penske	Ford
34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
36	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
37	Ryan Preece	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet
38	Anthony Alfredo (R)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
41	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
42	Ross Chastain	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet
43	Erik Jones	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet
47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet
48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
51	Cody Ware	Petty Ware Racing	Chevrolet
52	Josh Bilicki	Rick Ware Racing	Ford
53	Joey Gase	Rick Ware Racing	Ford
62	Noah Gragson (i)	Beard Motorsports	Chevrolet
66	Timmy Hill (i)	MBM Motorsports	Ford
77	Jamie McMurray (W)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet
78	B. J. McLeod (i)	Live Fast Motorsports	Ford
96	Ty Dillon (i)	Gaunt Brothers Racing	Toyota
99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet
Official entry list

First practice (February 9)

Bubba Wallace was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 45.057 seconds and a speed of 199.747 mph (321.462 km/h).^[22] This was the first practice session for a NASCAR Cup Series race in almost a year, the last one being at the 2020 March Phoenix Race.

Qualifying

Alex Bowman scored the pole for the race with a time of 47.056 and a speed of 191.261 mph (307.805 km/h).^[23] Electrical problems for Derrike Cope and multiple inspection failures for Noah Gragson kept them from taking a timed lap.

Bluegreen Vacations Duels

The Bluegreen Vacations Duels are a pair of NASCAR Cup Series races held in conjunction with the Daytona 500 annually in February at Daytona International Speedway. They consist of two races 60 laps and 150 miles (240 km) in length, which serve as heat races that set the lineup for the Daytona 500. The first race sets the lineup for cars that qualified in odd-numbered positions on pole qualifying day, while the second race sets the lineup for cars that qualified in even-numbered positions. The Duels set the lineup for positions 3–38, while positions 39 and 40 are filled by the two "Open" (teams without a charter) cars that set the fastest times in qualifying, but did not lock in a spot in the Duels.

Practice (post–Duels)

Race

Alex Bowman started on pole, as the race was under threat from rain and thunderstorms. Derrike Cope cut a tire and hit the wall on lap 3, ironically during the lap 3 tribute to Dale Earnhardt, who cut a tire allowing Cope to win the 500 thirty-one years earlier, to bring out the first caution while causing damage to Bubba Wallace. On lap 14, "The Big One" struck in turn 3 as Aric Almirola and Bowman got turned into the outside wall collecting 16 cars. Two laps later, the race was red-flagged for 5 hours and 40 minutes due to rain and lightning. The race restarted with Kevin Harvick as the leader. Defending winner Denny Hamlin won stages 1 and 2 as Christopher Bell lost a left-rear tire and spun collecting Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Jamie McMurray in stage 2. The final stage remained caution-free as Hamlin, in contention to win the race for the third consecutive time, pitted from the lead on final pit stops but fell back to 13th as the pack got single file with Joey Logano leading. On the last lap, Brad Keselowski attempted to pass Logano on the backstretch but the two collided, creating a fiery crash sending Keselowski into the catchfence and collecting Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Ryan Preece, Ross Chastain and Cole Custer. Michael McDowell, who was third at the time, dodged the final lap crash to win his first career victory under caution as well as earning Front Row Motorsports' third Cup victory.

Media

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Austin Dillon 58 2 Denny Hamlin 52 (–6) 3 Kevin Harvick 50 (–8) 4 Chase Elliott 48 (–10) 5 Michael McDowell 46 (–12) 6 Ryan Preece 46 (–12) 7 Kyle Larson 41 (–17) 8 Bubba Wallace 41 (–17) 9 Joey Logano 40 (–18) 10 Christopher Bell 35 (–23) 11 Ross Chastain 32 (–26) 12 Corey LaJoie 32 (–26) 13 Kyle Busch 32 (–26) 14 Jamie McMurray 30 (–28) 15 Cole Custer 27 (–31) 16 Brad Keselowski 25 (–33) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Ford 40 2 Chevrolet 35 (–5) 3 Toyota 32 (–8) Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

References