2021 YellaWood 500

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Race 31 of 36 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series
Date	October 4, 2021 (2021-10-04)
Location	Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance	117 laps, 311.22 mi (500.859 km)
Scheduled Distance	188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km)
Average speed	130.218 miles per hour (209.566 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing
Grid positions set by competition-based formula
Most laps led
Driver	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing
Laps	16
Winner
No. 23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing
Television in the United States
Network	NBCSN
Announcers	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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 YellaWood 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on October 4, 2021, at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Originally scheduled for 188 laps on the 2.66 mi (4.28 km) asphalt superspeedway, the race was shortened to 117 laps by rain.^[5] It was the 31st race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, the fifth race of the Playoffs, and the second race of the Round of 12. The race was postponed from Sunday, October 3 to Monday, October 4, due to rain. Bubba Wallace took his first victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. It was the first time since the development of the 2014 NASCAR Playoffs format that a driver not in either level of playoffs had won a race, and the first non-playoff driver to win a race since the 2013 Talladega playoff race, as well the first win for an African-American driver in the Cup Series since Wendell Scott's win in 1963.

It was the shortest Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, and only the fourth Cup Series race to be shortened at Talladega (the May 1974 race was shortened to 170 laps due to the Energy Crisis, the May 1987 race was shortened to 178 laps by darkness after catch fencing had to be repaired, and the July 1996 race was shortened to 129 laps because of a long rain delay and subsequent darkness). It was the third of five national series races to be shortened in 2021 at Talladega.

Report

Background

Talladega Superspeedway, the track where the race was held.

The 2021 YellaWood 500 program cover.

Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a tri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which also is a 2.5-mile-long (4 km) tri-oval.

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
00	Quin Houff	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet
1	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet
2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford
3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
6	Ryan Newman	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	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford
14	Chase Briscoe (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
15	Garrett Smithley (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet
16	Justin Haley (i)	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	Team Penske	Ford
23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota
24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
34	Michael McDowell	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 (i)	Petty Ware Racing	Chevrolet
52	Josh Bilicki	Rick Ware Racing	Ford
53	Joey Gase (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford
66	James Davison	MBM Motorsports	Ford
77	Justin Allgaier (i)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet
78	B. J. McLeod (i)	Live Fast Motorsports	Ford
96	Landon Cassill (i)	Gaunt Brothers Racing	Toyota
99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet
Official entry list

Qualifying

Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula. ^[4]

Race

Denny Hamlin was the pole sitter for the race. The race was forced to be delayed until the following day due to rain. The next day, NASCAR would be able to get the race started at 1PMET, 12 PM local time. Chris Buescher won Stage 1 for his 2nd stage win of the season and the first since February at Homestead-Miami Speedway. At the end of Stage 2, rain hit the area. And the race was past its halfway point (Lap 94), so whoever was leading could possibly win the race. Bubba Wallace was leading when the rain hit. After a long red flag, NASCAR declared the race official and Wallace won his first career Cup Series race along with Stage 2 of the race. It was also the first win for 23XI Racing, the new team co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan which debuted this season.

Media

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Denny Hamlin 3,116 1 2 Kyle Larson 3,097 (–19) 4 3 Joey Logano 3,096 (–20) 4 4 Brad Keselowski 3,095 (–21) 1 5 Martin Truex Jr. 3,095 (–21) 1 6 Ryan Blaney 3,090 (–26) 1 7 Chase Elliott 3,084 (–32) 1 8 Kyle Busch 3,084 (–32) 1 9 Kevin Harvick 3,075 (–41) 2 10 Christopher Bell 3,056 (–60) 2 11 William Byron 3,040 (–76) 1 12 Alex Bowman 3,032 (–84) 1 13 Kurt Busch 2,146 (–970) 1 14 Tyler Reddick 2,125 (–991) 15 Aric Almirola 2,104 (–1,012) 16 Michael McDowell 2,064 (–1,052) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 1,136 1 2 Toyota 1,070 (–66) 1 3 Ford 1,068 (–68) Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

References