2021 Daytona 500

The 2021 Daytona 500, the 63rd running of the event, was a NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on February 14 and 15th, 2021. Contested over 200 laps on the 2.5 mi asphalt superspeedway, it was the first race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. In one of the biggest surprise upsets in The Great American Race's history, Michael McDowell, driving for Front Row Motorsports, won his first career NASCAR Cup Series race after Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski wrecked battling for the lead on the final lap. McDowell was a 100-1 underdog, making his 358th Cup Series start and driving for one of NASCAR's most prominent small-market teams.

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 is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 mi long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees. The race will be the return of multiple retired drivers, such as 2010 winner Jamie McMurray and Derrike Cope, the 1990 winner. The race will also be the debut of drivers Anthony Alfredo, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric and Noah Gragson. The race will also be the debut of many new teams, most notably 23XI Racing.

Entry list

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

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. 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.

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.

Second practice (February 13)
Brad Keselowski was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 45.826 seconds and a speed of 196.395 mph.

Final practice (February 13)
Final practice session scheduled for Saturday was cancelled due to rain.

Stage 1
With William Byron moving to the rear, Duel 2 winner Austin Dillon moves to the front row next to Alex Bowman for the start. Kevin Harvick found the rear bumper of Bowman and pushed him to the lead. Harvick dropped down to assist the run of Aric Almirola and the pair of Ford Mustangs hooked up to move well out into the lead.

The yellow flag flew on lap 3 as 62-year old former 500 winner Derrike Cope bumped with Bubba Wallace. Cope tapped the wall and flattened a tire. The shredded rubber on the track brought out the day’s first caution. Cope, who has not run a Cup series race in 16 years, was making a nostalgic start 31 years after winning the 1990 Daytona 500. Ironically Cope’s win came after Dale Earnhardt suffered a flat tire on the last lap allowing Cope to pass for the victory.

On the restart, Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola resumed their two-car tandem at the front while the rest of the pack divided into three-wide racing behind them. On lap 14, The Big One occurred early. Kyle Busch, bump drafting with teammate Christopher Bell, sent Bell into the rear bumper of Aric Almirola. The impact shot Almirola sideways where he locked up with Bowman sending both cars nose-first into the Turn 3 wall.

With the incident occurring at the front of the field, total chaos ensued. A total of 16 vehicles were involved in the crash. Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Chris Buescher, Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr., Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron, David Ragan, Anthony Alfredo, Erik Jones, Jamie McMurray, and Daniel Suárez joined the wreck along with Aric Almirola and Alex Bowman.

A lightning strike adjacent to the speedway brought out the red flag on lap 15 as the expected rain moved close. The skies opened up a few minutes later and the race went on pause. Work on cars is suspended during red flag conditions, so it took a while before it can be determined if any of the race cars can be repaired and return to the track. Most was retired to the garage.

After a 5 hours 40 minute and 39 delay, the yellow flag was displayed and cars began to roll off pit lane. Almost everyone returned to pit road for service prior to the race going green. Tyler Reddick(-2 laps), Jamie McMurray(-2), William Byron(-3), Martin Truex Jr.(-4), and Kurt Busch(-4) were able to rejoin to the track.

Kaz Grala, B. J. McLeod, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, and Chase Elliott are the Top 5 as NASCAR had turning laps under caution to blow more heat onto the track as they ready for the green flag.

A number of drivers came to pit road to top off fuel and make sure they made to the end of the stage. Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson, Ryan Preece, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took over the top spots as the restart comes with 30 laps complete.

William Byron was black-flagged after a piece of the left rear fender on his car flew off and the rear bumper facia was flapping in the wind. He was forced to come to pit road for body panel repairs.

Quin Houff ran over a piece of the debris, flattened a tire, and spun causing Chase Briscoe to also lose control bringing out the caution flag again. Houff was towed to the garage as Briscoe limped back to pit road with body damage.

Jamie McMurray got the free pass on the caution and gained a lap back on the field. However, he still remained a lap down.

Back to racing with 22 laps to go in Stage 1. Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, and Joey Logano led the pack to the green flag. Positions behind the leader shifted around, but for the most part, drivers appeared content to run in single-file-line to near the end of the stage.

The scramble for Stage points began with a lap to go when the line broke apart. Hamlin held on for the stage win, some drivers gained positions, some lost them.

With Jamie McMurray getting his 2nd lucky dog free pass of the race, 23 cars are on the lead lap for the start of Stage 2.

Stage 2
Denny Hamlin won the race off pit road. He was be followed by Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, and Joey Logano. Two-wide racing allowed several drivers to swap the lead on the restart. When cars settled out into single-file, Bell held the lead.

Green flag pit stops began on Lap 106 when most of the Ford Mustangs pitted together. As pit stops concluded and the lead pack was reforming the caution flag waved again.

A left rear tire going down on Christopher Bell’s car caused him to lose control. He bumped into Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who made slight contact with Larson. McMurray was also involved. Bell’s car suffered the most damage.

During the caution period, Kaz Grala’s right rear wheel caught fire. It was speculated a wheel bearing failure may have caused the axle grease to ignite. Safety crews doused the fire several times until it was extinguished. Only to have it reignite when Grala ill-advisedly returned to the track. He quickly returned and the car was retired for the evening.

Denny Hamlin was back out front when the race resumed with 13 laps to go in the Stage. The race for Stage points began down the backstretch with a lap and a half to go. Hamlin won Stage 2 also, only after the lead was swapped several times on the last circuit before the green and white checkered flag fell.

The intensity on that final lap of the Stage was intense, almost resulting in another multi-car wreck. No doubt the finish will be exciting. Just 18 cars remain on the lead lap after Christopher Bell got the free pass.

Final stage
The final stage began after 11:00 pm at night with 70 laps still to run. Dillon led, followed by Hamlin, McDowell, Harvick, and Wallace.

Denny Hamlin quickly returned to the top spot with Harvick following. Last year’s two winningest drivers were leading the Daytona 500. Harvick bump drafted Hamlin to get the pair separated from the two-wide racing and almost knocked Hamlin into the outside wall.

The move was successful as the cars strung out, content to run to the expected final pit stop of the race.

Those pit stops began with 31 laps to go as the Fords again pitted together. The other manufacturers followed suit. This time, team orders worked as planned. The Mustangs of Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Cole Custer, Brad Keselowski, and Michael McDowell blew to the front as the rest of the pack tried to form up behind them.

The Finish
The lead pack consisted of 12 lead lap cars and Bubba Wallace who had to pit a 2nd time for a loose wheel. A major mistake for the new team on their final pit stop.

Denny Hamlin went from the lead to the rear of the draft as a result of pit strategy and the timing of their stop. As the laps ticked off, all 15 cars on the lead lap bunched up into a single line.

Cole Custer got shuffled out of position and dropped to 11th. Austin Dillon moved up to 5th with Chase Elliott in 6th. With 2 laps to go, Harvick lost the position battle and fell back. On the final lap, the Penske teammates of Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski led followed by Michael McDowell.

A Ford Mustang won the race, but not the one most people would have expected. The trio did an excellent job of blocking runs coming from drivers seeking to steal the win down the backstretch. As they formed up for the sprint to the finish, Michael McDowell bumped Brad Keselowski in the rear, the #2 car got a little loose and tapped the leader Joey Logano.

Joey Logano spun to the bottom. Brad Keselowski spun right, hard into the outside wall, and then got blasted by Kyle Busch. Michael McDowell drove through the middle and was in the lead with Chase Elliott on his bumper when the yellow flag ended the race.

McDowell came around to take the checkered flag but was unsure of the win until NASCAR checked the race video at the time the caution waved and determined the Front Row Motorsports driver was indeed the winner.

Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 65

Stage Two Laps: 65

Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 70

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 22 among 13 different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 7 for 40
 * Red flags: 1 for 5 hours, 40 minutes and 29 seconds
 * Time of race: 3 hours, 27 minutes and 44 seconds
 * Average speed: 144.416 mph

Television
Since 2001—with the exception of 2002, 2004 and 2006—the Daytona 500 has been broadcast on Fox in the United States. The booth crew consisted of longtime NASCAR lap-by-lap announcer Mike Joy, three–time Daytona 500 champion Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer. Jamie Little, Regan Smith and Vince Welch handled pit road for the television side. 1992 and 1998 Daytona 500 winning crew chief Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

Radio
The race was broadcast on radio by the Motor Racing Network—who has covered the Daytona 500 since 1970—and was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. The booth crew consisted of Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and 1989 Cup Series champion Rusty Wallace. Longtime turn announcer Dave Moody was the lead turn announcer, calling the race from atop the Sunoco tower outside the exit of turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley worked the backstretch for the race from a spotter's stand on the inside of the track & Kyle Rickey called the race when the field raced through turns 3 and 4 from the Sunoco tower outside the exit of turn 4. On pit road, MRN was manned by Steve Post, Dillon Welch and Kim Coon.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Manufacturers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.