2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500

The 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on March 21, 2021, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Contested over 325 laps on the 1.54-mile-long (2.48 km) asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway, it was the sixth race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Background
Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a track in Hampton, Georgia, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It is a 1.54 mi quad-oval track with a seating capacity of 111,000. It opened in 1960 as a 1.5 mi standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two 1.5 mi ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval. The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.

Because of restrictions, current plans are to limit spectator attendance to 230 including no fans in the grandstands. -- the owners of the 46 condominiums at Turn Four got to watch the race live with a procedure similar to Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Entry list

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

Qualifying
Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.

Race
Ryan Blaney won the race, driving a Ford. Kyle Larson led for 269 laps, but Blaney overtook him eight laps from the end because Larson's tires were wearing out.

Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 105

Stage Two Laps: 105

Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 115

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 11 among 6 different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 5 for 25
 * Red flags: 0
 * Time of race: 3 hours, 27 minutes and 41 seconds
 * Average speed: 144.595 mph

Television
The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was carried by Fox in the United States. Mike Joy, five-time Atlanta winner Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer called the race from the broadcast booth. Jamie Little and Regan Smith handled pit road for the television side. Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

Radio
The race was broadcast on radio by the Performance Racing Network and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race from the booth when the field raced down the front stretch. Rob Albright called the race from atop a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2 & Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. On pit road, PRN was manned by Brad Gillie, Doug Turnbull and Wendy Venturini.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Manufacturers' Championship standings


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