2021 ARCA Menards Series

The 2021 ARCA Menards Series season is the 69th season of the ARCA Menards Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Lucas Oil 200 on February 13 and will end with the Speediatrics 150 at Kansas Speedway on either October 23 or 24.

This season also featured a historic first, as Fox pit reporter Jamie Little became the first woman to serve as a TV play-by-play announcer in motorsports history, as she took over that role for the network's ARCA races.

Teams

 * On November 13, 2020, it was announced that Lira Motorsports would be returning to the series for the first time since 2017, fielding a part-time entry for late model and NASCAR Roots driver Logan Misuraca. She and the team will also run part-time in the Truck Series in 2021.
 * On December 8, 2020, Ken Schrader confirmed that he would be closing down his longtime ARCA team, Ken Schrader Racing, which would only keep its dirt racing operations in 2021. This will be the first season since 1990 where KSR has not competed in the series. Schrader's iconic No. 52 car only competed part-time from 2018 to 2020 due to lack of sponsorship.
 * On December 22, 2020, it was announced that Mullins Racing would be entering a second car in the season-opener at Daytona. However, due to a lack of sponsorship, this did not end up happening. It would have been the first time they fielded a second car by themselves, as Mullins partnered with other teams to lease their owner points in 2017 and 2018 for Robert Bruce to drive a second Mullins car in the race at Elko both years.
 * On December 23, 2020, it was announced that Greg Van Alst, who last competed in the series in 2002, would be starting his own team, the No. 35 Chevy, and running a part-time schedule after buying a car from the closed Chad Bryant Racing.
 * On January 14, 2021, it was announced that Win-Tron Racing would merge into AM Racing, a Truck Series team that they have had an alliance with for multiple years and that they have shared a race shop with beginning in 2020. Howie DiSavino III will continue to drive part-time in the team's No. 32 car.
 * On January 14, 2021, Truck Series team Young's Motorsports announced that they would expand into the ARCA Menards Series, fielding the No. 02 car on a part-time basis beginning at Daytona. The team participated in the series' Daytona testing in January with Kris Wright (one of their full-time Truck Series drivers) and Toni Breidinger driving. Their first race came at Daytona with Breidinger, who will run a part-time schedule with the team, with it being her first time in the series since 2018.

Drivers

 * On September 15, 2020, it was announced that Sam Mayer, who drove the No. 21 car for GMS Racing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series along with the full season in the East Series (where he won the championship), would move up to the Xfinity Series in June 2021 after he turns 18 and is eligible to race in the series. He will drive the JR Motorsports No. 8 car in the second half of the season. It has not been announced if Mayer will still continue to run ARCA races until and/or after that point in the season. On November 2, 2020, GMS announced that Jack Wood will drive for them in all of the Showdown races, replacing Mayer in the No. 21. Wood previously drove part-time in the ARCA Menards Series West, fielding his own team, Velocity Racing.
 * On December 15, 2020, it was announced that Michael Self, the championship runner-up for the past two years, would be leaving ARCA in 2021 to take a non-driving position with Trans-Am team Silver Hare Racing, becoming the team's general manager. It has not yet been announced who will replace him in the Venturini Motorsports No. 25.
 * On December 18, 2020, DGR-Crosley announced that Joey Iest would join the team to drive in six or more East Series races for the team. Because the 2021 East Series schedule features 8 races, and 3 of them being combination races with the big ARCA Menards Series, at least one of Iest's six races will be in a combination race.

Crew chiefs

 * On December 9, 2020, it was announced that Mardy Lindley, who crew chiefed the No. 21 of Sam Mayer for GMS Racing in 2019 and 2020, would be joining Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series to crew chief their No. 51. Lindley had originally been announced to return to GMS Racing in 2021 to crew chief Jack Wood, Mayer's replacement.

Manufacturers

 * On December 22, 2020, Willie Mullins announced that his No. 3 car would be a Chevy at Daytona. He bought the car from the closed KBR Development team, which was the same one that David Gravel and Brandon McReynolds drove in the 2020 and 2019 Daytona races, respectively, and that Sheldon Creed drove at Daytona in 2018 for MDM Motorsports. The Ford that Mullins previously drove in this race will still be used at Daytona and become a new second car for the team with a yet-to-be determined driver.

Schedule
Daytona, Toledo, Pocono, and Talladega revealed their race dates ahead of the release of the entire schedule, which ARCA announced on December 1, 2020. Mid-Ohio, Elko, and DuQuoin received dates on the schedule after all three tracks lost their 2020 race dates after COVID-19.

Notes:
 * The title sponsors for most races have yet to be determined, and until they are, the title sponsor of the same race the previous year is listed.
 * The race at Phoenix in March will be a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series West (highlighted in gold).
 * Races highlighted in silver are combination events with the ARCA Menards Series East.
 * The Sioux Chief Showdown races are listed in bold.

Broadcasting
The TV lineup is similar to what it looked like in 2020, with Fox airing almost all of the races that occur at tracks that the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series go to and have races at on the same weekend as the ARCA Menards Series and Fox is at the track to broadcast at least one of those series. The rest of the races are aired on MAVTV. The only races that Fox is not broadcasting where the Cup, Xfinity and/or Truck Series does have a race at on the same weekend are Phoenix and the season-finale at Kansas, which are both on MAVTV.

Fox made a change to their broadcasting lineup for their ARCA Menards Series coverage for the 2021 season, as play-by-play announcer Dave Rieff was replaced by longtime NASCAR pit reporter Jamie Little, who became the first woman to ever serve in the play-by-play role on TV in any motorsports series after calling the race at Daytona.

Drivers' championship
Note: The pole-winner also receives 1 bonus point, similar to the previous ARCA points system used until 2019 and unlike NASCAR.

(key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led.