2021 NASCAR Cup Series

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series will be the 73rd season for NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 50th season for the modern era Cup Series. The season will start at the Daytona International Speedway with the Busch Clash non-points event. It will be the first year the race is run on the road course, and the second on the track. The race will be followed by the Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying races, and the 63rd running of the Daytona 500.

Teams

 * On July 23, 2020, it was reported that Leavine Family Racing owner Bob Leavine solicited bids for the team due to the financial fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. On August 4, Leavine confirmed that his team has been sold and will cease operations at the end of the 2020 season. On August 11, the team's charter was officially sold to Spire Motorsports.
 * With its purchase of Leavine Family Racing's assets, Spire Motorsports will expand into a two-car operation in 2021. On August 24, the team announced they are looking for two full-time drivers for next season.
 * On September 1, 2020, it was reported that Germain Racing owner Bob Germain was exploring conversations for a potential sale of the team due to lack of sponsorship, as their contract with primary sponsor GEICO expires at the end of the 2020 season and it was confirmed four days later that they would not return for the 2021 season. Their charter was later put up for bid, and was purchased on September 21, meaning Germain will cease operations at the end of the 2020 season.
 * On September 21, 2020, retired NBA player and Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan announced that he and Denny Hamlin would be forming a single car team with Bubba Wallace as the driver after purchasing the charter from Germain Racing, which will close down after the 2020 season. The team name, number, sponsors, and crew chief have all yet to be announced. The manufacturer has also yet to be announced, although it is widely expected to be Toyota due to Hamlin's ownership stake in the team.

Drivers

 * On August 6, 2020, Erik Jones and Joe Gibbs Racing announced that they would mutually part ways at the end of the 2020 season. This opened the door for Christopher Bell to take over the ride, and the official announcement of Bell being brought in-house at JGR to drive the No. 20 was made on August 10.
 * On August 21, 2020, Corey LaJoie and Go Fas Racing announced that they would mutually part ways at the end of the 2020 season.
 * On September 9, 2020, Matt Kenseth mentioned on Sirius XM's Late Shift that he would more than likely not return to the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 team in 2021. On September 21, 2020, Chip Ganassi Racing announced that Ross Chastain would replace Kenseth in 2021.
 * On September 10, 2020, Bubba Wallace announced that he would not be back in the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 in 2021. On September 21, it was made official that he would be the driver of the new team owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan.
 * On September 15, 2020, Daniel Suárez announced that he would not be back in the Gaunt Brothers Racing No. 96 in 2021.

Crew chiefs

 * On September 29, 2020, it was announced that the crew chiefing career of Hendrick Motorsports' seven-time championship winning crew chief Chad Knaus would end after the 2020 season, as he would be promoted to Vice President of Competition for the team starting in 2021. His replacement on the No. 24 car of William Byron will be announced at a later date.

Manufacturers

 * On October 1, 2020, Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing announced they will form a joint venture to establish a common engine specification for Chevrolet teams starting in 2021.

Sponsorship

 * On September 5, 2020, it was revealed that GEICO would not return to sponsor the No. 13 Germain Racing team in 2021, although they would remain a premier partner of the NASCAR Cup Series.

Schedule
The 2021 Cup Series schedule was supposed to be released in the spring of 2020, but its release was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 schedule has been expected to see a number of significant changes, in large part due to the fact that the five year contracts signed in 2015 with each track to host races from 2016 to 2020 will be ending. Some of the widely speculated changes to the schedule for 2021 include the addition of midweek races and doubleheaders, which would allow NASCAR to shorten the nine month long season. NASCAR had scheduled their first ever doubleheader on the original 2020 schedule at Pocono, before COVID-19 resulted in Michigan and Dover gaining doubleheader weekends. NASCAR also had to schedule midweek races for the series for first time in the modern era as a result of the COVID-19 schedule changes. NASCAR president Steve Phelps stated on September 1, 2020 that the schedule may be released in pieces due to COVID-19 and the complications of which tracks would be able to host races due to state regulations and guidelines. The official 2021 schedule was released on September 30, 2020.

Schedule changes

 * Further information: History of NASCAR schedule realignments


 * The Busch Clash will be moved from the Sunday before the Daytona 500 to the Tuesday before (on February 9), in an effort to condense Speedweeks down to one week. The race will also be moved from the oval to the infield road course for the first time. The Daytona 500 will be held on Sunday, February 14.
 * Phoenix Raceway will host Cup races on March 7 and November 7, the latter being the championship date.
 * Nashville Superspeedway will host a Cup race, scheduled for Sunday, June 20 (Father's Day). It will be the first time the speedway will host a NASCAR Cup Series event, and the first time the track has hosted any NASCAR events since 2011. In order to put the track on the schedule, its owner, Dover Motorsports, moved one of their two Cup races at Dover (a track which they also own) to Nashville.
 * On September 29, it was reported that Kentucky Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway would not be on the 2021 schedule,
 * On September 30, NASCAR announced that Atlanta Motor Speedway would expand to two races, picking up the Quaker State 400 from Kentucky.
 * On the same day, Road America was added back to the schedule for the first time since a Grand National race 65 years prior. The race is scheduled for July 4, replacing the race weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
 * With the release of the 2021 schedule, NASCAR announced that its race at Indianapolis would be run on the track’s road course configuration.
 * The Cup Series will also race on dirt for the first time since 1970 as the spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway will have the concrete half-mile covered in dirt.
 * On December 8, 2020, it was announced that Auto Club Speedway will not host a race in 2021 due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, and will be replaced by the Daytona Road Course, which will swap dates with the Homestead–Miami Speedway race.

Race reports
Speedweeks 2021

In the Busch Clash, Ryan Blaney started on pole. Kevin Harvick spun twice early in the race. Martin Truex Jr. was leading when the competition caution came out but had to restart in the rear due to missing the final chicane while the race was under caution. Late in the race, Truex Jr. wrecked while leading. In the closing laps, Chase Elliott and Blaney were battling for the lead. In the final chicane on the last lap, Elliott and Blaney wrecked each other, which allowed Kyle Busch to pass and win the race.

In Daytona 500 qualifying, Alex Bowman won the pole while teammate William Byron qualified second.

In the Bluegreen Vacation Duel, Aric Almirola held off Joey Logano to win the first Duel. The start of the second Duel was delayed by rain. In the second Duel, there were multicar wrecks on lap 36 and with three laps to go in the race; the latter caution sent the race into an overtime finish. In overtime, Austin Dillon held off Bubba Wallace to win the second Duel.

Round 1: Daytona 500

Alex Bowman would start on pole, as the race was under threat from rain and thunderstorms. Derrike Cope would hit the wall on lap 4 to bring out the first caution while causing damage to Bubba Wallace. On lap 14, "The Big One" would strike in turn 3 as Aric Almirola and Bowman would get 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 would restart with Kevin Harvick as the leader. Defending winner Denny Hamlin would win stages 1 and 2 as Christopher Bell would lose a left-rear tire and spun collecting Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Jamie McMurray in stage 2. The final stage would remain caution-free as Hamlin, in contention to win the race for the third consecutive time, would pit from the lead on final pit stops, but would fall 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 would end up colliding creating a fiery crash sending Keselowski into the catchfence collecting Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Wallace, Logano, Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, and Ross Chastain. Michael McDowell would dodge the last lap crash to win his first career victory under caution as well as earning Front Row Motorsports' third Cup victory.

Drivers' Championship
(key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by final practice results or owner's points. * – Most laps led. 1 – Stage 1 winner. 2 – Stage 2 winner. 3 – Stage 3 winner. 1–10


 * Notes: