2021 NASCAR Panasonic Cup Series (Johnsonverse)

The 2021 NASCAR Panasonic Cup Series is 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 started at the Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. The race was followed by the Busch Clash at Daytona International Speedway, followed by the Gatorade Twin 125 qualifying races, and the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 by STP. Tony Stewart of Stewart-Haas Racing enters this season as the defending champion.

Teams
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.

After weeks of rumors, on September 21, 2020, it was officially announced that driver Denny Hamlin and basketball legend Michael Jordan would be forming a single car team, 23XI Racing, with Bubba Wallace as the driver. The manufacturer was confirmed as Volkswagen.

On October 7, 2020, Trackhouse Racing Team announced its entry into the Cup Series, fielding a single entry for Daniel Suárez in 2021. Co-owned by Justin Marks, the team will field DMC-13s.

On October 23, 2020, it was announced that B. J. McLeod and Matt Tifft will field the No. 75 full time in 2021. On November 20, McLeod and Tifft announced the team's name as Live Fast Motorsports, with a technical alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing, meaning it will field Pontiacs instead of Fords.

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 October 15, Adam Stern reported that Jones was in discussions with Richard Petty Motorsports will drive the No. 43 in 2021.
 * 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 Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 in 2021. On October 7, 2020, Suárez joined Trackhouse Racing Team full-time for the 2021 season.
 * On October 6, 2020, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Alex Bowman will move from the No. 25 to the No. 48 team in 2021.
 * On October 8, 2020, Team Penske announced that Austin Cindric will drive in select Cup Series races while competing full-time in the Busch Series in 2021. He will then transition to the Team Penske No. 77 team in 2022.
 * On October 8, 2020, Clint Bowyer announced he would retire from full-time driving at the end of the 2020 season and work as a NASCAR on Fox commentator in 2021. His replacement in the Bobby Allison Racing No. 152 will be announced at a later date.
 * On October 8, 2020, it was announced that Chase Briscoe would run for rookie of the year in a fifth Stewart-Haas Racing car, the #00.
 * On October 19, 2020, NASCAR reinstated Kyle Larson six months after he was suspended from the sport and fired by Chip Ganassi Racing for using a racial slur during an iRacing event. He will be cleared to resume all NASCAR activities on January 1, 2021. On October 28, 2020, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Larson would drive the No. 5 for the team, replacing Alex Bowman, who moved over to the No. 48 to replace Jimmie Johnson.
 * On November 8, 2020, Ryan Ellis announced he will drive full-time for Go Fas Racing 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 Rudy Fugle.
 * On October 6, 2020, Hendrick Motorsports announced that No. 5 crew chief Greg Ives will join Alex Bowman in moving to the No. 48 team in 2021.
 * On October 28, 2020, Cliff Daniels, formerly the crew chief for Jimmie Johnson on the No. 48, was announced to be crew chief for Kyle Larson in Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 car, switching teams with Ives.
 * On October 30, 2020, 23XI Racing announced that Mike Wheeler will be the crew chief of the No. 23 with Bubba Wallace in 2021.
 * On November 13, 2020, Trackhouse Racing Team announced that Travis Mack will be the crew chief for Daniel Suárez in the No. 99. Mack previously served as crew chief for Michael Annett in the JR Motorsports No. 1 team in the NASCAR Xfinity Series from 2019 to 2020.

Manufacturers

 * DeLorean, Volkswagen, and Subaru have announced plans to enter into NASCAR, fielding the DMC-12 and DMC-13, the Jetta GLI, and the Legacy, respectively. Team Red Bull will return to NASCAR to field two DMC-12s, while Trackhouse Racing will field the DMC-13, and Phoenix Racing and 23XI Racing will field the Jetta GLI.
 * On October 5, 2020, Go FAS Racing announced it would switch to Pontiac in an alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing.

Challenge

 * Another challenge, the Camping World Elimination Challenge, was added for the season. An elimination-style format, the first 16 winners of the season (although, if there are more or less winners, the field is decided on points) compete for a $100,000 cash bonus, with groups of four being eliminated every few races until four are left in the Pepsi 400. Unlike the scrapped Chase format from 2014, this does not affect the championship.

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 ten-month-long season. NASCAR had scheduled their first-ever doubleheader on the original 2020 schedule at Pocono, before COVID-19 resulted in Darlington, Charlotte, Pocono, Michigan, Dover, and Tokyo all gaining doubleheader weekends. NASCAR also had to schedule midweek races for the series for the first time in the modern era as a result of the COVID-19 schedule changes. NASCAR president Chloe Johnson 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.

''A * indicates a race that is part of the NASCAR Grand Prix Challenge. A # indicates a CompuServe 5 race.''

Schedule changes

 * The most prominent change to the schedule is the permanent addition of mid-week races, rotating from year-to-year and only a select few tracks such as Greenville-Pickens guaranteed to be a part of the schedule yearly; as originally announced, the season was to have a whopping 78 races, beating the record held by the 62-race-long 1964 season, but on November 12, 2020, it was announced that the schedule would be reduced to 63 races, after talks with team owners regarding logistics, travel time and cost concerns, as well as talks with track owners regarding local COVID-19 restrictions; other options discussed included further cuts to midweek races and extending the schedule to end on the second Sunday of December, something that hadn't happened since 1971, the latter being rejected over weather concerns. Many of these tracks will instead be used in lower series and testing for the time being, depending on restrictions, though there is a possibility some or all of these tracks will be reinstated into the schedule in future years; Tim estimates it won't be until 2023 at the earliest, though he stated that NASCAR is trying their hardest to be able to hold more races in the future. Notably, Hickory Motor Speedway was going to be reinserted into the schedule for the first time since 1971, while Greenville-Pickens was going to hold a second race.
 * Kentucky, Brands Hatch, and Delaware will all be removed from the schedule. Kentucky will be removed due to Tim Johnson considering the track "without a doubt, the worst intermediate on the schedule, and unsalvageable short of completely tearing down the facility and starting from scratch"; Kentucky will still be used by the NASCAR Sears All-American Series and ARCA Menards Series, while Brands Hatch and Delaware will be removed due to travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, though there are plans to reincorporate them into the schedule once the pandemic is over and travel restrictions are lifted. Chicagoland was going to be removed as well before Johnson found out plans to raze the track to make way for a shopping complex and had them torpedoed.
 * Atlanta Motor Speedway will be reconfigured back to its pre-1997 layout. CEO Tim Johnson stated that while he knew the drivers were accustomed to the old track pavement, he felt that it was leading to more boring racing, combined with its cookie-cutter layout similar to Charlotte Motor Speedway. As a compromise, the material used for the new pavement will be similar to the material used for the 1996-97 repave. Texas Motor Speedway will also be reconfigured back to its pre-2016 configuration.
 * Sonoma and Road America will swap spots on the schedule. Since the inaugural running of the Harley-Davidson 250, snow was always a concern, and during the 2015, 2018, and 2020 runnings, snow had to be cleared from the track and the infield areas so it could go forward. Swapping the races would not only allow Road America to be run in more favorable conditions, but it would also allow Sonoma to be run when the hills are green instead of brown.
 * It has already been announced that 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, after what Tim described as "the demolition derby of the 2020 running that made the ARCA guys look professional".
 * Darlington, North Wilkesboro, and Rockingham will go back to having two dates, these being the spring dates for Darlington and North Wilkesboro, and the fall date for Rockingham. All three will run with historical race names (TranSouth Financial 500 for Darlington, First Union 400 for North Wilkesboro, and ACDelco 400 for Rockingham).
 * In addition to the CompuServe 5, Panasonic Million, and Unocal 76 Challenge, the NASCAR Grand Prix Challenge will also be introduced, involving midweek road course races. The seven-race challenge will involve the races at Willow Springs, Road Atlanta, Virginia, COTA, Portland, Heartland Park, and Miller Motorsports Park. The winner of all seven races receives a $350,000 prize.
 * The Cup Series will also race on dirt for the first time since 1970 as the spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway will see the concrete half-mile covered in dirt, and several other dirt tracks such as Eldora, Knoxville, DuQuoin, and Las Vegas' dirt course will be added. Mansfield and Davenport were on the original schedule, but were removed.
 * The Geyser/SaveMart 350 will be rebranded to Dodge/SaveMart 350, its name between 2001 and 2006.
 * 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 a race at New Smyrna Speedway (which was to host an event under the pre-November 12 schedule), which will swap dates with the Homestead–Miami Speedway race.
 * WBCSN will broadcast Cup Series races for the first time, all of which will be mid-week races. ESPN will do the same, marking the first time since 2014 they will broadcast Cup races regularly (they had previously been airing qualifying sessions beforehand), as well as their first races overall since 2018.

Round 1: Dodge/SaveMart 350
Chase Elliott started on the pole. This was the first time Sonoma Raceway has hosted a NASCAR race in January, as well as the first time the NASCAR season opener was held in California since 1986. After an eventful day, Elliott dominated and won the race.

Speedweek 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 by STP qualifying, Alex Bowman won the pole while teammate William Byron qualified second. At the 125’s, Noah Howe held off Tony Stewart 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 2: Daytona 500 by STP
Alex Bowman would start on pole, as the race was under threat from rain and thunderstorms. Amber Lucky would hit the wall on lap 4 to bring out the first caution while causing damage to Bubba Wallace. On lap 13, "The Big One" would strike in turn 3 as Aric Almirola and Bowman would get turned into the outside wall, collecting 16 cars and sending William Byron into a barrel-roll. Two laps later, the race was red-flagged for 5 hours and 40 minutes due to rain and lightning. Due to Fox not wanting to anger fans of Animation Domination, the remainder of the race was moved to WBC; because it was short-notice, Tim Johnson, Chloe Johnson, and Belle Armstrong, who were at the track, called the race, the first time they had called a non-Tokyo Cup race as themselves. The race would restart with Kevin Harvick as the leader. Defending winner Tony Stewart would dominate as Christopher Bell would lose a left-rear tire and spun collecting Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Jamie McMurray. The final stages would remain caution-free as Stewart, 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 win, as well as Front Row Motorsports' third win. Keselowski's crash ended up being a near-replay of Kasey Kahne's crash at the 2014 Coke Zero 400 that ended up killing eight fans in the stands, though fortunately, it happened in one of the turns, well away from any fans, and Keselowski's seat remain attached to the chassis. In the hours following the race, Dodge came under scrutiny for the fuel cell design on the Charger, as Chevrolet had with the Camaro's fuel cell design follow Kahne's crash. No announcement about the Charger being temporarily pulled from competition has been made. Tim Johnson was also sharply critical of the single-file racing of the closing laps, chalking it up to fear of making big moves after Ryan Newman's near-fatal crash the previous year, as well as the crash on lap 13 that took out a large part of the field.

Round 3: New Smyrna Classic
Noah Howe started on the pole. This was the first regularly-scheduled midweek race on the Cup Series schedule since 1971, as well as the first-ever Cup Series race at New Smyrna Speedway. At lap 68, there was contact between Ty Dillon and David Stremme. Towards the end, Kyle Larson managed to take the lead from Macy Waltrip and win the race.

Round 4: Dixie Vodka 400
Chase Elliott was awarded the pole. Michael McDowell, who started second, got a flat tire before entering the first turn as Kyle Busch got damage by running into the grass. Kurt Busch spun while leading and then made contact and spun Brad Keselowski the following lap. On a restart, Elliott got into the grass while Kyle Larson spun while battling for the lead. Elliott made the way back to the front, but spun after contact with Hamlin. Joey Logano pulled away from Kurt Busch, but was ran down and passed by Christopher Bell, who would win the race for his first career Cup Series win.

Round 5: California Grand Prix
Brad Keselowski started on the pole. On lap 23, Kyle Busch tangled with Bill Fuller, triggering a large crash. On lap 78, Tony Stewart took the lead from Chase Elliott. After a hotly contested battle between Stewart, Elliott, Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson, Macy Waltrip, and Noah Howe, Stewart narrowly edged Howe out to take home his first victory of the season.

Round 6: Las Vegas Dirt Derby
Macy Waltrip started on the pole. This was the first dirt race run in the Cup Series since 1970. Busch Series driver Josh Berry made his Cup debut in the No. 01 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet as the first of seven races to prepare for his 2022 rookie campaign.

Round 7: Pennzoil 400
Kevin Harvick started on the pole. On a restart, Elliott spun after contact with Kurt Busch. Aric Almirola got into the wall after a flat tire. After the final round of green flag pit stops, Larson was able to take the lead from Daniel Suárez and hold off Keselowski for his first win with Hendrick Motorsports and his first win on an mile and a half track.

Round 8: Instacart 500
Brad Keselowski was awarded the pole. Alex Bowman spun after contact with Austin Dillon. Anthony Alfredo slammed the wall after contact with Cody Ware. Tyler Reddick got into the wall while Aric Almirola had to slow for a lapped car and got hit by Kyle Busch. On the restart, Martin Truex Jr. took the lead from Logano and pulled away for the win.

Round 9: Atlanta Grand Prix
Bill Fuller was awarded the pole. Tony Stewart looked to be on his way to the win, but was passed coming out of the last turn by Alex Bowman, who took his first win of 2021.

Round 10: PrimeStar 500
Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole. Kyle Larson dominated the majority of the race. Kevin Harvick had to pit early due to a flat tire. The race remained green for the majority of the race except for when Kurt Busch got into the wall after contact with Hamlin and when Chase Elliott blew an engine. Lapped traffic came in play at the end as Ryan Blaney was able to run down Larson and pass him for the lead and pull away to the win.

Round 11: Food City Dirt Race
This was the first dirt race for the Panasonic Cup Series since the 1970 NASCAR Cup Series season. Kyle Larson was awarded the pole after the heat races were canceled due to rain, but had to start at the rear after changing engines in practice. The race was postponed from Sunday to Monday due to the rain. Martin Truex Jr. dominated the race. Several wrecks happened throughout the day. Aric Almirola got turned after contact with Stewart Friesen, Ryan Newman spun as teammates Kevin Harvick and Chase Briscoe got together trying to avoid the incident, and Christopher Bell spun while running second and collected Larson and Ross Chastain. Truex would lose the lead to Daniel Suárez while Larson would wreck again, sustaining serious damage and ending his day while collecting Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Ryan Preece, and Michael McDowell. Briscoe would get in the wall again after contact with Brad Keselowski. Joey Logano take the lead from Suarez late in the going, but was passed on the last lap by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who took his first win of 2021 and the first win for the Chevrolet Malibu.

Round 12: Bojangles 400
Tony Stewart won the pole following the heat races. The first lap saw a Lend-Lease dirt late model driven by defending Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion Jimmy Owens get launched off of Brad Keselowski and onto his roof. Tony Stewart passed Joey Logano with four laps to go for his second win of the year.

Round 13: Mopar 200
Joey Logano started on the pole. The race was red-flagged for an hour-and-a-half following a hard crash that split Mark Marchesi's car open; he was uninjured. Tony Stewart paced the field en route to his third win of 2021 and second win in a row.

Round 14: Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500
Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole. The race was postponed from Saturday to Sunday due to rain. Hamlin dominated much of the race. Kurt Busch got into the wall after contact with Erik Jones while Aric Almirola spun into the wall after contact with Matt DiBenedetto. Brad Keselowski got into the wall along with Daniel Suárez, whose car caught fire. Keselowski again got into the wall along with Jones and Ross Chastain. Chris Buescher got turned and caused a huge stack up that collected Keselowski, DiBenedetto, Ryan Preece, Anthony Alfredo, Alex Bowman, and others. Martin Truex Jr. would outduel the dominant Hamlin and hold off Chase Elliott for his second win of the season.

Round 16: Toyota Owners 400
Martin Truex Jr. was awarded the pole. Truex, along with Denny Hamlin dominated, but Hamlin won both stages and led the most laps. Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick both spun into the wall after having flat tires. Hamlin continued his domination, but would be passed for the lead by Alex Bowman, who recovered from an uncontrolled tire penalty, with ten laps to go and Bowman pulled away for his second win of 2021.

Round 18: Geico 500
Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole. Kyle Larson suffered a blown engine on the third lap. Joey Logano got turned and went airborne while Matt DiBenedetto. Hamlin got turned into the wall and collected Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, and Martin Truex Jr. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hit the wall as he spun coming to pit road during green flag pit stops. Truex would suffer a flat tire, sending the race to overtime. Brad Keselowski would drive past DiBenedetto and held off William Byron as the field wrecked on the final lap to score the win.

Round 20: Union 76 400
Brad Keselowski was awarded the pole. Kyle Larson dominated the race, but was passed for the lead by Denny Hamlin. Hamlin got into the wall while battling Larson and then got into the wall again after a flat tire. On the restart, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun after contact with Austin Cindric. On the following restart, Christopher Bell spun and collected Stenhouse and Ryan Preece. In a two lap shootout, Larson got into Ryan Blaney and both fell back as Kyle Busch held off Kevin Harvick to win on his 36th birthday. NASCAR officials were criticized for their handling of an uncontrolled tire by Tyler Reddick's pit crew. They waited several laps until all the cars had pitted, then belatedly threw a caution, despite the tire presenting little apparent danger. This action disadvantaged several of the drivers. Tim Johnson later fired the responsible officials once he learned they were trying to fix the race in Harvick's favor, having a lot of money riding on him.

Round 21: TranSouth Financial 500
Brad Keselowski was awarded the pole for the second straight race. Aric Almirola slammed the wall after a flat tire while Kyle Busch spun while leading with a flat tire. Martin Truex Jr. dominated by leading the most laps. Cole Custer slammed the wall after contact with Anthony Alfredo while Kurt Busch got into the wall and caught fire after making contact with Bubba Wallace. Drivers split the final laps by pitting for green flag pit stops three different times. Kyle Larson was the only driver to challenge Truex for the lead as lapped traffic caused issues. Truex was able to pull away from Larson, but severely underestimated Tony Stewart, who passed him on the last lap for his fourth win of 2021.

Round 23: Drydene 500
Martin Truex Jr. started on the pole. Kyle Larson dominated, leading the most laps and winning both stages. Aric Almirola got a flat tire and got into the wall before catching fire. Anthony Alfredo spun after contact with Brad Keselowski and collected Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Alex Bowman took the lead from the dominant Larson and pulled away for his second win of the season followed by teammates Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron, making Hendrick the first team since Roush-Fenway Racing to have all four cars finish 1,2,3,4.

Round 26: Coca-Cola World 600
Kyle Larson won the pole in qualifying. Larson was class of the field. Kurt Busch had an issue that sent him to the garage, but when he returned to the race, he blew his engine. Several drivers had tire problems including Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr. Larson won the third stage and pulled away from teammate Chase Elliott to over a ten second lead to win his second race of the season.

Round 28: Mountain Dew 250
Chase Elliott was awarded the pole. On lap 20, there was contact between Jeffrey Earnhardt and Carl Edwards. A crash took place on lap 107, in which Michael Annett made contact with Matt Carter and Mark Marchesi. With ten laps to go, Tony Stewart passed Kyle Busch, and held onto it to take home his 105th career win, tying David Pearson for second in all-time wins.

Round 29: Harley-Davidson 250
Kyle Larson was awarded the pole where he dominated. William Byron spun and slammed into Kevin Harvick and collected Corey LaJoie. Cody Ware went through dirt and slammed into Ryan Preece as Matt DiBenedetto spun. Anthony Alfredo spun and collected Christopher Bell, sending the race to overtime. On the restart, Larson would hold off teammate Chase Elliott for his fourth win of the season.

Round 35: Firecracker 400 at the Brickyard
Macy Waltrip started on the pole. Tony Stewart dominated much of the race and, after a battle with Kyle Larson in the final laps, emerged as the victor in his 106th career win, surpassing David Pearson to become second in all-time wins behind Richard Petty.