2021 NASCAR Panasonic Cup Series (Johnsonverse)

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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 will be 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. Tony Stewart of Stewart-Haas Racing enters this season as the defending champion.

Teams and drivers

Complete Schedule

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Race driver	Model	Tire
Aston Martin	Delma Cowart Racing	0	Noah Howe	DB11 Superleggera	Dunlop
		100	Chris Vallely
		180	Dave Hawkins
	Butch Jones Enterprises with Geoffrey Bodine	162	Clay Jones		Toyo
		163	Katie Bell
BMW	Team Ohio Racing	64	Kelly Walker	M4	Dunlop
		65	Rodney Clay
Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	5	Kyle Larson	Camaro	Goodyear
		9	Chase Elliott
		24	William Byron
		48	Alex Bowman
	JTG Daugherty Racing	37	Ryan Preece	Malibu	Firestone
		47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
	Richard Childress Racing	3	Austin Dillon	Camaro	Goodyear
		29	Daniel Hemric
		31	Ty Dillon
		33	Tyler Reddick
	Dale Earnhardt Inc.	8	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Camaro	Hoosier
		15	Macy Waltrip
	StarCom Racing	99	TBA	Malibu	Dunlop
	Phoenix Racing	09	Scott Heckert	Malibu	Pirelli
		50	Brian Vickers
		67	Brennan Newberry
		74	Manny Brown
Dodge	Team Penske	2	Brad Keselowski	Charger	Goodyear
		12	Ryan Blaney
		22	Joey Logano
	Evernham Motorsports	93	Kasey Kahne	Charger	Hoosier
		153	Wade Davis
		191	Richie Reed
		192	Stan Mullis
	Chip Ganassi Racing	1	Kurt Busch	Challenger	Goodyear
		42	Ross Chastain
	Rusty Wallace Racing	102	Steve Wallace	Challenger	Cooper
	Spire Motorsports	7	Corey LaJoie	Charger	Hoosier
		76	Justin Haley (TBA)
			TBA
Ford	Front Row Motorsports	34	Michael McDowell	Mustang	Michelin
		36	Anthony Alfredo (R)
		38	David Ragan
	Roush Fenway Racing	6	Ryan Newman	Roush Mustang	Goodyear
		17	Chris Buescher
		99	Carl Edwards
	Brown Hornet Racing	164	Hal Dixon	Mustang	Hoosier
Toyota	GMS Racing	83	Spencer Gallagher	Avalon	Dunlop
		84	Amber Lucky
		85	Luke Trigger
	Joe Gibbs Racing	11	Denny Hamlin	Camry	Goodyear
		18	Kyle Busch
		19	Martin Truex Jr.
		20	Erik Jones
		81	Christopher Bell (R)
Oldsmobile	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	04	Jimmy Weller III (R)	Cutlass	Toyo
	Stavola Bros. Racing	08	Carl Maggio		Hoosier
Plymouth	Richard Petty Motorsports	43	Erik Jones	Road Runner (tracks shorter than one mile and road courses) Superbird (tracks one mile and longer)	Goodyear
	Spinner-Marcis Auto Racing	171	Zack Brady		Falken
Pontiac	Stewart-Haas Racing	00	Chase Briscoe (R)	Grand Prix	Hoosier
		4	Kevin Harvick
		10	Aric Almirola
		14	Tony Stewart (C)
		41	Cole Custer
	The Money Team Racing	46	Michael Annett	Firebird	Michelin
	Live Fast Motorsports	75	BJ McLeod	Firebird	Goodyear
	Go FAS Racing	32	Ryan Ellis	Grand Prix	Hoosier
Mercury	Wood Brothers Racing	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Cyclone	Goodyear
Studebaker	Del-War Inc.	172	Ray Black Jr.	Commander	Cooper
Geyser	Orange County Racing	86	Jed Thomas	Hawk	Pirelli
		90	Luke George
Honda	Doug Yates Racing	28	Elliott Sadler	Civic	Goodyear
		88	Vinnie Miller
	Leavine Family Racing	95	Ryan Reed	Accord	Hoosier
Nissan	MAG Incorporated	58	Lyle White	Sentra	Michelin
		68	Bill Fuller
		71	Randall Parker
		177	Randy Norton
	Stash Motorsports	91	Bo Abraham		Hoosier
		92	Beau Philips
Buick	Bobby Allison Racing	12	Dakoda Armstrong	Regal	Michelin
		152	Clint Bowyer
	Rossi Racing	50	BJ Fisher		Firestone
		53	Tyson Golston
	Rudd Performance Motorsports	110	Mike Murphy		Toyo
Cadillac	Red Tiger Motorsports with Sterling Marlin	170	Tracy Johnson	CT5-V	Dunlop
	Parsons Motorsports	16	TJ Bell		Michelin
		49	Ned Shannon
		66	Tanner Berryhill
Lincoln	Rick Ware Racing	51	Joey Gase	Continental	Yokohama
	Hedrick Racing	141	Dexter Bean		Pirelli
Audi	NY Racing Team	174	J.J. Yeley	A7	Hoosier
		175	Matt Mills
	Marchesi Racing	176	Mark Marchesi		General Tire
Maserati	Cale Yarborough Racing	94	Simon Stevens	GranTurismo	Falken
	Slick Poly Racing	69	Mike Maier		Michelin
Jaguar	Travis Carter Enterprises	23	Ben Rhodes	XE	Firestone
		55	Matt Carter
		61	Kyle Krisiloff
	Ken Schrader Racing	52	Josh Berry		Goodyear
Porsche	Kenny Bernstein Racing	26	Harrison Rhodes	Boxster	Bridgestone
	NEMCO Racing with Carl Long	187	John Hunter Nemechek	991	Yokohama
	Hillman Racing	104	Landon Cassill	Boxter	Michelin
Volkswagen	23XI Racing	123	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Jetta GLI	Toyo
Kia	Junior Johnson Racing	27	James Davidson	Optima	Firestone
	Labonte Bros. Racing	96	Justin Labonte		Pirelli
Hyundai	Robby Gordon Motorsports	07	Takuma Sato	Aslan	Bridgestone
					Firestone
		107	Kimi Raikkonen

Limited Schedule

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Race driver	Model	Rounds	Tire	Sponsor

Changes

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

ity 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

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.

No.	Race name	Venue	Track Type	Date	TV
1	Dodge/SaveMart 350	Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma	Road Course	January 31	WBC
	Busch Clash	Daytona International Speedway (Road Course), Daytona Beach	Road Course	February 9	FS1
	Gatorade Twin 125's	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	Superspeedway (restricted)	February 11	FS1
2	Daytona 500 #			February 14	Fox WBC
3	New Smyrna Classic	New Smyrna Speedway, Samsula	Short Track	February 17	ESPN
4	Dixie Vodka 400	Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead	Intermediate	February 21	Fox
5	California Grand Prix *	Willow Springs International Motorsports Park, Rosamond	Road Course	February 28	WBCSN
6	Las Vegas Dirt Derby	Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track, Las Vegas	Short Dirt Oval	March 6	FS1
7	Pennzoil 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas	Intermediate	March 7	Fox
8	FanShield 500	Phoenix Raceway, Avondale	Intermediate	March 14	Fox
9	Atlanta Grand Prix *	Road Atlanta, Braselton	Road Course	March 17	ESPN
10	PrimeStar 500	Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton	Intermediate	March 21	Fox
11	Food City Dirt Race	Bristol Motor Speedway (Dirt Course), Bristol	Short Dirt Oval	March 28	Fox
12	Bojangles 400	Knoxville Raceway, Knoxville	Short Dirt Oval	April 3	WBC
13	Mopar 500	South Boston Speedway, South Boston	Short Track	April 7	WBCSN
14	Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500	Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway	Paperclip Short Track	April 10	FS1
15	Virginia Grand Prix*	Virginia International Raceway, Alton	Road Course	April 14	ESPN
16	Toyota Owners 400	Richmond Raceway, Richmond	Short Track	April 18	FS1
17	Hasbro 400	Huntsville Speedway, Huntsville	Short Track	April 21	WBCSN
18	Geico 500 #	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln	Superspeedway (restricted)	April 25	WBC
19	Carolina Dodge Dealers 500	Bowman Gray Stadium, Winston-Salem	Short Track	April 28	WBC
20	Chevron 400	Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham	Intermediate	May 2	WBC
21	TranSouth Financial 500	Darlington Raceway, Darlington	Egg-shaped Intermediate	May 9	Fox
22	Dog n Suds 500	Wall Stadium, Belmar	Short Track	May 12	ESPN
23	Drydene 400	Dover International Speedway, Dover	Intermediate	May 16	FS1
24	Kobalt Tools 500	Caraway Speedway, Ashboro	Short Track	May 19	WBCSN
25	First Union 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro	Short Track	May 23	WBC
26	Coca-Cola World 600 #	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord	Intermediate	May 30	WBC
27	Mountain Dew 400	The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis	Intermediate	June 2	FS1
28	Harley-Davidson 250	Road America, Lake Elkhart	Road Course	June 6	WBC
	Panasonic Open	Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth	Short Track	June 12	FS1
	The Panasonic
29	EchoPark Texas Grand Prix *	Circuit of the Americas, Austin	Road Course	June 13	WBC
30	Ally 400	Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon	Intermediate	June 20	Fox
31	QuikTrip Motegi 400	Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi	Intermediate	June 23	WBC
	Tokyo Late Model Classic	Tokyo Superspeedway, Tama	Superspeedway (restricted)	June 24	WBC
32	Tokyo 500			June 26
33	Sony 500			June 27
34	Firecracker 400 at the Brickyard #	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway	Superspeedway (unrestricted)	July 4	WBC
35	Oregon Grand Prix *	Portland International Speedway, Portland	Road Course	July 11	NBC
36	Foxwood Resort Casino 301	New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon	Intermediate	July 18	NBC
37	Go Bowling at the Glen	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen	Road Course	August 8	WBC
	Circuit City Summer Shootout	Metrolina Speedway, Charlotte	Short Clay Oval	August 14	ESPN
38	Susan G. Komen for the Cure 250	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Complex	Road Course	August 18	ESPN
39	World Wildlife Foundation 500	Lucas Oil Raceway, Brownsburg	Short Track	August 22	WBC
40	Consumer Energy 400	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn	Superspeedway (unrestricted)	August 29	WBC
41	Tyson Holly Farms 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro	Short Track	September 1	NBC
42	Greenville 500	Greenville-Pickens Speedway, Greenville	Short Track	September 5	NBC
43	Southern 500 #	Darlington Speedway, Darlington	Egg-Shaped Intermediate	September 9	WBC
44	Luca 400	Walt Disney World Speedway, Lake Buena Vista	Superspeedway (restricted)	September 15	WBC
45	Pennsylvania 500 by Howard Johnson's	Lincoln Speedway, Hanover	Short Track	September 19	WBCSN
46	Steam Powered Giraffe 400	Nazareth Speedway, Nazareth	Intermediate	September 22	WBC
47	Cadillac 400	Bowman Gray Stadium, Winston-Salem	Short Track	September 26	ESPN
48	ACDelco 400	Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham	Intermediate	September 29	NBC
49	YellaWood 500	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln	Superspeedway (restricted)	October 6	WBC
50	Tennessee Dodge Dealers 400	Memphis International Raceway, Millington	Short Track	October 10	TNN
51	Music City USA 420	Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville	Short Track	October 13	TNN
52	Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500	Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth	Short Track	October 17	NBC
53	Texas 400	Texas World Speedway, College Station	Superspeedway (unrestricted)	October 21	NBC
54	Kansas Grand Prix *	Heartland Park Topeka, Topeka	Road Course	October 24	NBC
55	Utah Grand Prix *	Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele	Road Course	October 27	NBC
56	Hollywood Casino 400	Kansas Speedway, Kansas City	Intermediate	October 31	NBC
57	Iowa Corn 400	Iowa Speedway, Newton	Short Track	November 7	WBC
58	Doritos 400	World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Madison	Intermediate	November 10	NBC
59	General Tire 400	DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack, DuQuoin	Intermediate Dirt Oval	November 14	NBC
60	Camping World 400	Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet	Intermediate	November 17	NBC
61	Rush Truck Centers Presents the Eldora Dirt Classic	Eldora Speedway, New Weston	Short Dirt Oval	November 21	WBC
62	Pepsi 400	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	Superspeedway (restricted)	November 28	WBC

Schedule changes

• The most prominent change to the schedule is the permanent addition of mid-week races; 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 62 races, after weeks of talks with team owners regarding 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, specifically for fans, pit crew members, track and sport officials, and on-track personnel. 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 when the pandemic is over, local COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, and travel and cost concerns are figured out; 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, and has also floated bringing back tracks such as Chicago Motor Speedway, Riverside International Raceway, and Ontario Motor Speedway, which would be held in place of existing tracks on the schedule in odd or even-numbered years, in addition to the scrapped tracks. 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 as well; it will become a short track that is slightly wider than Bristol; this is similar to the planned reconfiguration of Auto Club Speedway into a short track for 2022 and beyond.
• 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.

Scrapped Races

Race name	Venue	Track Type	Date	TV
Auto Club 400	Auto Club Speedway, Fontana	Superspeedway (unrestricted)	February 28	Fox
Lowe's 400	Tucson Speedway, Tucson	Short Track	March 10	ESPN
Bering Trucks 500	Motor Mile Speedway, Dublin	Short Track	March 24	ESPN
Liberty Mutual 500	Langley Speedway, Hampton	Short Track	March 31	FS1
McDonald's 500	Greenville-Pickens Speedway, Greenville	Short Track	May 5	WBCSN
Orange County Spring Classic	Orange County Speedway, Rougemont	Short Track	May 26	ESPN
Winchester 500	Winchester Speedway, Winchester	Short Track	June 30	WBCSN
NAPA Auto Parts 500	Evergreen Speedway, Monroe	Short Track	July 7	NBC
HP Hood Oxford 500	Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford	Short Track	July 14	NBC
Ohio Dirt Derby	Mansfield Motorsports Speedway, Mansfield	Short Dirt Oval	August 11	NBCSN
Nintendo 500	Hickory Motor Speedway, Hickory	Short Track	August 28	NBCSN
STP 500	Five Flags Speedway, Pensacola	Short Track	September 12	ESPN
Alabama Fall Classic	Montgomery Motor Speedway, Montgomery	Short Track	October 3	WBCSN
Iowa Dirt Derby	Davenport Speedway, Davenport	Short Dirt Oval	November 3	NBC
Coke Zero Sugar 400	Volusia Speedway Park, De Leon Springs	Short Track	November 24	WBCSN

Season summary

Race reports

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 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

Alex Bowman would start on pole, as the race was under threat from rain and thunderstorms. Amber Luckey 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 lap 13 crash 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 will start on the pole.

Results

No.	Race	Pole Position	Most Laps Led	Winning Driver	Manufacturer/Model
1	Dodge/SaveMart 350	Chase Elliott	Chase Elliott	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet Camaro
	Busch Clash	Ryan Blaney	Denny Hamlin	Kyle Busch	Toyota Camry
	Gatorade Twin 125 Race 1	Alex Bowman	Tony Stewart	Noah Howe	Aston Martin DB11 Superleggera
	Gatorade Twin 125 Race 2	William Byron	William Byron	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet Camaro
2	63rd Daytona 500	Alex Bowman	Tony Stewart	Michael McDowell	Ford Mustang
3	New Smyrna Classic	Noah Howe	Macy Waltrip	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet Camaro
4	Dixie Vodka 400	Chase Elliott	Chase Elliott	Christopher Bell	Toyota Camry
5	California Grand Prix	Brad Keselowski	Chase Elliott	Tony Stewart	Pontiac Grand Prix

Event logos

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  63rd Daytona 500

• 

  Dixie Vodka 400

• 

  Auto Club 400

• 

  First Union 400

• 

  ACDelco 400

• 

  Pennzoil 400

• 

  Geico 500

• 

  Hasbro 400

• 

  Southern 500

• 

  Steam Powered Giraffe 400

• 

  Pepsi 400

• 

  Music City USA 420