2021 Cook Out Southern 500

File:Darlington raceway.svg where the race was held.]]

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.

Darlington Raceway was last repaved following the May 2007 meeting (from 2005 to 2019, there was only one meeting; the second meeting was reinstated in 2020), and from 2008 to 2019, there was one night race. In 2020, a day race returned to the schedule, and instead of two races (one Xfinity and one Cup) during the entire year, the track hosted six races (three Cup, two Xfinity, and one Truck). The circuit kept repairing the circuit with patches during each summer before the annual Cup race in September. The circuit's narrow Turn 2 rapidly deteriorated with cracks in the tarmac allowing water to seep in the circuit. In July 2021, the circuit repaved a six hundred foot section at the entrance of Turn 2 and ending at the exit of the turn to repair the tarmac and resolve the issue for safety and to reduce the threat of weepers and surface issues in that section of the circuit.{{cite web |last1=Long |first1=Dustin |title=Darlington Raceway repaves Turn 2 ahead of Cook Out Southern 500 |url=https://nascar.nbcsports.com/2021/08/13/darlington-raceway-repaves-turn-2-ahead-of-southern-500/ |website=NBCSports.com |publisher=Comcast |access-date=2021-08-20 |ref=DarlRepave}}

The 2021 race also marked the addition of an athletics event as part of the Southern 500 weekend, the Terrence Carraway Memorial 5K athletics event, held around the circuit. The Darlington Raceway 5k was first held in November for 2018 and 2019 in memory of a local policeman killed in the line of duty. After taking a year off in 2020, the event moved to the Southern 500 weekend for 2021.{{cite web |title=Darlington Raceway to Host Terrence Carraway Memorial 5K on Sept. 2 |url=https://www.darlingtonraceway.com/2021/03/09/5k/ |website=Darlington Raceway |publisher=NASCAR |access-date=2024-02-27 |ref=DRCarray}}

{{clear}}

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

Ryan Blaney was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.

Stage One

Laps: 115

Stage Two

Laps: 115

Stage Three

Laps: 137

• Lead changes: 18 among 10 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 11 for 52
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 4 hours, 8 minutes and 1 second
• Average speed: {{convert|121.279|mph|km/h}}

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, two–time Darlington winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. called Stages 1 and 3 of the race from the broadcast booth. Earnhardt Jr., Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty called Stage 2 of the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.

MRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

;Drivers' Championship standings

{{col-2}}

;Manufacturers' Championship standings

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

{{col-end}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{NASCAR next race

| Series = NASCAR Cup Series

| Monsteryear = 2021

| Previous_race = 2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400

| Next_race = 2021 Federated Auto Parts 400

}}

{{2021 NASCAR Cup}}

{{Bojangles' Southern 500}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook Out Southern 500, 2021}}

Category:2021 NASCAR Cup Series

Category:NASCAR races at Darlington Raceway

Category:September 2021 sports events in the United States

Category:2021 in sports in South Carolina