2021 Xfinity 500
{{short description|NASCAR Cup Series race}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox NASCAR race report
| Type = CUST
| Description = Race 35 of 36 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series
| Race Name = Xfinity 500
| Details ref = {{cite web |title=2021 schedule |url=https://www.jayski.com/nascar-cup-series/2021-nascar-cup-series-schedule/ |website=Jayski.com|publisher=Jayski's Silly Season Site |accessdate=September 27, 2021}}{{cite web|title=Martinsville Speedway|url=http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/martinsville-speedway.html|website=NASCAR.com|publisher=NASCAR Media Group, LLC.|access-date=September 27, 2021|date=January 3, 2013|archive-date=April 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425205616/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/martinsville-speedway.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Entry List|url=https://www.jayski.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2021/10/27/2021-35cup-entry-1.pdf|website=Jayski.com|publisher=Jayski's Silly Season Site|access-date=October 25, 2021|date=October 25, 2021}}{{cite web|title=Starting Lineup|url=https://m.nascar.com/news-media/2021/10/27/kyle-larson-wins-busch-pole-award-for-martinsville-playoff-race/|website=NASCAR.com|publisher=NASCAR Media Group, LLC.|access-date=October 27, 2021|date=October 27, 2021}}{{cite web|title=Xfinity 500 Results|url=https://www.nascar.com/results/racecenter/2021/nascar-cup-series/xfinity-500/stn/results/|website=NASCAR.com|publisher=NASCAR|access-date=October 31, 2021|date=October 31, 2021}}{{cite web|title=Points standings|url=https://www.jayski.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2021/10/31/2021-35cup-points.pdf|website=Jayski.com|publisher=Jayski's Silly Season Site|access-date=October 31, 2021|date=October 31, 2021}}
| Fulldate = {{Start date|2021|10|31}}
| Year = 2021
| Image = Martinsville Speedway track map.png
| Caption =
| Location = Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia
| Course_mi = .526
| Course_km = .847
| Distance_laps = 501
| Distance_mi = 263.526
| Distance_km = 424.103
| Scheduled_laps = 500
| Scheduled_mi = 263
| Scheduled_km = 423.5
| Weather =
| Avg = {{convert|70.968|mph|km/h}}
| Pole_Driver = Kyle Larson
| Pole_Team = Hendrick Motorsports
| Grid_from_prev_perf = yes
| Most_Driver = Chase Elliott
| Most_Team = Hendrick Motorsports
| Most_laps = 289
| Car = 48
| First_Driver = Alex Bowman
| First_Team = Hendrick Motorsports
| Network = NBC
| Announcers = Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
| Ratings =
| Radio = MRN
| Booth_Ann = Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
| Turn_Ann = Dave Moody (Backstretch)
}}
The 2021 Xfinity 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on October 31, 2021, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. Contested over 501 laps—extended from 500 laps due to an overtime finish, on the .526 mile (.847 km) short track, it was the 35th race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, the ninth race of the Playoffs, and final race of the Round of 8. Alex Bowman moved Denny Hamlin during the closing laps to earn his fourth win in 2021, as well as his sixth overall.
Report
=Background=
File:Martinsville Speedway, September 2011 overview.JPG, the track where the race was held.]]
File:2021 Xfinity 500 program cover.jpeg
Martinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation-owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At {{convert|0.526|mi|km}} in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track is also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948. Along with this, Martinsville is the only NASCAR oval track on the entire NASCAR track circuit to have asphalt surfaces on the straightaways, then concrete to cover the turns.
{{clear}}
==Entry list==
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
Qualifying
Kyle Larson was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula. This was the final round that it was scheduled, but NASCAR made a change at Bristol in March when the formula was used when rain cancelled qualifying.
=Starting Lineup=
Race
=Stage Results=
Stage One
Laps: 130
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:98%" | |||||
| Pos
! {{Tooltip|No|Car Number}} ! Driver ! Team ! Manufacturer ! Points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 1 |
| colspan="6"|[https://www.jayski.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2021/10/31/2021-35cup-results.pdf Official stage one results] |
Stage Two
Laps: 130
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:98%" | |||||
| Pos
! {{Tooltip|No|Car Number}} ! Driver ! Team ! Manufacturer ! Points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
| colspan="6"|[https://www.jayski.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2021/10/31/2021-35cup-results.pdf Official stage two results] |
=Final Stage Results=
Stage Three
Laps: 240
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:98%" | |||||||
| Pos
! Grid ! {{Tooltip|No|Car Number}} ! Driver ! Team ! Manufacturer ! Laps ! Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 501 | 52 |
| 2 | 7 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 501 | 42 |
| 3 | 6 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 501 | 43 |
| 4 | 4 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 501 | 48 |
| 5 | 11 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 501 | 47 |
| 6 | 23 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 501 | 37 |
| 7 | 10 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 501 | 31 |
| 8 | 28 | 43 | Erik Jones | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 501 | 29 |
| 9 | 15 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 501 | 28 |
| 10 | 5 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 501 | 29 |
| 11 | 8 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 501 | 26 |
| 12 | 9 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 501 | 25 |
| 13 | 14 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 501 | 28 |
| 14 | 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 501 | 32 |
| 15 | 21 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 501 | 22 |
| 16 | 2 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 501 | 41 |
| 17 | 12 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 501 | 24 |
| 18 | 18 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 501 | 19 |
| 19 | 25 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 501 | 18 |
| 20 | 32 | 38 | Anthony Alfredo (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 501 | 17 |
| 21 | 29 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 501 | 16 |
| 22 | 22 | 14 | Chase Briscoe (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 501 | 15 |
| 23 | 24 | 41 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 501 | 14 |
| 24 | 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 501 | 19 |
| 25 | 17 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 501 | 12 |
| 26 | 19 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 499 | 11 |
| 27 | 16 | 42 | Ross Chastain | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 498 | 10 |
| 28 | 20 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 498 | 9 |
| 29 | 30 | 78 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Live Fast Motorsports | Ford | 496 | 0 |
| 30 | 31 | 51 | Cody Ware (i) | Petty Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 495 | 0 |
| 31 | 35 | 77 | Justin Haley (i) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 492 | 0 |
| 32 | 27 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 491 | 5 |
| 33 | 37 | 15 | Garrett Smithley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 490 | 0 |
| 34 | 36 | 00 | Quin Houff | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 483 | 3 |
| 35 | 33 | 52 | Josh Bilicki (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 483 | 0 |
| 36 | 26 | 37 | Ryan Preece | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 414 | 1 |
| 37 | 38 | 66 | Timmy Hill (i) | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 206 | 0 |
| 38 | 34 | 53 | Joey Gase (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 10 | 0 |
| colspan="8"|[https://www.jayski.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2021/10/31/2021-35cup-results.pdf Official race results] |
=Race statistics=
- Lead changes: 15 among 7 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 15 for 91
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 3 hours, 42 minutes and 48 seconds
- Average speed: {{convert|70.968|mph|km/h}}
Media
=Television=
NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, 1997 race winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and 2014 race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and Dillon Welch handled the pit road duties from pit lane. Rutledge Wood handled the features from the track.
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%" | ||
| colspan="3"|NBC | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters | Features reporter |
| Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte Color-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dave Burns Parker Kligerman Marty Snider Dillon Welch | Rutledge Wood |
=Radio=
MRN covered the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and 7 time Martinsville winner Rusty Wallace had the call for MRN when the field raced down the front straightaway. Dave Moody covered the action for MRN when the field raced down the backstraightway into turn 3. Steve Post and Kim Coon covered the action for MRN from pit lane.
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%" | ||
| colspan="3"|MRN | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Alex Hayden Announcer: Jeff Striegle Announcer: Rusty Wallace | Backstretch: Dave Moody | Steve Post Kim Coon |
Standings after the race
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
;Drivers' Championship standings
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%" |
| ! Pos
! Driver ! Points |
|---|
| style="background:#D4AF37;"
|align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 5,000 |
| style="background:#D4AF37;"
|align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 2 | style="text-align:center;"| 5,000 (–0) |
| style="background:#D4AF37;"
|align="left"| 10px 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 5,000 (–0) |
| style="background:#D4AF37;"
|align="left"| 10px 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 4 | style="text-align:center;"| 5,000 (–0) |
| align="left"| 10px 2
| style="text-align:center;"| 5 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,323 (–2,677) |
| align="left"| 10px 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 6 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,318 (–2,682) |
| align="left"| 10px 2
| style="text-align:center;"| 7 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,308 (–2,692) |
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 8 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,308 (–2,692) |
| align="left"| 10px 5
| style="text-align:center;"| 9 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,285 (–2,715) |
| align="left"| 10px 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 10 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,280 (–2,720) |
| align="left"| 10px 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 11 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,274 (–2,726) |
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 12 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,251 (–2,749) |
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 13 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,232 (–2,768) |
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 14 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,221 (–2,779) |
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 15 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,184 (–2,816) |
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 16 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,139 (–2,861) |
| class="sortbottom"
!colspan="9"|[https://www.jayski.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2021/10/31/2021-35cup-points.pdf Official driver's standings] |
{{col-2}}
;Manufacturers' Championship standings
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%" |
| ! Pos
! Manufacturer ! Points |
|---|
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1,296 |
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 2 | Toyota | style="text-align:center;"| 1,204 (–92) |
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 3 | Ford | style="text-align:center;"| 1,203 (–93) |
| class="sortbottom" |
- Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
{{col-end}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{NASCAR next race
| Series = NASCAR Cup Series
| Monsteryear = 2021
| Previous_race = 2021 Hollywood Casino 400
| Next_race = 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race
}}
{{2021 NASCAR Cup}}