2021 Ally 400
The 2021 Ally 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on June 20, 2021, at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee. Contested over 300 laps on the 1.333-mile (2.145 km) superspeedway, it was the 17th race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 17 of 36 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | June 20, 2021 | ||
| Location | Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.333 mi (2.145 km) | ||
| Distance | 300 laps, 400 mi (640 km) | ||
| Average speed | 113.792 miles per hour (183.130 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Stewart-Haas Racing | ||
| Time | 29.557 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 264 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | NBCSN | ||
| Announcers | Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. | ||
| Nielsen Ratings | 1.46/2.590 million | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
| Booth Announcers | Alex Hayden and Jeff Striegle | ||
| Turn Announcers | Dave Moody (1–2) and Kyle Rickey (3–4) | ||
Report
Background
Nashville Superspeedway is a motor racing complex located in Gladeville, Tennessee (though the track has a Lebanon address), United States, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Nashville. The track was built in 2001 and is currently used for events, driving schools and GT Academy, a reality television competition.[8]
It is a concrete oval track 11⁄3 miles (2.145 km) long. Nashville Superspeedway is owned by Dover Motorsports, Inc., which also owns Dover International Speedway. Nashville Superspeedway was the longest concrete oval in NASCAR during the time it was on the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series circuits. Current permanent seating capacity is approximately 25,000. Additional portable seats are brought in for some events, and seating capacity can be expanded to 150,000. Infrastructure is in place to expand the facility to include a short track, drag strip, and road course.
On June 3, NASCAR confirmed the track would reopen to host a Cup race in 2021, replacing one of the two Dover dates.[9]
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
Hendrick Motorsport teammates William Byron & Kyle Larson were the fastest in the practice session with a time of 29.724 seconds and a speed of 161.082 mph (259.236 km/h).[10]
Practice results
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29.724 | 161.082 |
| 2 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29.724 | 161.082 |
| 3 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29.735 | 161.022 |
| Official practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Aric Almirola scored the pole for the race with a time of 29.557 seconds and a speed of 161.992 mph (260.701 km/h).[11]
Qualifying results
Race
Aric Almirola won the pole in qualifying. Quin Houff got into the wall on the first lap. Ryan Blaney slammed the wall hard after losing his brakes. Chris Buescher got into the wall along with Justin Haley. Kurt Busch won the first stage while Kyle Larson won the second. Several had brake issues that caused them to get into the wall including Ryan Preece and Chase Briscoe. Larson was able to save enough fuel to hold off Ross Chastain for his third consecutive win and fourth of the season.
Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 90
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1 |
| Official stage one results | |||||
Stage Two Laps: 95
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 14 | Chase Briscoe (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
| Official stage two results | |||||
Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 115
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 | 59 |
| 2 | 19 | 42 | Ross Chastain | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 35 |
| 3 | 4 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 | 41 |
| 4 | 1 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 300 | 36 |
| 5 | 12 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 300 | 34 |
| 6 | 14 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 40 |
| 7 | 22 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 300 | 38 |
| 8 | 30 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 40 |
| 9 | 25 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 300 | 28 |
| 10 | 3 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 300 | 30 |
| 11 | 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 300 | 39 |
| 12 | 28 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 40 |
| 13 | 29 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 300 | 24 |
| 14 | 8 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 | 23 |
| 15 | 24 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 | 22 |
| 16 | 23 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 300 | 21 |
| 17 | 18 | 38 | Anthony Alfredo (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 300 | 20 |
| 18 | 26 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 19 |
| 19 | 9 | 43 | Erik Jones | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 | 18 |
| 20 | 21 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 299 | 17 |
| 21 | 13 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 299 | 22 |
| 22 | 35 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 299 | 15 |
| 23 | 15 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 299 | 18 |
| 24 | 11 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 298 | 15 |
| 25 | 36 | 53 | Garrett Smithley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 298 | 0 |
| 26 | 34 | 52 | Josh Bilicki | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 298 | 11 |
| 27 | 32 | 51 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Petty Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 298 | 0 |
| 28 | 31 | 78 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Live Fast Motorsports | Ford | 295 | 0 |
| 29 | 37 | 15 | Joey Gase (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 295 | 0 |
| 30 | 7 | 41 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 252 | 7 |
| 31 | 16 | 14 | Chase Briscoe (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 227 | 14 |
| 32 | 20 | 37 | Ryan Preece | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 197 | 5 |
| 33 | 33 | 66 | Chad Finchum (i) | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 143 | 0 |
| 34 | 38 | 13 | David Starr (i) | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 126 | 0 |
| 35 | 27 | 77 | Justin Haley (i) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 79 | 0 |
| 36 | 17 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 77 | 1 |
| 37 | 10 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 53 | 1 |
| 38 | 39 | 00 | Quin Houff | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 0 | 1 |
| DSQ | 6 | 9 | Chase Elliott [lower-alpha 1] | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
- Lead changes: 14 among 7 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 11 for 60
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 3 hours, 30 minutes and 23 seconds
- Average speed: 113.792 miles per hour (183.130 km/h)
Media
Television
NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast handled the pit road duties from pit lane. Rutledge Wood handled the features from the track.
| NBCSN | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters | Features reporter |
| Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte Color-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Parker Kligerman Marty Snider Kelli Stavast | Rutledge Wood |
Radio
Radio coverage of the race was broadcast by Motor Racing Network (MRN) and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
| MRN | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Alex Hayden Announcer: Jeff Striegle | Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody Turns 3 & 4: Kyle Rickey | Steve Post Kim Coon |
Standings after the race
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes
- Elliott initially finished 13th, but was disqualified for unsecured tires (five loose lug nuts; three is grounds for disqualification).
References
- "2021 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
- "Nashville Superspeedway". Archived from the original on 13 April 2005. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
- "Practice Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. June 19, 2021. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
- "Qualifying Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- "Ally 400 Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- "2021 NASCAR Cup Series schedule release: Dirt track racing returns, road racing set at COTA and Road America". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
- Albert, Zack (June 3, 2020). "NASCAR Cup Series to race at Nashville Superspeedway in 2021". NASCAR. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
- Utter, Jim (June 19, 2021). "Hendrick drivers lead Cup practice at Nashville". Motorsport.com. Lebanon, Tennessee: Motorsport Network. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
- Utter, Jim (June 20, 2021). "Aric Almirola takes surprise pole in first Nashville Cup race". Motorsport.com. Lebanon, Tennessee: Motorsport Network. Retrieved June 20, 2021.