2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500: Difference between revisions

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Ryan Blaney won the race, driving a Ford. Kyle Larson led for 269 laps, but Blaney overtook him eight laps from the end because Larson’s tires were wearing out.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.autosport.com/nascar-cup/news/ryan-blaney-passes-larson-late-captures-atlanta-cup-win/5838348/ |title= Blaney snatches lead from Larson to win Atlanta NASCAR Cup race |last= Utter |first= Jim |date= 21 March 2021 |access-date= 22 March 2021 |work= [[Autosport]]}}</ref>

Ryan Blaney won the race, driving a Ford. Kyle Larson led for 269 laps, but Blaney overtook him eight laps from the end because Larson’s tires were wearing out.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.autosport.com/nascar-cup/news/ryan-blaney-passes-larson-late-captures-atlanta-cup-win/5838348/ |title= Blaney snatches lead from Larson to win Atlanta NASCAR Cup race |last= Utter |first= Jim |date= 21 March 2021 |access-date= 22 March 2021 |work= [[Autosport]]}}</ref>

The green flag waved at 3:19 PM with pole sitter Denny Hamlin jumping to an early lead, with Martin Truex Jr. starting on his outside. On lap 8, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ross Chastain made slight contact while battling for 16th, as both were entering turn 3 off the back straightaway.<ref>{{cite AV media online |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdJhPpQTMjo&t=307s |title=Full Race Replay: 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway |website=YouTube |publisher=NASCAR |date=21 March 2021 |access-date=19 October 2025 |time=5:07}}</ref> Denny Hamlin would lead all 26 laps up until the competition caution waved on lap 26.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://frontstretch.com/2021/03/22/thinkin-out-loud-2021-folds-of-honor-quiktrip-500-at-atlanta/ |title=Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta |last=Reardon |first=Logan |date=22 March 2021 |access-date=19 October 2025 |work=[[Frontstretch]]}}</ref> Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney notably moved up several positions early. Quin Houff, who was 32nd, would receive the free pass, and Kyle Larson would win the race off pit road with Denny Hamlin behind him in 2nd and Kevin Harvick in 3rd. The race restarted on lap 31; however, Kevin Harvick, who was in 3rd, had to come down pit road before the green flag due to a tire issue. As Kyle Larson pulled ahead to the lead on the restart, Kevin Harvick barely stayed on the lead lap as he rejoined the field.<ref>{{cite AV media online |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdJhPpQTMjo&t=1017s |title=Full Race Replay: 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway |website=YouTube |publisher=NASCAR |date=21 March 2021 |access-date=19 October 2025 |time=16:57}}</ref> No cautions would come out for the rest of Stage 1 as Kyle Larson dominated. Larson would cycle out to the lead once again after green-flag pit stops around lap 63 and eventually lapped Kevin Harvick, who was now 26th, on lap 74. Larson would go on to lead the rest of the stage.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://frontstretch.com/2021/03/22/thinkin-out-loud-2021-folds-of-honor-quiktrip-500-at-atlanta/ |title=Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta |last=Reardon |first=Logan |date=22 March 2021 |access-date=19 October 2025 |work=[[Frontstretch]]}}</ref> He was able to lap up to 20th place but could not pass 19th-place Daniel Suárez before Stage 1 concluded on lap 105.<ref>{{cite AV media online |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdJhPpQTMjo&t=88475s |title=Full Race Replay: 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway |website=YouTube |publisher=NASCAR |date=21 March 2021 |access-date=19 October 2025 |time=1:02:37}}</ref>

The green flag waved at 3:19 PM with pole sitter Denny Hamlin jumping to an early lead, with Martin Truex Jr. starting on his outside. On lap 8, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ross Chastain made slight contact while battling for 16th, as both were entering turn 3 off the back straightaway.<ref>{{cite AV media online

|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdJhPpQTMjo&t=307s

|title=Full Race Replay: 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

|website=YouTube

|publisher=NASCAR

|date=21 March 2021

|access-date=19 October 2025

|time=5:07

}}</ref> Denny Hamlin would lead all 26 laps up until the competition caution waved on lap 26.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://frontstretch.com/2021/03/22/thinkin-out-loud-2021-folds-of-honor-quiktrip-500-at-atlanta/ |title=Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta |last=Reardon |first=Logan |date=22 March 2021 |access-date=19 October 2025 |work=[[Frontstretch]]}}</ref> Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney notably moved up several positions early. Quin Houff, who was 32nd, would receive the free pass, and Kyle Larson would win the race off pit road with Denny Hamlin behind him in 2nd and Kevin Harvick in 3rd. The race restarted on lap 31; however, Kevin Harvick, who was in 3rd, had to come down pit road before the green flag due to a tire issue. As Kyle Larson pulled ahead to the lead on the restart, Kevin Harvick barely stayed on the lead lap as he rejoined the field.<ref>{{cite AV media online

|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdJhPpQTMjo&t=1017s

|title=Full Race Replay: 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

|website=YouTube

|publisher=NASCAR

|date=21 March 2021

|access-date=19 October 2025

|time=16:57

}}</ref> No cautions would come out for the rest of Stage 1 as Kyle Larson dominated. Larson would cycle out to the lead once again after green-flag pit stops around lap 63 and eventually lapped Kevin Harvick, who was now 26th, on lap 74. Larson would go on to lead the rest of the stage.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://frontstretch.com/2021/03/22/thinkin-out-loud-2021-folds-of-honor-quiktrip-500-at-atlanta/ |title=Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta |last=Reardon |first=Logan |date=22 March 2021 |access-date=19 October 2025 |work=[[Frontstretch]]}}</ref> He was able to lap up to 20th place but could not pass 19th-place Daniel Suárez before Stage 1 concluded on lap 105.<ref>{{cite AV media online

|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdJhPpQTMjo&t=88475s

|title=Full Race Replay: 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

|website=YouTube

|publisher=NASCAR

|date=21 March 2021

|access-date=19 October 2025

|time=1:02:37

}}</ref>

==Stage 2==

==Stage 2==

NASCAR Cup Series race

Motor car race

The 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on March 21, 2021, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Contested over 325 laps on the 1.54-mile-long (2.48 km) asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway, it was the sixth race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Atlanta Motor Speedway, the track where the race was held.

Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a track in Hampton, Georgia, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It is a 1.54-mile (2.48 km) quad-oval track with a seating capacity of 111,000. It opened in 1960 as a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports’ other two 1.5-mile (2.4 km) ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval. The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.

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

Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.[4]

Ryan Blaney won the race, driving a Ford. Kyle Larson led for 269 laps, but Blaney overtook him eight laps from the end because Larson’s tires were wearing out.[8]

The green flag waved at 3:19 PM with pole sitter Denny Hamlin jumping to an early lead, with Martin Truex Jr. starting on his outside. On lap 8, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ross Chastain made slight contact while battling for 16th, as both were entering turn 3 off the back straightaway.[9] Denny Hamlin would lead all 26 laps up until the competition caution waved on lap 26.[10] Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney notably moved up several positions early. Quin Houff, who was 32nd, would receive the free pass, and Kyle Larson would win the race off pit road with Denny Hamlin behind him in 2nd and Kevin Harvick in 3rd. The race restarted on lap 31; however, Kevin Harvick, who was in 3rd, had to come down pit road before the green flag due to a tire issue. As Kyle Larson pulled ahead to the lead on the restart, Kevin Harvick barely stayed on the lead lap as he rejoined the field.[11] No cautions would come out for the rest of Stage 1 as Kyle Larson dominated. Larson would cycle out to the lead once again after green-flag pit stops around lap 63 and eventually lapped Kevin Harvick, who was now 26th, on lap 74. Larson would go on to lead the rest of the stage.[12] He was able to lap up to 20th place but could not pass 19th-place Daniel Suárez before Stage 1 concluded on lap 105.[13]

Aric Almirola would earn the free pass. Kyle Larson once again won the race off pit road with Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney following behind him in 2nd and 3rd before the start of Stage 2.[14] Stage 2 started on lap 113 with Kyle Larson leading on the inside and Kyle Busch in 2nd on the outside. Kyle Busch spun his tires on the restart, backing up the outside lane and stacking up those behind him, including Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Chris Buescher, and Denny Hamlin. Denny Hamlin made contact with Kurt Busch’s bumper, sending him into the outside wall and ending Kurt Busch’s day, while bringing out a caution on lap 113.[15] Michael McDowell, who was running 21st before Kurt Busch wrecked, received the free pass. On the ensuing restart on lap 114, Ryan Blaney briefly took the lead from Kyle Larson to lead the lap, but Larson quickly overtook him to regain control of the race. On lap 123, Martin Truex Jr., running 10th, slid up the track entering turn 3 and made contact with Brad Keselowski, who was running 12th, damaging the front end of Keselowski’s car.[16] Green-flag pit stops began on lap 160 and continued until Brad Keselowski, who had been lapped by Kyle Larson on lap 141 and was running with a damaged car, finally pitted on lap 171. Kyle Larson once again cycled to the lead, and Stage 2 remained green the rest of the way, with Kyle Larson leading every lap after the lap 114 restart. As Stage 2 came to a close on lap 210, Larson had lapped up to 15th place, which included usual Atlanta contenders such as Kevin Harvick, the damaged and several-laps-down Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano, who was running 15th and received the free pass.[17]

Before the final stage, Kyle Larson narrowly won the race off pit road over Ryan Blaney in 2nd and Alex Bowman in 3rd. Both Blaney and Bowman chose the inside lane on the upcoming restart, setting William Byron up to lead the outside lane in 2nd.[18]
On the lap 218 restart, Kyle Larson jumped out to another lead, bringing Ryan Blaney with him on the inside lane while William Byron and Matt DiBenedetto in the outside lane struggled to get a good jump. However, shortly after on lap 219, Chase Elliott’s engine expired while running 14th, exiting turn 4 and bringing out a caution on lap 220, ending Elliott’s day. Bubba Wallace received the free pass.[19] The leaders used the caution to pit on lap 221. This time, Ryan Blaney won the race off pit road ahead of Kyle Larson in 2nd and Alex Bowman in 3rd.[20] Kyle Busch, who initially exited pit road 4th, was penalized for speeding on pit exit. Twenty-one drivers waived their ability to pit and took the wave around. Cole Custer, Kevin Harvick, Ross Chastain, Michael McDowell, and Aric Almirola were the only ones among them able to get back onto the lead lap.[21] Ryan Blaney chose the inside lane to lead the restart while Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, and William Byron also rolled on the inside behind Blaney. Denny Hamlin elected to take Blaney’s outside to restart in 2nd in front of Matt DiBenedetto and Ryan Newman. The final restart went green on lap 225 with one hundred one laps to go in the race. Blaney managed to hold off Larson and Hamlin on the restart, building a 0.25-second lead before Larson managed to get around Hamlin. With eighty-nine laps to go (lap 237), Ryan Blaney willingly ceded the lead to a hard-charging Kyle Larson, allowing Larson to get close enough to dislodge a piece of debris from Blaney’s grill that had been causing his engine to overheat. Blaney managed to get the debris off, but at the expense of Kyle Larson recapturing his lead and continuing his dominant day.[22] Martin Truex Jr. kicked off the final cycle of green-flag pit stops on lap 267 with fifty-nine laps to go. Kyle Larson pitted from the lead shortly after on lap 269 along with Ryan Blaney in 2nd, who was 0.90 seconds behind Larson. Larson kept the lead on pit road and cycled to 2.25 seconds ahead of Ryan Blaney on lap 270. On the next lap, Anthony Alfredo, who was a lap down in 21st, spun fully around his box while pitting, almost hitting Aric Almirola’s pit crew during the No. 10 team’s pit stop, who were in 4th as they ran the last cycle long. No cars were damaged.[23] By lap 290, with thirty-six laps to go, Kyle Larson had extended his lead over Ryan Blaney to 3.1 seconds. However, by lap 296, Blaney had shrunken Larson’s gap to only 2.1 seconds with thirty laps to go and continued to close in. Blaney’s progress accelerated even more within the last twenty laps as Kyle Larson struggled to lap Ryan Blaney’s Penske Racing teammate, Joey Logano, who was running in 15th. With thirteen laps to go, Ryan Blaney was less than 0.85 seconds behind as Kyle Larson still couldn’t find speed and remained five to six car lengths behind Logano. On lap 316 with ten to go, Larson was hindered even more as he lost time navigating behind the lapped cars of Joey Gase and Timmy Hill, who were both running 35th and 36th. Blaney trailed Larson by just 0.45 seconds before reeling him in with nine laps to go. Coming to the line with eight laps remaining (lap 318), Blaney powered underneath Larson on the tri-oval to take the lead. With six laps left, Corey LaJoie — running 29th — hit the wall entering Turn 1 but managed to bring his car down pit road without drawing a caution. Larson struggled to regain momentum, falling 0.97 seconds behind Blaney on worn tires, especially after getting held up by Blaney’s Penske teammate Brad Keselowski, who was 28th and several laps down.[24] Ryan Blaney took the white flag and held off Kyle Larson by 2.083 seconds to capture the win. Despite leading a race-high 269 laps, Larson had to settle for 2nd, while Blaney secured his fifth career win after leading just 25 laps.[25]

Stage One
Laps: 105

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10
2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 9
3 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 8
4 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 7
5 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 6
6 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 5
7 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 4
8 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3
9 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 2
10 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1
Official stage one results

Stage Two
Laps: 105

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10
2 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 9
3 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 8
4 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 7
5 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6
6 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 5
7 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4
8 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 3
9 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2
10 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

[edit]

Stage Three
Laps: 115

Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 10 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 325 57
2 6 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 325 55
3 14 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 325 47
4 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 325 41
5 19 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 325 48
6 13 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 325 35
7 17 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 325 35
8 9 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 325 36
9 2 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 325 32
10 7 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 325 27
11 20 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 325 31
12 12 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 325 25
13 28 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 325 24
14 21 42 Ross Chastain Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 325 23
15 3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 324 22
16 15 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 324 21
17 25 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 324 21
18 27 41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 324 19
19 18 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 324 18
20 16 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 324 17
21 8 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 323 16
22 39 33 Austin Cindric (i) Team Penske Ford 323 0
23 24 14 Chase Briscoe (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 323 14
24 22 43 Erik Jones Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 323 13
25 23 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 323 12
26 29 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 323 11
27 32 38 Anthony Alfredo (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 322 10
28 4 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 321 9
29 30 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 319 8
30 26 77 Justin Haley (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 319 0
31 33 51 Cody Ware (i) Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 316 0
32 34 15 James Davison Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 316 5
33 35 00 Quin Houff StarCom Racing Chevrolet 314 4
34 31 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Ford 313 0
35 36 53 Joey Gase Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 308 2
36 38 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Ford 305 0
37 37 52 Josh Bilicki Rick Ware Racing Ford 285 1
38 5 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 220 4
39 11 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 113 8
Official race results
  • Lead changes: 11 among 6 different drivers
  • Cautions/Laps: 5 for 25
  • Red flags: 0
  • Time of race: 3 hours, 27 minutes and 41 seconds
  • Average speed: 144.595 miles per hour (232.703 km/h)

The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was carried by Fox in the United States. Mike Joy, five-time Atlanta winner Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer called the race from the broadcast booth. Jamie Little and Regan Smith handled pit road for the television side. Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

The race was broadcast on radio by the Performance Racing Network and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race from the booth when the field raced down the front stretch. Rob Albright called the race from atop a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2 & Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. On pit road, PRN was manned by Brad Gillie, Doug Turnbull and Wendy Venturini.

PRN
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Doug Rice
Announcer: Mark Garrow		 Turns 1 & 2: Rob Albright
Turns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson		 Brad Gillie
Doug Turnbull
Wendy Venturini

Standings after the race

[edit]

  1. ^ “2021 schedule”. Jayski.com. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  2. ^ “Atlanta Motor Speedway”. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on February 19, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  3. ^ “Entry List” (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. March 16, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  4. ^ a b “Starting Lineup”. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. March 17, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  5. ^ “Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Results”. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. March 21, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  6. ^ “Points standings” (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski’s Silly Season Site. March 21, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  7. ^ “Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 ratings”. ShowBuzzDaily. Mitch Metcalf. Archived from the original on March 23, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  8. ^ Utter, Jim (March 21, 2021). “Blaney snatches lead from Larson to win Atlanta NASCAR Cup race”. Autosport. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  9. ^ Template:Cite AV media online
  10. ^ Reardon, Logan (March 22, 2021). “Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta”. Frontstretch. Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  11. ^ Template:Cite AV media online
  12. ^ Reardon, Logan (March 22, 2021). “Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta”. Frontstretch. Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  13. ^ Template:Cite AV media online
  14. ^ Template:Cite AV media online
  15. ^ Template:Cite AV media online
  16. ^ Template:Cite AV media online
  17. ^ Template:Cite AV media online
  18. ^ Template:Cite AV media online
  19. ^ Template:Cite AV media online
  20. ^ Template:Cite AV media online
  21. ^ Template:Cite AV media online
  22. ^ Template:Cite AV media online
  23. ^ Template:Cite AV media online
  24. ^ Template:Cite AV media online
  25. ^ Reardon, Logan (March 22, 2021). “Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta”. Frontstretch. Retrieved October 19, 2025.

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