2021 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race explained

Type:	CUST
Description:	Race 29 of 36 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series
Race Name:	Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6]
Year:	2021
Location:	Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee
Course Mi:	.533
Course Km:	.858
Distance Laps:	500
Distance Mi:	266.5
Distance Km:	429
Avg:	87.409mph
Pole Driver:	Martin Truex Jr.
Pole Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Grid From Prev Perf:	yes
Most Driver:	Kyle Larson
Most Team:	Hendrick Motorsports
Most Laps:	175
Car:	5
First Driver:	Kyle Larson
First Team:	Hendrick Motorsports
Network:	NBCSN
Announcers:	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Radio:	PRN
Booth Ann:	Doug Rice and Mark Garrow
Turn Ann:	Rob Albright (Backstretch)

The 2021 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 18, 2021 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 500 laps on the 0.533miles short track, it was the 29th race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, third race of the Playoffs and final race of the Round of 16.

The race was won by Kyle Larson. Tyler Reddick, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Michael McDowell were eliminated from the round of 16.

Report

Background

The Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks.

Entry list

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

	Driver	Manufacturer
00		Chevrolet
1		Chevrolet
2		Ford
3		Chevrolet
4		Ford
5		Chevrolet
6		Ford
7		Chevrolet
8		Chevrolet
9		Chevrolet
10		Ford
11		Toyota
12		Ford
14	Chase Briscoe (R)	Ford
15		Chevrolet
17		Ford
18		Toyota
19		Toyota
20		Toyota
21		Ford
22		Ford
23		Toyota
24		Chevrolet
34		Ford
37		Chevrolet
38	Anthony Alfredo (R)	Ford
41		Ford
42		Chevrolet
43		Chevrolet
47		Chevrolet
48		Chevrolet
51	J. J. Yeley (i)	Chevrolet
52		Ford
53	Garrett Smithley (i)	Chevrolet
66	David Starr (i)	Toyota
77	Justin Haley (i)	Chevrolet
78	B. J. McLeod (i)	Ford
99		Chevrolet
Official entry list

Qualifying

Martin Truex Jr. was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.^[4]

Starting Lineup

Pos		Driver	Manufacturer
1	19		Toyota
2	11		Toyota
3	22		Ford
4	9		Chevrolet
5	5		Chevrolet
6	20		Toyota
7	12		Ford
8	4		Ford
9	18		Toyota
10	2		Ford
11	48		Chevrolet
12	10		Ford
13	8		Chevrolet
14	24		Chevrolet
15	1		Chevrolet
16	34		Ford
17	42		Chevrolet
18	3		Chevrolet
19	21		Ford
20	14	Chase Briscoe (R)	Ford
21	99		Chevrolet
22	43		Chevrolet
23	47		Chevrolet
24	6		Ford
25	17		Ford
26	41		Ford
27	37		Chevrolet
28	23		Toyota
29	77	Justin Haley (i)	Chevrolet
30	38	Anthony Alfredo (R)	Ford
31	7		Chevrolet
32	78	B. J. McLeod (i)	Ford
33	52		Ford
34	00		Chevrolet
35	51	J. J. Yeley (i)	Chevrolet
36	53	Garrett Smithley (i)	Chevrolet
37	15		Chevrolet
38	66	David Starr (i)	Toyota
Official starting lineup

Race

Martin Truex Jr. earned the pole position for the start of the race, where he led the first five laps. Denny Hamlin won stage one after passing Kyle Larson on lap 90. A red flag occurred for nearly eight minutes following a turn 4 incident that involved four vehicles on lap 221. Larson led at the end of stage two. On lap 464, Chase Elliott was forced to pit from the lead when he had a flat tire from damage he received when Kevin Harvick got into his rear quarter panel. When back on the track, Elliott attempted to retaliate by getting into the side of then race leader Harvick and then running Harvick's preferred line, thus slowing him down. Larson was able to pass Harvick on lap 497, and secure his 12th overall Cup Series win. Following the race, Harvick and Elliott bumped cars on pit road and confronted each other when they eventually parked. Harvick said, "I just told him it was kind of a chicken shit move that he did there at the end you know. We're racing for the freaking win at Bristol. We're three-wide in the middle and he throws a temper tantrum like I was just trying to get the lead and racing hard, then he pulls up infront of me, and just sits there until I lose the whole lead." He ended by saying "God Damn. I'm about to rip somebody's freaking head off." Elliott said, "It's something [Harvick] does all the time. He runs into your left side constantly at other tracks and sometimes it does cut down your left side (tires), other times it doesn't." The argument continued for several minutes continuing inside Elliott's hauler. Michael McDowell, Kurt Busch, Tyler Reddick, and Aric Almirola were eliminated from the Playoffs.

Stage Results

Stage OneLaps: 125

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	10
2	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	9
3	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	8
4	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	7
5	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	6
6	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	5
7	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	4
8	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	3
9	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	2
10	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 125

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	10
2	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	7
5	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	6
6	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	5
7	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	4
8	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	3
9	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	2
10	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage ThreeLaps: 250

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	5	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	500	59
2	8	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	500	45
3	14	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	500	42
4	7	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	500	43
5	11	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	500	32
6	10	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	500	46
7	1	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	500	32
8	22	43	Erik Jones	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	500	29
9	2	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	500	47
10	19	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	500	27
11	3	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	500	26
12	13	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	500	27
13	20	14	Chase Briscoe (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	500	24
14	17	42	Ross Chastain	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	500	23
15	18	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	500	22
16	28	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	500	21
17	27	37	Ryan Preece	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	500	20
18	12	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	500	19
19	15	1	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	500	18
20	23	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	499	17
21	9	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	499	21
22	21	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	498	15
23	25	17	Chris Buescher	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	498	14
24	16	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	498	13
25	4	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	497	26
26	31	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	497	11
27	35	51	J. J. Yeley (i)	Petty Ware Racing	Chevrolet	495	0
28	26	41	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	494	9
29	6	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	493	14
30	36	53	Garrett Smithley (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	487	0
31	33	52	Josh Bilicki	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	482	6
32	38	66	David Starr (i)	MBM Motorsports	Toyota	482	0
33	37	15	James Davison	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	474	4
34	34	00	Quin Houff	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	375	3
35	30	38	Anthony Alfredo (R)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	313	2
36	29	77	Justin Haley (i)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	216	0
37	32	78	B. J. McLeod (i)	Live Fast Motorsports	Ford	215	0
38	24	6	Ryan Newman	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	177	1
Official race results

Race statistics

Lead changes: 23 among 7 different drivers
Cautions/Laps: 8 for 71
Red flags: 1 for 7 minutes and 53 seconds
Time of race: 3 hours, 2 minutes and 56 seconds
Average speed: 87.409mph

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, 2008 Food City 500 winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Dillon Welch handled the pit road duties from pit lane. Rutledge Wood handled the features from the track.

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race from the booth when the field races down the frontstretch. Rob Albright called the race when the field races down the backstretch. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, Alan Cavanna, and Wendy Venturini handled the duties on pit lane.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Kyle Larson	3,059
1	2	Martin Truex Jr.	3,029 (–30)
1	3	Denny Hamlin	3,024 (–35)
1	4	Ryan Blaney	3,024 (–35)
5	5	Kyle Busch	3,022 (–37)
1	6	Chase Elliott	3,021 (–38)
6	7	Alex Bowman	3,015 (–44)
7	8	William Byron	3,014 (–45)
5	9	Joey Logano	3,013 (–46)
1	10	Brad Keselowski	3,008 (–51)
3	11	Christopher Bell	3,005 (–54)
6	12	Kevin Harvick	3,002 (–57)
2	13	Aric Almirola	2,075 (–984)
	14	Tyler Reddick	2,075 (–984)
3	15	Kurt Busch	2,071 (–988)
	16	Michael McDowell	2,028 (–1,031)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

Pos	Manufacturer	Points
1	Chevrolet	1,068
2	Ford	1,001 (–67)
3	Toyota	990 (–78)

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

Notes and References

Web site: 2021 schedule . Jayski.com. . August 22, 2021.
Web site: Bristol Motor Speedway . NASCAR.com . NASCAR Media Group, LLC. . August 22, 2021 . April 28, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170428170112/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/bristol-motor-speedway.html . dead .
Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 13, 2021. September 13, 2021.
Web site: Starting Lineup. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. September 15, 2021. September 15, 2021.
Web site: Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. September 18, 2021. September 18, 2021.
Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 18, 2021. September 18, 2021.