2021 Pennzoil 400 Explained

Type:	CUST
Description:	Race 4 of 36 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series
Race Name:	Pennzoil 400
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6]
Year:	2021
Location:	Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas
Course Mi:	1.5
Course Km:	2.4
Distance Laps:	267
Distance Mi:	400.5
Distance Km:	640.8
Avg:	139.615mph
Pole Driver:	Kevin Harvick
Pole Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing
Grid From Prev Perf:	yes
Most Driver:	Kyle Larson
Most Team:	Hendrick Motorsports
Most Laps:	103
Car:	5
First Driver:	Kyle Larson
First Team:	Hendrick Motorsports
Network:	Fox
Announcers:	Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer
Ratings:	4.358 million^[7]
Radio:	PRN
Booth Ann:	Doug Rice and Mark Garrow
Turn Ann:	Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

The 2021 Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on March 7, 2021 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5miles asphalt intermediate speedway, it was the fourth race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada outside the Las Vegas city limits and about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a 1200acres complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Entry list

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

	Driver	Team	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	Cody Ware (i)		Chevrolet
52			Ford
53	Garrett Smithley (i)		Chevrolet
66	Timmy Hill (i)		Toyota
77	Justin Haley (i)		Chevrolet
78	B. J. McLeod (i)		Ford
99			Chevrolet
Official entry list

Qualifying

Kevin Harvick was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.

Starting Lineup

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

Race

Kyle Larson won the race for Hendrick Motorsports, driving the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. It was his first win since he was sacked by Chip Ganassi Racing in 2020 after he said a racial slur. He also won stage two. Brad Keselowski finished second after winning stage one. Kyle Busch finished third after he passed Denny Hamlin, who was followed by Ryan Blaney.^[8]

Stage Results

Stage OneLaps: 80

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	10
2	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	9
3	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	7
5	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	6
6	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	4
8	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	3
9	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	2
10	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 80

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	10
2	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	9
3	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	8
4	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	7
5	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	6
6	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	5
7	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	4
8	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	3
9	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	2
10	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage ThreeLaps: 107

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	3	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	50
2	10	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	267	54
3	14	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	36
4	6	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	48
5	26	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	267	46
6	4	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	35
7	16	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	39
8	2	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	40
9	15	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	267	30
10	29	43	Erik Jones	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	27
11	17	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	267	26
12	12	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	267	25
13	8	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	34
14	18	17	Chris Buescher	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	267	23
15	19	37	Ryan Preece	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	266	22
16	30	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	266	24
17	5	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	266	20
18	13	6	Ryan Newman	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	266	19
19	7	1	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	266	18
20	1	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	266	17
21	24	14	Chase Briscoe (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	266	16
22	11	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	266	15
23	21	42	Ross Chastain	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	266	14
24	27	38	Anthony Alfredo (R)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	266	13
25	20	41	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	266	12
26	22	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	265	11
27	9	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	265	21
28	23	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	262	9
29	25	77	Justin Haley (i)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	262	0
30	34	78	B. J. McLeod (i)	Live Fast Motorsports	Ford	260	0
31	31	53	Garrett Smithley (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	259	0
32	32	51	Cody Ware (i)	Petty Ware Racing	Chevrolet	259	0
33	36	00	Quin Houff	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	256	4
34	37	15	Joey Gase	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	255	3
35	35	52	Josh Bilicki	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	252	2
36	38	66	Timmy Hill (i)	MBM Motorsports	Toyota	246	0
37	33	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	1
38	28	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	178	1
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 27 among 12 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 6 for 30
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 2 hours, 52 minutes and 7 seconds
• Average speed: 139.615mph

Media

Television

Fox Sports covered their 21st race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mike Joy, 2001 race 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.

Radio

PRN covered the radio call for the race which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race in the booth where the field raced through the tri-oval. Rob Albright called the race from a billboard in turn 2 where the field raced through turns 1 and 2. Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 where the field raced through turns 3 and 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan and Wendy Venturini worked pit road for the radio side.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Denny Hamlin	187
8	2	Brad Keselowski	149 (–38)
5	3	Kyle Larson	147 (–40)
1	4	Chase Elliott	139 (–48)
2	5	Christopher Bell	138 (–49)
3	6	Joey Logano	138 (–49)
5	7	Kevin Harvick	136 (–51)
1	8	Martin Truex Jr.	131 (–56)
5	9	Michael McDowell	126 (–61)
4	10	Kurt Busch	122 (–65)
2	11	William Byron	116 (–71)
1	12	Austin Dillon	115 (–72)
1	13	Ryan Preece	112 (–75)
4	14	Kyle Busch	98 (–89)
9	15	Ryan Blaney	91 (–96)
1	16	Chris Buescher	90 (–97)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Chevrolet	148
	2	Ford	142 (–6)
	3	Toyota	140 (–8)

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2021 schedule . Jayski.com. . January 25, 2021.
2. Web site: Las Vegas Motor Speedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. January 25, 2021. April 28, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170428042515/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/las-vegas-motor-speedway.html. dead.
3. Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. March 1, 2021. March 1, 2021.
4. Web site: Starting Lineup. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. March 3, 2021. March 3, 2021.
5. Web site: Pennzoil 400 Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. March 7, 2021. March 7, 2021.
6. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. March 7, 2021. March 7, 2021.
7. Web site: Pennzoil 400 ratings. https://web.archive.org/web/20210309183043/http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/skedball-weekly-sports-tv-ratings-3-1-3-7-2021.html. dead. 9 March 2021. ShowBuzzDaily. Mitch Metcalf. 9 March 2021.
8. News: Larson secures first NASCAR Cup win since return in Las Vegas . . Utter . Jim . 8 March 2021 . 8 March 2021 . limited.