The 2021 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on October 17, 2021, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 334 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) intermediate quad-oval, it was the 33rd race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, the seventh race of the Playoffs, and first race of the Round of 8.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 33 of 36 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | October 17, 2021 | ||
| Location | Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.4 km) | ||
| Distance | 334 laps, 501 mi (801.6 km) | ||
| Average speed | 134.859 miles per hour (217.035 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Grid positions set by competition-based formula | |||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 257 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | NBC | ||
| Announcers | Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | PRN | ||
| Booth Announcers | Doug Rice and Mark Garrow | ||
| Turn Announcers | Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4) | ||
Report
editBackground
edit
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track measures 1.5 miles (2.4 km) around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway (formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedway, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.
Entry list
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
Qualifying
editKyle Larson was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.[4]
Starting Lineup
editRace
editKyle Larson was the pole sitter for the race. 30 laps into the race, a crash occurred off turn 2 taking out a number of competitors. Kyle Busch won Stage 1 and Larson won Stage 2. Multiple playoff drivers suffered issues late in the race, with Joey Logano blowing an engine and Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. involved in wrecks. Larson would lead 257 of the 334 laps to win his eighth race of the season and be the first to advance into the Championship 4.
Stage Results
editStage One Laps: 105
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 14 | Chase Briscoe (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage one results | |||||
Stage Two Laps: 105
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 14 | Chase Briscoe (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 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
editStage Three Laps: 124
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 334 | 52 |
| 2 | 12 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 334 | 50 |
| 3 | 11 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 334 | 34 |
| 4 | 7 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 334 | 40 |
| 5 | 24 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 334 | 39 |
| 6 | 4 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 334 | 48 |
| 7 | 6 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 334 | 33 |
| 8 | 3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 334 | 40 |
| 9 | 9 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 334 | 32 |
| 10 | 19 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 334 | 27 |
| 11 | 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 334 | 34 |
| 12 | 21 | 43 | Erik Jones | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 334 | 25 |
| 13 | 13 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 334 | 24 |
| 14 | 15 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 334 | 23 |
| 15 | 26 | 14 | Chase Briscoe (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 334 | 30 |
| 16 | 17 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 332 | 33 |
| 17 | 16 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 332 | 20 |
| 18 | 22 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 331 | 19 |
| 19 | 20 | 41 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 330 | 18 |
| 20 | 29 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 329 | 17 |
| 21 | 10 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 327 | 16 |
| 22 | 35 | 78 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Live Fast Motorsports | Ford | 324 | 0 |
| 23 | 38 | 66 | David Starr (i) | MBM Motorsports | Ford | 323 | 0 |
| 24 | 36 | 15 | Garrett Smithley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 321 | 0 |
| 25 | 8 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 320 | 12 |
| 26 | 33 | 52 | Josh Bilicki (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 319 | 0 |
| 27 | 39 | 13 | Timmy Hill (i) | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 317 | 0 |
| 28 | 25 | 42 | Ross Chastain | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 311 | 9 |
| 29 | 28 | 38 | Anthony Alfredo (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 299 | 8 |
| 30 | 5 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 298 | 25 |
| 31 | 30 | 00 | Quin Houff | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 59 | 6 |
| 32 | 18 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 38 | 5 |
| 33 | 14 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 36 | 4 |
| 34 | 27 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 31 | 3 |
| 35 | 31 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 31 | 2 |
| 36 | 23 | 37 | Ryan Preece | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 30 | 1 |
| 37 | 32 | 77 | Justin Haley (i) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 30 | 0 |
| 38 | 34 | 51 | Cody Ware (i) | Petty Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 30 | 0 |
| 39 | 37 | 53 | Joey Gase (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 29 | 0 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
edit- Lead changes: 8 among 5 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 11 for 55
- Red flags: 1 for 11 minutes and 9 seconds
- Time of race: 3 hours, 42 minutes and 54 seconds
- Average speed: 134.859 miles per hour (217.035 km/h)
Media
editTelevision
editNBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Two–time Texas winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and 2000 Texas winner 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.
| NBC | |
|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte Color-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Parker Kligerman Marty Snider Kelli Stavast |
Radio
editPRN covered their final 2021 broadcast, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice & Mark Garrow covered the action for PRN when the field raced down the front straightaway. Nick Yeoman covered the action for PRN from a platform outside of Turns 1 & 2, & Pat Patterson covered the action from a platform outside of Turns 3 & 4 for PRN. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan and Heather DeBeaux had the call from pit lane for PRN.
| PRN | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Doug Rice Announcer: Mark Garrow |
Turns 1 & 2: Nick Yeoman Turns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson |
Brad Gillie Brett McMillan Heather DeBeaux |
Standings after the race
edit
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References
edit- ^ "2021 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
- ^ "Texas Motor Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
- ^ "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 11, 2021. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
- ^ a b "Starting Lineup". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. October 13, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
- ^ "Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. October 17, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
- ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 17, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.