The 2021 Buschy McBusch Race 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race was held on May 2, 2021, at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. Contested over 267 laps, on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) asphalt speedway, it was the 11th race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 11 of 36 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | May 2, 2021 | ||
| Location | Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.4 km) | ||
| Distance | 267 laps, 400.5 mi (644.542 km) | ||
| Average speed | 129.647 miles per hour (208.647 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Team Penske | ||
| Grid positions set by competition-based formula | |||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 132 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | FS1 | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
| Booth Announcers | Alex Hayden and Jeff Striegle | ||
| Turn Announcers | Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Mike Bagley (3 & 4) | ||
Report
editBackground
edit
Kansas Speedway is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) tri-oval race track in Kansas City, Kansas. It was built in 2001 and hosts two annual NASCAR race weekends. The NTT IndyCar Series also raced there until 2011. The speedway is owned and operated by the International Speedway Corporation.
Sponsor
editAnheuser-Busch on their @BuschBeer twitter account asked fans to vote on the title sponsor name for the race. The options were between "The Busch Latte 400", "Nectar of the Cobs 400", "For the Farmers 400", and "Buschy McBusch Race 400" with the last one ultimately winning the fan vote.[7]
Entry list
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
Qualifying
editBrad Keselowski was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.[4]
Starting Lineup
editRace
editBrad Keselowski was awarded the pole. Kyle Busch won the first stage while Kyle Larson won the second stage. Larson dominated the race, but was passed for the lead by Denny Hamlin. Hamlin got into the wall while battling Larson and then got into the wall again after a flat tire. On the restart, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun after contact with Austin Cindric. On the following restart, Christopher Bell spun and collected Stenhouse and Ryan Preece. In a two lap shootout, Larson got into Ryan Blaney and both fell back as Kyle Busch held off Kevin Harvick to win on his 36th birthday. NASCAR officials were criticized for their handling of an uncontrolled tire by Tyler Reddick's pit crew. They waited several laps until all the cars had pitted, then belatedly threw a caution, despite the tire presenting little apparent danger. This action disadvantaged several of the drivers.
Stage Results
editStage One Laps: 80
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1 |
| Official stage one results | |||||
Stage Two Laps: 80
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage two results | |||||
Final Stage Results
editStage Three Laps: 107
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 267 | 59 |
| 2 | 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 267 | 40 |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 267 | 48 |
| 4 | 5 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 267 | 33 |
| 5 | 17 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 267 | 43 |
| 6 | 15 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 267 | 35 |
| 7 | 11 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 267 | 41 |
| 8 | 16 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 267 | 29 |
| 9 | 2 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 267 | 34 |
| 10 | 6 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 267 | 27 |
| 11 | 21 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 267 | 26 |
| 12 | 20 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 267 | 35 |
| 13 | 3 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 267 | 24 |
| 14 | 24 | 42 | Ross Chastain | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 267 | 23 |
| 15 | 28 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 267 | 22 |
| 16 | 14 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 267 | 21 |
| 17 | 29 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 267 | 20 |
| 18 | 25 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 267 | 19 |
| 19 | 32 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 267 | 37 |
| 20 | 19 | 14 | Chase Briscoe (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 267 | 17 |
| 21 | 7 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 267 | 24 |
| 22 | 38 | 33 | Austin Cindric (i) | Team Penske | Ford | 267 | 0 |
| 23 | 22 | 38 | Anthony Alfredo (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 266 | 14 |
| 24 | 10 | 41 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 266 | 13 |
| 25 | 27 | 43 | Erik Jones | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 266 | 12 |
| 26 | 13 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 266 | 11 |
| 27 | 26 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 265 | 10 |
| 28 | 8 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 265 | 12 |
| 29 | 18 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 264 | 8 |
| 30 | 31 | 77 | Justin Haley (i) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 263 | 0 |
| 31 | 30 | 78 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Live Fast Motorsports | Ford | 260 | 0 |
| 32 | 12 | 37 | Ryan Preece | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 259 | 5 |
| 33 | 36 | 53 | Garrett Smithley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 259 | 0 |
| 34 | 23 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 258 | 3 |
| 35 | 35 | 15 | Joey Gase (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 258 | 0 |
| 36 | 33 | 51 | Cody Ware (i) | Petty Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 257 | 0 |
| 37 | 34 | 00 | Quin Houff | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 256 | 1 |
| 38 | 39 | 55 | Matt Mills (i) | B. J. McLeod Motorsports | Ford | 255 | 0 |
| 39 | 37 | 52 | Josh Bilicki | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 250 | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
edit- Lead changes: 18 among 6 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 7 for 36
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 3 hours, 5 minutes and 21 seconds
- Average speed: 129.647 miles per hour (208.647 km/h)
Media
editTelevision
editFox Sports covered their 10th race at the Kansas Speedway. Mike Joy, three-time Kansas 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.
| FS1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters | In-race analyst |
| Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy Color-commentator: Jeff Gordon Color-commentator: Clint Bowyer |
Jamie Little Regan Smith |
Larry McReynolds |
Radio
editMRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden and Jeff Striegle called the race in the booth when the field raced through the tri-oval. Dave Moody covered the race from the Sunoco spotters stand outside turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley called the race from a platform outside turn 4. Steve Post and Pete Pistone worked pit road for the radio side.
| MRN Radio | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Alex Hayden Announcer: Jeff Striegle |
Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody Turns 3 & 4: Mike Bagley |
Steve Post Pete Pistone |
Standings after the race
edit
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ "2021 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
- ^ "Kansas Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
- ^ "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
- ^ a b "Starting Lineup". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. April 28, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
- ^ "Buschy McBusch Race 400 Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. May 2, 2021. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
- ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 2, 2021. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
- ^ "Why Sunday's NASCAR Cup race at Kansas Speedway is called the 'Buschy McBusch Race 400'". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2023-07-12.