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 asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway, it was the sixth race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. Ryan Blaney won the race, driving a Ford. Kyle Larson led for 269 laps, but Blaney overtook him 8 laps from the end because Larson's tires were wearing out.
Report
Background
Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a track in Hampton, Georgia, south of Atlanta. It is a quad-oval track with a seating capacity of 111,000. It opened in 1960 as a 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 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.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
Driver Team Manufacturer 00 Quin Houff StarCom Racing Chevrolet 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 14 Chase Briscoe (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15 James Davison Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 33 Austin Cindric (i) Team Penske Ford 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 Anthony Alfredo (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 42 Ross Chastain Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Erik Jones Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Cody Ware (i) Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 52 Josh Bilicki Rick Ware Racing Ford 53 Joey Gase Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Ford 77 Justin Haley (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Ford 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team ChevroletOfficial entry list
Qualifying Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.
Starting Lineup Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 4 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 5 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 7 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 8 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 9 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 11 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 12 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 13 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 14 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 15 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 16 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 17 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 19 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 21 42 Ross Chastain Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 22 43 Erik Jones Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 23 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 24 14 Chase Briscoe (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 25 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 26 77 Justin Haley (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 27 41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 28 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 31 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Ford 32 38 Anthony Alfredo (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 33 51 Cody Ware (i) Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 34 15 James Davison Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 35 00 Quin Houff StarCom Racing Chevrolet 36 53 Joey Gase Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 37 52 Josh Bilicki Rick Ware Racing Ford 38 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Ford 39 33 Austin Cindric (i) Team Penske FordOfficial starting lineup
Race Stage 1 The green flag was waved at 2:19 PM ET, with pole sitter Denny Hamlin jumping to an early lead, along 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. Denny Hamlin would lead all 26 laps up until the competition caution waved on lap 26. 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. 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. He was able to lap up to 20th place but could not pass 19th-place Daniel Suárez before Stage 1 concluded on lap 105.
Stage 2 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. Ross Chastain was penalized because of an uncontrolled tire.
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. Michael McDowell, who was running 21st before Kurt Busch wrecked, received the free pass.
On the ensuing restart on lap 119, 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.
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.
Final stage
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.
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 struggled to get a good jump on the outside lane. 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.
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. Kyle Busch, who initially exited pit road 4th, was penalized for speeding on pit exit. 21 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.
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 100 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 89 laps to go (lap 237), Ryan Blaney ceded the lead to a hard-charging Kyle Larson, so he could tuck in behind Larson's car and use the airflow to dislodge debris from his grill that was causing his engine to run hot. Blaney managed to get the debris off, but at the expense of Kyle Larson recapturing his lead, and extending it to continue his dominant day.
Martin Truex Jr. kicked off the final cycle of green-flag pit stops on lap 267 with 59 to go. On lap 268, Daniel Suárez was penalized for speeding on pit-exit. 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.
By lap 290, with 36 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 30 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 13 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 10 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 9 laps to go. Coming to the line with 8 laps remaining (lap 318), Blaney powered underneath Larson on the tri-oval to take the lead.
With 6 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.