The 2021 Goodyear 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race was held on May 9, 2021, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 293 laps on the egg-shaped oval, it was the 12th race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, and the 65th running of the race.

Report Background

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.

Events leading up to the race When the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series schedule was announced on September 30, 2020, a second race at Darlington was added for May 9, 2021, marking the first time since 2004 that the track had two races on the schedule (the 2020 season, changed by the pandemic, had three races).

On December 11, 2020, Darlington Raceway announced its highly popular NASCAR Throwback weekend would move to the new May 7–9 weekend, effectively making a lineal swap of the two race meetings at the track. On April 14, 2021, longtime NASCAR tire provider Goodyear announced a race sponsorship deal to call the race the Goodyear 400.

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

Driver Team Manufacturer Sponsor or Throwback 00 Quin Houff StarCom Racing Chevrolet Bos Klein/RCA – John Andretti's No. 98 paint scheme from 1997. 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Monster Energy 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford Freightliner Trucks 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops – NASCAR Hall of Famer Fireball Roberts' Pontiac paint scheme from 1959. 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mobil 1 – Harvick's No. 29 GM Goodwrench paint scheme from his Cup debut at Rockingham following the death of Dale Earnhardt in 2001. 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet HendrickCars.com – Scheme paying homage to Larson's first race car. 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford Kohler – Scheme paying homage to Kohler Generators' 1976 SCCA Runoffs win. 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Valvoline – Alan Kulwicki's Zerex Antifreeze paint scheme from 1989. Spire Motorsports has alliance with Hendrick Motorsports, which is currently sponsored by Valvoline. The Valvoline division of Ashland, Inc. acquired Zerex from BASF in 1994, and the entire Valvoline division was spun off in 2017 to its own separate company. 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Joe Nichols/Quartz Hill Records – Scheme paying homage to Grammy Award winning singer and NASCAR driver Marty Robbins. 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Hooters – Team manager Brian Whitesell's first NASCAR Cup Series Championship, as a mechanic on the 1992 Championship team whose No. 7 paint scheme is used. Whitesell was a part-time mechanic on the team of Alan Kulwicki. 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Smithfield Foods/Winn-Dixie – Mark Martin's No. 60 paint scheme from the 2000 NASCAR Busch Series Texas race that was not televised after rain delays and a request by MTV Networks management. 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Sport Clips – Slick Johnson's No. 18 Seamless Machine paint scheme from 1983. 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford Advance Auto Parts – Scheme paying homage to Blaney's 2010 PASS Series Late Model car. 14 Chase Briscoe (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford HighPoint.com - A. J. Foyt's Copenhagen paint scheme from 1986. 15 James Davison Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet Strategic Wealth Partners/Smart Sanitizer – Dick Johnson's No. 38 Redkote paint scheme from 1989 (Davison and Johnson are Australians). 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fifth Third Bank 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota M&M's – 80th anniversary. 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Auto-Owners Insurance matte black (a reference to matte black cars Truex drove for Furniture Row Racing). 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Rheem 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford Menards/Dutch Boy Paint (Alternate sponsor Motorcraft was not scheduled to be the primary sponsor on the car for this weekend; announced on May 28 the team will run the throwback scheme from the 2001 season where Elliott Sadler won the Food City 500 at Bristol during the September race.) 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford Shell – Scheme paying homage to Mario Andretti's first F1 win at Kyalami, South Africa (Shell also sponsors Scuderia Ferrari in F1). 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota Root, Inc. – Scheme paying homage to NASCAR Hall of Famer Wendell Scott. 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Valvoline – Neil Bonnett's No. 75 paint scheme from 1987. 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford FR8 Auctions – Bill Elliott's No. 9 Coors paint scheme that won the 1985 Daytona 500. 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Velveeta – Crew chief Trent Owens' No. 15 Dickies paint scheme from the 2002 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. 38 Anthony Alfredo (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford We Care/Fr8Auctions – Alan Kulwicki's No. 38 Hardee's paint scheme from 1985. 41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford HaasTooling.com – Special Mother's Day paint scheme honoring Margaret Haas, mother of team owner Gene Haas. 42 Ross Chastain Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet McDonald's – Hut Stricklin's No. 27 paint scheme from 1993. 43 Erik Jones Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet STP – Scheme paying tribute to John Andretti's 1999 Goody's Body Pain 500 at Martinsville race-winning car. It was the last win for Petty Enterprises. 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Kroger/Tide – Ricky Craven's No. 32 Tide paint scheme from 2001 to 2004. Among the races won includes this race in 2003. 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Ally – Scheme paying homage to crew chief Greg Ives' Super Late Model car. 51 Cody Ware (i) Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet Nurtec ODT – based on Darrell Waltrip Motorsports' No. 17 Exxon Superflo paint scheme used in Xfinity Series races. 52 Josh Bilicki Rick Ware Racing Ford Insurance King – Lennie Pond's No. 54 Burger King paint scheme from 1979. 53 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford FatBoy Ice Cream/Tunnel to Towers Foundation 77 Justin Haley (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Fraternal Order of Eagles – Robert Pressley's Jasper paint scheme from 1999. 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Ford Keen Parts/Corvetteparts.net – Scheme paying homage to NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Weatherly's last win at Darlington in 1963. 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet Camping World – 55th anniversary.Official entry list

Qualifying Brad Keselowski was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.

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

Race

Stage Results

Stage One Laps: 90

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 102 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 93 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 84 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 75 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 66 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 57 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 48 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 210 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1Official stage one results

Stage Two Laps: 95

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 102 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 93 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 84 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 75 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 66 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 57 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 48 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 39 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 210 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 1Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage Three Laps: 108