2021 NASCAR Cup Series

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series will be the 73rd season for NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 50th season for the modern era Cup Series. The season is due to start at the Daytona International Speedway with the Busch Clash non-points event. It will be the first year the race is run on the road course.[1] The race will be followed by the Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying races, and the 63rd running of the Daytona 500.

2021 NASCAR Cup Series
Previous: 2020 Next: 2022
Champions | Seasons

Teams and drivers

Chartered teams
Manufacturer Team No. Driver Crew chief
Chevrolet Chip Ganassi Racing 1 Kurt Busch[2] TBA
42 TBA TBA
Germain Racing 13 TBA TBA
Hendrick Motorsports 9 Chase Elliott[3] TBA
24 William Byron[4] TBA
48 TBA TBA
88 Alex Bowman[5] TBA
JTG Daugherty Racing 37 TBA TBA
47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.[4] TBA
Richard Childress Racing 3 Austin Dillon TBA
8 Tyler Reddick[6] TBA
Richard Petty Motorsports 43 TBA TBA
Spire Motorsports[7] 77 TBA TBA
TBA TBA TBA
StarCom Racing 00 Quin Houff[8] TBA
Ford Front Row Motorsports 34 TBA TBA
38 TBA TBA
Go Fas Racing 32 TBA TBA
Roush Fenway Racing 6 Ryan Newman[4] TBA
17 Chris Buescher[4] TBA
Stewart-Haas Racing 4 Kevin Harvick[9] Rodney Childers[10]
10 TBA TBA
14 TBA TBA
41 Cole Custer TBA
Team Penske 2 Brad Keselowski[11][12] TBA
12 Ryan Blaney[13] TBA
22 Joey Logano[14] TBA
Wood Brothers Racing 21 TBA TBA
Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing 11 Denny Hamlin[15] TBA
18 Kyle Busch[16] TBA
19 Martin Truex Jr.[17] TBA
20 Christopher Bell[18] TBA
TBA Petty Ware Racing[N 1] 51 TBA TBA
Rick Ware Racing 15 TBA TBA
27 TBA TBA
53 TBA TBA

Notes
  1. The No. 51 car is officially listed on paper as Petty Ware Racing because they have a long-term partnership with Richard Petty Motorsports to use one of the charters they own. However, RPM is not involved with operating or helping this team out at the races in any way.

Free agents
Driver 2020 team Notes
Aric Almirola No. 10, Stewart-Haas Racing Expected to return, although options depend on whether Smithfield will continue as Almirola's full-time sponsor after 2020.[19]
Clint Bowyer No. 14, Stewart-Haas Racing Has expressed interest in returning.[20]
Chase Briscoe No. 98, Stewart-Haas Racing (Xfinity Series) Under contract with Ford.[19]
Ross Chastain No. 77 Spire Motorsports w/ Chip Ganassi collab

No. 6 Roush Fenway substitute (Cup Series)

No. 10, Kaulig Racing (Xfinity Series)

 Considered a candidate for the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42.[19]
Austin Cindric No. 22, Team Penske
(Xfinity Series)		 Under contract with Ford.
Cole Custer No. 41, Stewart-Haas Racing Expected to return.[19]
Matt DiBenedetto No. 21, Wood Brothers Racing Expected to stay in the No. 21.[19]
Ty Dillon No. 13, Germain Racing Expected to return.
Joey Gase Numerous Rick Ware Racing cars and their affiliates Future with the team depends on sponsorship[19] and how many charters the team will have in 2021.
Erik Jones No. 20, Joe Gibbs Racing Will not return.[21][22]
Matt Kenseth No. 42, Chip Ganassi Racing Not expected to return.[19]
Corey LaJoie No. 32, Go FAS Racing Could return.[19]
Kyle Larson No. 42, Chip Ganassi Racing Fired from CGR and suspended by NASCAR in early 2020, suspension has not been lifted.[19]
Michael McDowell No. 34, Front Row Motorsports Could return.[19]
John Hunter Nemechek No. 38, Front Row Motorsports Could return.[19]
Brennan Poole No. 15, Premium Motorsports / Rick Ware Racing Future with the team depends on sponsorship[19] and how many charters the team will have in 2021.
Ryan Preece No. 37, JTG Daugherty Racing Could return.[19]
Daniel Suárez No. 96, Gaunt Brothers Racing Could return with maunfacturer support.[19]
Bubba Wallace No. 43, Richard Petty Motorsports Could return.
J. J. Yeley Numerous Rick Ware Racing cars and their affiliates Future with the team depends on sponsorship[19] and how many charters the team will have in 2021.

Changes

Teams
  • On July 23, 2020, it was reported that Leavine Family Racing owner Bob Leavine solicited bids for the team due to the financial fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.[23] On August 4, Leavine confirmed that his team has been sold and will cease operations at the end of the 2020 season.[24] On August 11, the team's charter was officially sold to Spire Motorsports.[7]
  • With its purchase of Leavine Family Racing's assets, Spire Motorsports will expand into a two-car operation in 2021.[25]

Drivers
  • On August 6, 2020, Erik Jones and Joe Gibbs Racing announced that they would mutually part ways at the end of the 2020 season.[21][22] This opened the door for Christopher Bell to take over the ride, and the official announcement of Bell being brought in-house at JGR to drive the No. 20 was made on August 10.[26]

Schedule

The 2021 Cup Series schedule was supposed to be released in the spring of 2020, but its release was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[27] The 2021 schedule has been expected to see a number of significant changes, in large part due to the fact that the five year contracts signed in 2015 with each track to host races from 2016 to 2020 will be ending. Some of the widely speculated changes to the schedule for 2021 include the addition of midweek races and doubleheaders, which would allow NASCAR to shorten the nine month long season.[28] NASCAR had scheduled their first ever doubleheader on the original 2020 schedule at Pocono, before COVID-19 resulted in Michigan and Dover gaining doubleheader weekends. NASCAR also had to schedule midweek races for the series for first time in the modern era as a result of the COVID-19 schedule changes.

No Race title Track Date
Busch Clash Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida February 9
Bluegreen Vacations Duel February 11
1 Daytona 500 February 14
2 Pennzoil 400 Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada February 21[29]
TBA Auto Club 400 Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, California March 7[30]
TBA Dixie Vodka 400 Homestead–Miami Speedway, Homestead, Florida March 21[31]
TBA Toyota Owners 400 Richmond Raceway, Richmond, Virginia April 18[32]
TBA GEICO 500 Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, Alabama April 26[33]
TBA Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway, Virginia May 8[34]
TBA TBA Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tennessee TBA[35]

It has already been announced that the Busch Clash will be moved from the Sunday before the Daytona 500 to the Tuesday before (on February 9), in an effort to condense Speedweeks down to one week. The race will also be moved from the oval to the infield road course for the first time. The Daytona 500 will be held on Sunday, February 14.[36] Phoenix Raceway will host Cup races on March 7 and November 7, the latter being the championship date.[37] Nashville Superspeedway will host a Cup race in 2021.[38]

References
  1. "Busch Clash moving to Daytona road course in 2021". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. March 4, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  2. "Kurt Busch signs multi-year extension to remain with Chip Ganassi Racing". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. November 2, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  3. "Chase Elliott signs contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports". Beyond the Flag. June 27, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  4. "NASCAR Update: Driver Contracts Beyond the 2020 Season". Beyond the Flag. May 9, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  5. "Alex Bowman signs contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports". Beyond the Flag. May 16, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  6. "Tyler Reddick confirms return to RCR for 2021 Cup Series". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  7. "Leavine Family Racing sold; purchased by Spire Motorsports". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  8. "Quin Houff replacing Landon Cassill in the #00 at StarCom Racing". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. November 27, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  9. Fair, Asher (February 8, 2020). "NASCAR: Kevin Harvick signs with Stewart-Haas Racing through 2023". Beyond the Flag. Fansided. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  10. "Rodney Childers confirms report of contract extension with Stewart-Haas". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. October 7, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  11. Albert, Zack (August 3, 2020). "Team Penske, Brad Keselowski reach agreement on contract extension". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  12. "Team Penske, Brad Keselowski extend contract". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 3, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  13. "Ryan Blaney signs contract extension with Team Penske". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. March 6, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  14. "NASCAR: Joey Logano signs Extension with Team Penske". Beyond the Flag. 2017-02-27. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  15. "NASCAR: Denny Hamlin Agrees to Extension with JGR". Beyond the Flag. February 24, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  16. "NASCAR: Kyle Busch Signs Contract Extension with Joe Gibbs Racing". Beyond the Flag. March 1, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  17. "NASCAR Cup Series: Martin Truex Jr. to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2019". Beyond the Flag. November 7, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  18. "Christopher Bell joining Joe Gibbs Racing in 2021 to drive the #20". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. 2020-08-10. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  19. "2021 NASCAR Cup Series Team/Driver Chart". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  20. "Clint Bowyer wants to return in 2021". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. July 20, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  21. "Erik Jones will not return to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2021". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  22. Bianchi, Jordan (August 6, 2020). "Christopher Bell to drive Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 20 Cup Series car in 2021". The Athletic. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  23. "Leavine Family Racing interested in selling?". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. July 23, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  24. "Bob Leavine announces sale of Leavine Family Racing". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  25. "Spire Motorsports purchases Leavine Family Racing, will expand to two cars". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  26. "Christopher Bell to drive No. 20 Cup car for Joe Gibbs Racing". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 10, 2020.
  27. Utter, Jim (May 5, 2020). "Coronavirus delays release of NASCAR's 2021 Cup schedule". Motorsport.com. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  28. Weaver, Matt (May 22, 2020). "Drivers Open to Midweek NASCAR Races, Condensed Schedule". Autoweek. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  29. "Las Vegas Spring '21 Excalibur Cup Only". Primesport. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  30. "Auto Club '21 - Cup Only". Primesport. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  31. "Dixie Vodka 400 Packages". Primesport. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  32. "Richmond Spring '21 Cup Only". Primesport. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  33. "Talladega Spring '21 - Marriott Atlanta Cup Only". Primesport. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  34. "Martinsville Spring '21 - Cup Only". Primesport. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  35. "NASCAR Cup Series to race at Nashville Superspeedway in 2021". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. June 3, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  36. Kelly, Godwin (March 4, 2020). "NASCAR shakes up schedule for 2021 Daytona Speedweeks, moves Clash to road course". USA Today. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  37. "Phoenix to host championship race again in 2021?". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. July 16, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  38. Humbles, Andy (June 2, 2020). "2021 NASCAR Cup Series race to be scheduled at Wilson County's Nashville Superspeedway". The Tennessean. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
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