2021 Food City Dirt Race

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
Race 7 of 36 in the2021 NASCAR Cup Series
Date	March 29, 2021 (2021-03-29)
Location	Bristol Motor Speedway inBristol, Tennessee
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	0.533 miles (0.858 km)
Distance	253 laps, 134.849 mi (217.018 km)
Scheduled distance	250 laps, 133.25 mi (214.445 km)
Average speed	46.313 miles per hour (74.534 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	122
Winner
No. 22	Joey Logano	Team Penske
Television in the United States
Network	Fox
Announcers	Mike Joy,Jeff Gordon andClint Bowyer
Nielsen ratings	3.114 million[9]
Radio in the United States
Radio	PRN
Booth announcers	Doug Rice and Mark Garrow
Turn announcers	Rob Albright (Backstretch)

The2021 Food City Dirt Race was aNASCAR Cup Seriesrace held on March 29, 2021, atBristol Motor Speedway inBristol, Tennessee. Contested over 250 laps on the 0.533 miles (0.858 km) short track, it was the seventh race of the2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. The normal concrete racing surface at Bristol was covered with 2,300 truckloads of red clay, reducing the banking from 28 to 19 degrees, and making for the Cup Series' first race on dirt since 1970.^[10]

Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is aNASCARshort track venue located inBristol,Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, twopit roads, andstadium-like seating.

In 2021, the race shifted to a dirt surface version of the track and was renamed the Food City Dirt Race.^[11][12] On January 25, 2021, NASCAR announced the stage lengths of all events in all three series. According to the stage lengths, it states the race will consist of 250 laps.

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

Alex Bowman was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 20.155 seconds and a speed of 89.308 mph (143.727 km/h).^[13]

Ryan Blaney was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 20.172 seconds and a speed of 89.233 mph (143.607 km/h).^[14]

Qualifying heat races were cancelled due to weather. As a result, NASCAR used the standard competition-based formula used in races where practice and qualifying are not being conducted for pandemic safety reasons.Denny Hamlin will start first as the control car, asKyle Larson, who had the top score under the competition-based formula from the previous week, was penalised for an engine change in Friday practice over concerns of overheating in second practice.^[15]

The race was delayed to Monday after rain caused flooding in the area.^[16] Logano won the race. There were some visibility problems because of dust and mud.^[17] Larson and Bell were the pre-race favorites but crashed out. Truex won the first stage and Suárez led in the second before being passed by Logano.^[18] The race was extended following a late caution-period. Hamlin was slow at the final restart and Truex had a flat tire, allowing Stenhouse to come second. Suárez was fourth behind Hamlin and ahead of Newman.^[16] During the race it was announced that the race would again be held on dirt during the2022 NASCAR Cup Series.^[19]

Stage OneLaps: 100

Stage TwoLaps: 100

Stage ThreeLaps: 50

• Lead changes: 5 among 5 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 10 for 37
• Red flags: 1 for 6 minutes and 30 seconds
• Time of race: 2 hours, 43 minutes and 53 seconds
• Average speed: 46.313 miles per hour (74.534 km/h)

TheFood City Dirt Race was carried byFox in the United States.Mike Joy, five-time Bristol winnerJeff Gordon andClint Bowyer called the race from the broadcast booth.Jamie Little,Regan Smith and Vince Welch handled pit road duties for the television side.Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

PRN had the radio call for the race which was simulcasted onSirius XMNASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race in the booth when the field raced down the frontstretch. Rob Albright called the race from atop the turn 3 suites when the field raced down the backstretch. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, Lenny Batycki andWendy Venturini covered the action on pit lane for PRN.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Denny Hamlin 327 1 2 Joey Logano 269 (–58) 1 3 Martin Truex Jr. 247 (–80) 2 4 Kyle Larson 242 (–85) 5 Brad Keselowski 232 (–95) 2 6 William Byron 228 (–99) 7 Ryan Blaney 226 (–101) 2 8 Kevin Harvick 225 (–102) 1 9 Chase Elliott 211 (–116) 1 10 Christopher Bell 186 (–141) 11 Austin Dillon 186 (–141) 1 12 Michael McDowell 183 (–144) 1 13 Kyle Busch 183 (–144) 3 14 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 180 (–147) 15 Kurt Busch 173 (–154) 2 16 Alex Bowman 172 (–155) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Ford 257 2 Chevrolet 250 (–7) 3 Toyota 247 (–10) Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings. . – Driver has clinched a position in theNASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

• 2021 in sports in Tennessee
• 2021 NASCAR Cup Series
• March 2021 sports events in the United States
• NASCAR races at Bristol Motor Speedway

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• Short description matches Wikidata
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