2021 NASCAR Cup Series
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series was 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 started at Daytona International Speedway with the Busch Clash, where it was the first year that the non-points event was run on the track's road course layout instead of the oval. That race was followed by the Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying races, and the 63rd running of the Daytona 500, the first points race of the season. The regular season also ended at  Daytona with the 2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400 on August 28, where Kyle Larson won the Regular Season Championship. Following the 2021 Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 31, Chevrolet claimed its 40th Manufacturer's Championship and its first since 2015. The NASCAR playoffs ended with the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on November 7 with Larson earning his first Cup Series championship after a 10-win season. The 2021 season represented a new era as several mainstays of the sport were absent. This was the first season since 1997 without 2003 series Champion Matt Kenseth . This was also the first season since 2000 without seven-time Champion Jimmie Johnson. Finally, this was the first season without Clint Bowyer and Reed Sorenson since 2004, the latter of which joined the "NASCAR on Fox" booth as a color commentator. This was also the first season for 23XI Racing, co-owned by Joe Gibbs Racing Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin and basketball legend Michael Jordan, and Trackhouse Racing Team, co-owned by former NASCAR and current sports car racing driver Justin Marks and musician Pitbull. It was also the last season for Chip Ganassi Racing, as Trackhouse purchased  the entirety of CGR's NASCAR team for 2022, StarCom Racing, as they ceased operations after 2021, Team Penske crew chief Todd Gordon, who announced his retirement from crew chiefing following the 2021 season, and the Cup Series Generation 6 car, which will be replaced with the Next Gen car starting in 2022; by extension, it was also the final season for the Car of Tomorrow chassis, as the Next Gen car will have a completely-new chassis design. In addition, this was the final season to have races covered by NBCSN, which will shut down by the end of  the year and have its coverage of NASCAR and all other sporting events taken over by USA Network. Schedule. The 2021 schedule was released on September 30, 2020. Notes. Bolded races indicate a NASCAR Major, also known as a Crown Jewel race. Season summary. Race reports. Speedweeks 2021 In the Busch Clash, Ryan Blaney started on pole. Kevin Harvick spun twice early in the race. Martin Truex Jr. was leading when the competition caution came out but had to restart in the rear due to missing the final chicane while the race was under caution. Late in the race, Truex  Jr. wrecked while leading. In the closing laps, Blaney and Chase Elliott were battling for the lead. In the final chicane on the last lap, Elliott took an aggressive line, which spun Blaney out of the lead. Elliott slowed, which allowed Kyle Busch to pass him and win the race. It was the first year that the race was run on the road course, and the second Cup Series race run on the track's road course layout. In Daytona 500 qualifying, Alex Bowman won the pole while teammate William Byron qualified second. In the Bluegreen Vacation Duel, Aric Almirola  held off Joey Logano to win the first Duel. The start of the second Duel was delayed by rain. In the second Duel, there were multicar wrecks on lap 36 and with three laps to go in the race; the latter caution sent the race into an overtime finish. In overtime, Austin Dillon held off Bubba Wallace to win the second Duel. Round 1: Daytona 500 Alex Bowman would start on pole, as the race was under threat from rain and thunderstorms. Derrike Cope would hit the wall on lap 4 to bring out the first caution while also causing  damage to Bubba Wallace. On lap 14, "The Big One" would strike in turn 3 as Bowman and Aric Almirola would both spin into the outside wall and into the path of traffic, collecting 16 cars. Two laps later, while under the ensuing caution, the race was red-flagged for 5 hours and 40 minutes due to a lightning strike over the racetrack. The race would restart with Kevin Harvick as the leader. Defending winner Denny Hamlin would both win stages 1 and 2. Christopher Bell would lose a left-rear tire and spin, collecting Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Jamie  McMurray in stage 2. The final stage would remain caution-free as Hamlin, in contention to win the race for the third consecutive time, would pit from the lead on final pit stops, but would fall back to 13th as the pack fell in line single file with Joey Logano leading. On the last lap, Brad Keselowski attempted to pass Logano on the backstretch with help from a push from Michael McDowell, but the push incidentally spun Keselowski into Logano's left rear quarter panel, causing a fiery crash sending Keselowski into the catchfence and collecting Wallace, Logano, Austin Cindric , Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, and Ross Chastain. McDowell would dodge the crash to win his first career NASCAR Cup Series race under caution as well as earning Front Row Motorsports their third Cup victory, all of which have come on superspeedways. Round 2: O'Reilly Auto Parts 253 Chase Elliott was awarded the pole. Michael McDowell, who started second, got a flat tire before entering the first turn as Kyle Busch got damage by running into the grass. Elliott won the first stage while Denny Hamlin would win the second stage. Kurt Busch spun while leading and then made  contact and spun Brad Keselowski the following lap. On a restart, Elliott got into the grass while Kyle Larson spun while battling for the lead. Elliott made his way back to the front, but spun after contact with Hamlin. Joey Logano pulled away from Kurt Busch, but was run down and passed by Christopher Bell, who would win the race for his first career Cup Series win. Round 3: Dixie Vodka 400 Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole, but had to start at the rear due to an unapproved adjustment. Chris Buescher had the dominant car early and won the  first stage, while Hamlin struggled to get to the front of the field. Buescher led early in the second stage, but Martin Truex Jr. took the lead and dominated most of the remainder of the stage. In a one lap dash to end the second stage, Hamlin slid into Truex and it allowed William Byron to win the stage. Kurt Busch had to return to pit road during a round of green flag pit stops due to a loose wheel. Aric Almirola got into the wall along with Ryan Blaney. Byron was able to get back to the lead and  pulled away to hold off a charging Tyler Reddick for his second career Cup Series win. Round 4: Pennzoil 400 Kevin Harvick was awarded the pole. Brad Keselowski would hold off Chase Elliott to win the first stage while Kyle Larson won the second stage. On a restart, Elliott spun after contact with Kurt Busch. Aric Almirola got into the wall after a flat tire. After the final round of green flag pit stops, Larson was able to take the lead from Daniel Suárez and hold off Keselowski for his first win with Hendrick Motorsports and his first win on  an mile and a half track. Round 5: Instacart 500 Brad Keselowski was awarded the pole. Alex Bowman spun after contact with Austin Dillon. Ryan Blaney won the first stage. Anthony Alfredo slammed the wall after contact with Cody Ware. Joey Logano won the second stage and dominated the final stage. Tyler Reddick got into the wall while Aric Almirola had to slow for a lapped car and got hit by Kyle Busch. On the restart, Martin Truex Jr. took the lead from Logano and pulled away for his 28th career win, tying Carl Edwards on NASCAR's all-time  win list. Round 6: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole. Kyle Larson dominated the majority of the race by winning both stages. Kevin Harvick had to pit early in the first stage due to a flat tire. The race remained green for the majority of the race except for when Kurt Busch got into the wall after contact with Hamlin and when Chase Elliott blew an engine. Lapped traffic came in play at the end as Ryan Blaney was able to run down Larson and pass him for the lead and pull away to his  fifth career win. Round 7: Food City Dirt Race This was the first dirt race for the Cup Series since the 1970 NASCAR Cup Series season. Kyle Larson was awarded the pole after the scheduled heat races were canceled due to rain, but had to start at the rear after changing engines in practice. The race was postponed from Sunday to Monday due to the rain. Martin Truex Jr. dominated most the race. The first stage was littered with accidents caused. Aric Almirola got turned after contact with Stewart Friesen (who was making his first Cup Series start), involving multiple  other drivers. Ryan Newman spun and Stewart-Haas teammates Kevin Harvick and Chase Briscoe got together trying to avoid the incident. Christopher Bell spun while running second and collected Larson and Ross Chastain. Truex would win the first stage. In the second stage, Truex would lose the lead to Daniel Suárez while Larson would wreck again, ending his race and collecting Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Ryan Preece, and Michael McDowell. Briscoe would get in the wall again after contact with Brad Keselowski. After this crash, NASCAR elected to conduct all restarts going forward single-file to  help with visibility, as the flying dust made it hard for drivers to see.Joey Logano would take the lead from Suarez and win the second stage. Logano would dominate the final stage and hold off Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in overtime to become the series' seventh different winner of the season. Round 8: Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole. The race was postponed from Saturday to Sunday due to rain. Hamlin dominated and won both stages. Kurt Busch got into the wall after contact with Erik Jones while Aric Almirola spun into the wall  after contact with Matt DiBenedetto. Brad Keselowski got into the wall along with Daniel Suárez, whose car caught fire. Keselowski again got into the wall along with Jones and Ross Chastain. Chris Buescher got turned and caused a huge stack up that collected Keselowski, DiBenedetto, Ryan Preece, Anthony Alfredo, Alex Bowman, and others. Martin Truex Jr. would outduel the dominant Hamlin and hold off Chase Elliott for his second win of the season. Round 9: Toyota Owners 400 Martin Truex Jr. was awarded the pole. Truex, along with Denny Hamlin dominated, but Hamlin won both stages and led the most  laps. Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick both spun into the wall after having flat tires. Hamlin continued his domination, but would be passed for the lead by Alex Bowman, who recovered from an uncontrolled tire penalty, with ten laps to go and Bowman pulled away for his third career Cup Series victory and taking the 48 to victory lane for the first time since Jimmie Johnson at Dover in 2017. Round 10: GEICO 500 Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole. Kyle Larson suffered a blown engine and fall out of the race on only the third lap. On the final  lap of the first stage, Joey Logano spun and went airborne, flipping onto its roof. The car's spoiler scraped the roof of Bubba Wallace (who continued on) before rolling back onto all fours at the bottom of turn 3. Matt DiBenedetto was awarded the stage win. On the final lap of the second stage, Hamlin got turned into the wall and collected Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, and Martin Truex Jr. while Wallace was awarded the stage win, the first of his career. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would be spun off the bumper of Quin Houff and nose into the wall  coming to pit road during green flag pit stops. Truex would suffer a flat tire, bringing out a caution and sending the race to overtime. Brad Keselowski would drive past DiBenedetto and hold off William Byron as several drivers crashed on the final lap to score his sixth career win at Talladega, tying Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon for second on the all-time Talladega win list behind Dale Earnhardt. Round 11: Buschy McBusch Race 400 Brad 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. Round 12: Goodyear 400 Brad Keselowski was awarded the pole for the second straight race. Aric Almirola slammed the wall after a flat tire while Kyle Busch spun while leading with a flat tire. Martin Truex Jr. dominated by leading the most laps and winning both stages. Cole Custer slammed the wall after contact with Anthony Alfredo while Kurt Busch got into the wall and caught fire after making contact with Bubba Wallace. Drivers  split the final stage by pitting for green flag pit stops three different times. Kyle Larson was the only driver to challenge Truex for the lead as lapped traffic caused issues. Truex was able to pull away from Larson and win for his third win of the season. Round 13: Drydene 400 Martin Truex Jr. started on the pole. Kyle Larson dominated, leading the most laps and winning both stages. Aric Almirola got a flat tire and got into the wall before catching fire. Anthony Alfredo spun after contact with Brad Keselowski and collected Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Alex Bowman took  the lead from the dominant Larson and pulled away for his second win of the season followed by teammates Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron, making Hendrick the first team since Roush-Fenway Racing to have all four cars finish 1, 2, 3, 4. Round 14: EchoPark Texas Grand Prix Tyler Reddick won his first career pole in qualifying. It began to rain on the first lap and all drivers pitted to change from slick tires to treaded rain tires. Kevin Harvick got heavy damage after making contact with Ryan Blaney, which also collected Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace. Joey  Logano won the first stage. In the second stage, the rain picked up, and the ensuing spray created visibility issues. In one incident, Martin Truex Jr. got into the back of Michael McDowell and then was rammed into by Cole Custer, severely damaging both cars, and causing Custer's car to catch on fire. Kyle Busch won the second stage. On a round of green flag pit stops, Kyle Larson passed Busch for the lead. Alex Bowman took the lead from Larson and was then passed by Chase Elliott. The race was red flagged again due to heavier rain and  was called official with 14 laps to go. Elliott was awarded the win, giving Chevrolet its 800th win in NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports its 268th win, tying Petty Enterprises for the most wins by team in NASCAR history. Round 15: Coca-Cola 600 Kyle Larson won the pole in qualifying. Larson dominated, leading the most laps and winning the first two stages. Kurt Busch had an issue that sent him to the garage, but when he returned to the race, he blew his engine. Several drivers had tire problems including Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr. Larson won  the third stage and pulled away from teammate Chase Elliott to over a ten-second lead to win his second race of the season, earning the 269th win for Hendrick Motorsports, making them the winningest team in NASCAR history. Round 16: Toyota/Save Mart 350 Kyle Larson was awarded the pole where he dominated and won both stages. William Byron spun and slammed into Kevin Harvick and collected Corey LaJoie. Cody Ware went through dirt and slammed into Ryan Preece as Matt DiBenedetto spun. Anthony Alfredo spun and collected Christopher Bell, sending the race to overtime. On the restart, Larson  would hold off teammate Chase Elliott for his second straight win and third of the season for Hendrick Motorsports' 270th Cup win. Exhibition: NASCAR All-Star Race In the Open, Tyler Reddick was awarded the pole. Chris Buescher and Austin Cindric were penalized for beating the leader on the start and changing lanes before the start respectively. Bubba Wallace spun, bringing out a caution, and Buescher spun on the following restart after contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Erik Jones and Daniel Suárez would both be involved in an accident soon after. Ross Chastain, who had to start at the back , passed Reddick and won the first stage to advance. Reddick held off Aric Almirola to win the second stage to advance. In the final 10 lap stage, Almirola held off Matt DiBenedetto to win the Open and advance. DiBenedetto advanced to the All-Star Race by winning the fan vote. In the main event, Kyle Larson was awarded the pole. Christopher Bell spun on the first lap, but saved the car from hitting anything. The race was broken into six segments with Larson, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, William Byron, and Chase Elliott winning the segments. Elliott's team won the  pit road challenge for the final segment. In the first segment, Larson passed and held off Brad Keselowski for the $1 million and his second All-Star Race win. Round 17: Ally 400 Aric Almirola won the pole in qualifying. Quin Houff got into the wall on the first lap. Ryan Blaney slammed the wall hard after losing his brakes. Chris Buescher got into the wall along with Justin Haley. Chase Elliott won the first stage while Kyle Larson won the second. Several had brake issues that caused them to get into the wall including Ryan Preece and Chase  Briscoe. Larson was able to save enough fuel to hold off Ross Chastain for his third consecutive win and fourth of the season. Round 18: Pocono Organics CBD 325 Kyle Larson was awarded the pole. Brad Keselowski, in an attempt to go under Cole Custer, hit Custer in the back and sent him into the wall. Kyle Busch would win the first stage. Ryan Newman and Ross Chastain both got in the wall in separate accidents. Kurt Busch would stay out and win the second stage. Larson passed Alex Bowman for the lead with four laps to go, and looked  to have the win secured until his left front tire blew out entering the final corner. His car slammed into the outside wall, allowing Bowman to pass Larson back and win his third race of the season. Round 19: Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 Owing to the top 20 finishers being inverted from the previous race to set the field, Chris Buescher started on the pole. Martin Truex Jr. won the first stage while William Byron won the second stage. The race came down to fuel mileage. Brad Keselowski had to pit from the lead, giving the lead to Byron . Byron then had to pit with three laps to go, handing the lead to Denny Hamlin. Hamlin pit coming to the white flag, giving the lead to Kyle Busch, who was also suffering from a transmission issue, had enough fuel for his second win of the season over Kyle Larson, who finished second despite suffering heating issues. Round 20: Jockey Made in America 250 presented by Quik Trip William Byron won the pole in qualifying. Early, Ryan Preece suffered an blown engine and Daniel Suárez came to a stop on the track due to a broken transmission. Bryon won the  first stage while Tyler Reddick won the second stage. At the beginning of the third stage, Austin Cindric was leading and suffered a gearing issue. Chase Elliott would take the lead from Matt DiBenedetto and hold off Christopher Bell for his second win of the season and his seventh road course win, putting him third behind Tony Stewart (8) and Jeff Gordon (9). Round 21: Quaker State 400 Chase Elliott was awarded the pole. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun into the wall and collected Daniel Suárez. Kyle Busch won the first stage while Kurt Busch won the second stage. The race  went under a red flag for 20 minutes to repair damage to the track surface. Kurt and Kyle traded the lead with lapped traffic causing problems. After Kyle got into the wall, Kurt was able to pull away and win the race. Round 22: Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 Kyle Busch was awarded the pole. During the first few laps it began to rain and caused Busch to slam into the wall and others spun including Martin Truex Jr., and Alex Bowman. Busch would be unable to continue the race. The race was red flagged due to rain. When the race  resumed, Joey Logano was penalized two laps for a crew member working on the car under the red flag. Bubba Wallace spun with a flat tire as Ryan Blaney won the first stage. Kevin Harvick would dominate, but Brad Keselowski won the second stage. In the closing laps, several laps were taken off of the distance due to darkness looming. Aric Almirola would take the lead from Matt DiBenedetto and hold off a charging Christopher Bell for the win, qualifying for the playoffs being 27th in points and needing a win to qualify. Round 23: Go Bowling at The Glen  Brad Keselowski was awarded the pole. Keselowski spun early while leading as teammate Joey Logano won the first stage. Martin Truex Jr. would win the second stage and led the most laps. Keselowski returned to the lead, but spun again and collected Logano, causing small damage to both cars. Kyle Larson made contact with Christopher Bell, sending him spinning. Larson then took the lead from Truex and held off teammate Chase Elliott for his fifth win and second road win of the season. Round 24: Verizon 200 at the Brickyard William Byron won the pole in qualifying for the first  Cup race on the Indianapolis Road Course. Pit strategy came into play for the start of the race, allowing Tyler Reddick to win both stages while Martin Truex Jr. suffered tire issues and Brad Keselowski spun into the wall. Late in the race, Byron spun with Kyle Busch while Joey Logano and Daniel Suárez both got into the tire barrier. On the restart, Reddick made contact with teammate Austin Dillon and collected Cole Custer and Alex Bowman. In overtime, Chase Briscoe was penalized for not stopping after missing a corner while battling Denny Hamlin for the lead and then spun  Hamlin (Briscoe said after the race that he wasn't told about the penalty.) A. J. Allmendinger took advantage and took the lead and held off Ryan Blaney for his second career Cup victory and the first Cup win for Kaulig Racing. Round 25: FireKeepers Casino 400 Kyle Larson started on pole. Chase Elliott won the first stage while Kyle Busch won the second stage. At the end of the second stage, Brad Keselowski made contact with Austin Dillon and sent Dillon spinning into the wall, ending his race. In the final stage, drivers had different pit strategies, with William  Byron gaining the lead. A caution came out for rain with 21 laps to go and for a multicar wreck with 14 laps to go. Following a restart with eight laps to go, Ryan Blaney gained the lead and held off Byron and Kyle Larson to win the race, his second win of the season. Round 26: Coke Zero Sugar 400 Kyle Larson was awarded the pole for the race. Chase Elliott won the first stage while Joey Logano won the second stage. Logano led the most laps in the race. Several lead changes occurred and the race was red -flagged due to a multicar wreck late in the race. In overtime, Ryan Blaney took the lead and won the race as a nine-car wreck occurred in turn 3 on the final lap. Blaney scored his second consecutive win and third win of the season. Larson won the regular season championship while Tyler Reddick clinched the final spot in the playoffs. NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Round 27: Cook Out Southern 500 Ryan Blaney started the race from the pole position. Early in the race, playoff driver Alex Bowman scraped the wall while playoff driver Michael McDowell was taken out  of the race after hitting the wall. Denny Hamlin won the first stage of the race. In the second stage, Austin Dillon and playoff driver Kyle Busch made contact, with Busch hitting the wall and going to the garage, ending his night. Kyle Larson won the second stage of the race. Several other playoff drivers had trouble during the race including William Byron, who hit the wall after cutting a tire, Chase Elliott, who hit the wall after going three-wide with Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell, and Blaney, who spun late in the race. In the closing laps, Hamlin  was leading Larson. On the final lap, Larson tapped Hamlin, but Hamlin blocked the top line to win the race, his first win of the season, to move on to the next round of the playoffs. Round 28: Federated Auto Parts 400 Kyle Larson was awarded the pole for the race, but dropped to the rear at the start. At the start of the race, Martin Truex Jr. was penalized for crossing the start/finish line ahead of leader Denny Hamlin. Early in the race, Kurt Busch cut a tire and slammed the wall. Hamlin won both stages and led  the most laps in the race. Kyle Busch was leading late in the race but was penalized for speeding on pit road during a round of green-flag pit stops. Truex Jr. gained the lead and went on to win the race, advancing to the next round of the playoffs. Larson also advanced to the next round of the playoffs on points. Round 29: Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race Martin Truex Jr. earned the pole position for the start of the race, where he led the first five laps. Denny Hamlin won stage one after passing Kyle Larson on  lap 90. A red flag occurred for nearly eight minutes following a turn 4 incident that involved four vehicles on lap 221. Larson led at the end of stage two. On lap 464, Chase Elliott was forced to pit from the lead when he had a flat tire from damage he received when Kevin Harvick got into his rear quarter panel. When back on the track, Elliott attempted to retaliate by getting into the side of then race leader Harvick and then running Harvick's preferred line, thus slowing him down. Larson was able to pass Harvick on lap 497 , and secure his 12th overall Cup Series win. Following the race, Harvick and Elliott bumped cars on pit road and confronted each other when they eventually parked. Elliott said, "It's something [Harvick] does all the time. He runs into your left side constantly at other tracks and sometimes it does cut down your left side (tires), other times it doesn't." The argument continued for several minutes continuing inside Elliott's hauler. Michael McDowell, Kurt Busch, Tyler Reddick, and Aric Almirola were eliminated from the Playoffs. Round 30: South Point 400 Kyle Larson started on the pole for the  race. Four cars (#10, #19, #24, #66) dropped to the rear for multiple inspection failures. Larson won stage one. Following an incident with Joey Gase only five laps into the run, most cars pitted with the four Hendrick Motorsports cars choosing to stay out. The Hendrick cars thought they were on the outside of the fuel window, but due to an extended caution the cars that pitted were able to make it to stage two. This forced the Hendrick cars to pit under green, forcing them a lap down. Chase Elliott was able to un-lap himself, and William Byron  earned the lucky dog pass. Denny Hamlin won stage two and went on to win the race, beating Elliott by 0.442 seconds. Round 31: YellaWood 500 Denny Hamlin was the pole sitter for the race. The race was forced to be delayed until the following day due to rain. The next day, NASCAR would be able to get the race started at 1PMET, 12 PM local time. Chris Buescher won Stage 1 for his 2nd stage win of the season and the first since February at Homestead-Miami Speedway. At the end of Stage 2, rain hit the area. And  the race was past its halfway point (Lap 94), so whoever was leading could possibly win the race. Bubba Wallace was leading when the rain hit. After a long red flag, NASCAR declared the race official and Wallace won his first career Cup Series race along with Stage 2 of the race. It was also the first win for 23XI Racing, the new team co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan which debuted this season. Round 32: Bank of America Roval 400 Denny Hamlin was the pole sitter for the race. Chase Elliot won Stage 1 and Kyle Busch  won Stage 2. Despite dealing with technical issues during the race, Kyle Larson was able to overcome it to pass Hamlin with 8 laps to go to win the race. The victory made Larson the first Cup driver in NASCAR history to win three different road courses in a single season (Sonoma, Watkins Glen and the Charlotte Roval). William Byron, Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell and Kevin Harvick were eliminated from the playoffs. Round 33: Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 Kyle Larson was the pole sitter for the race. Kyle Busch won Stage 1 and Larson won Stage 2. Multiple playoff drivers  suffered issues late in the race, with Joey Logano blowing an engine and Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. involved in wrecks. Larson would lead 257 of the 334 laps to win his eighth race of the season and be the first to advance into the Championship 4. Round 34: Hollywood Casino 400 Kyle Larson started from the pole position. Larson won Stage 1 and William Byron won Stage 2. Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski were involved in incidents during the race while Ryan Blaney wrecked out of the race with 44 laps to go. Larson won the race, his  third consecutive win and ninth for the season. He became the second driver after Joey Logano in 2015 to win three consecutive "post-season" races. He is the fourth driver in NASCAR "post-season" history to win four races in the post-season, following Jimmie Johnson (3 times), Tony Stewart (won 5 in 2011), and Martin Truex Jr. (2017). Round 35: Xfinity 500 Kyle Larson was the pole sitter. Chase Elliott led 289 laps and won Stages 1 and 2, but a spin-out late in the race pushed him out of contention to win the race and he finished  16th, but he was still able to advance to the Championship 4 based on points. Late in the race, Alex Bowman wrecked leader Denny Hamlin. Bowman won the race for his fourth victory of the season. Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin also advanced to the Championship 4 based on points. Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano were eliminated from the playoffs. Round 36: NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race Kyle Larson won the pole position for the race. The majority of the race saw the Championship 4 drivers in the front, with Martin Truex Jr. winning Stage  1 and Larson winning Stage 2. With 60 laps to go, Truex made a pit stop as rookie Anthony Alfredo wrecked, but Truex was able to exit pit road on the lead lap before the caution came out. Truex took the lead when the other Championship 4 drivers pitted during caution. Truex was leading the race with 30 laps to go when the caution came out for the wrecked David Starr. In the final pit stop of the season, Hamlin's pit crew conducted a 12.1 second pit stop that would have allowed Hamlin to exit pit road with the  lead. But with Larson in the first pit stall and Larson's pit crew conducting a 11.8 second pit stop (the second fastest time for the crew in the season), Larson was able to exit pit road with the lead. When green flag racing resumed with 25 laps to go, Larson got a good jump to clear the other drivers, but Truex was able to follow close behind. Despite some close challenges from Truex in the final laps, Larson held on to win his tenth race of the season and his first career NASCAR Cup Championship. Truex Jr., Hamlin and  Elliott would finish 2nd, 3rd and 5th respectively in the race to finish in the point standings 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. Results and standings. Drivers' championship. ()  . – Eliminated after Round of 16 . – Eliminated after Round of 12 . – Eliminated after Round of 8