2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Race 26 of 36 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series
Date	August 28, 2021 (2021-08-28)
Location	Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4 km)
Distance	165 laps, 412.5 mi (663.9 km)
Scheduled Distance	160 laps, 400 mi (640 km)
Average speed	142.201 miles per hour (228.850 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports
Grid positions set by competition-based formula
Most laps led
Driver	Joey Logano	Team Penske
Laps	37
Winner
No. 12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske
Television in the United States
Network	NBC
Announcers	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Radio in the United States
Radio	MRN
Booth Announcers	Alex Hayden and Jeff Striegle
Turn Announcers	Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Kyle Rickey (3 & 4)

The 2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on August 28, 2021, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 165 laps -- extended from 160 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) superspeedway, it was the 26th race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, and the final race of the regular season before the playoffs.

Ryan Blaney won an incident-filled race in overtime, while Tyler Reddick, who finished in fifth place, secured the final spot in the playoffs.

Report

Background

The race was held at Daytona International Speedway, a race track located in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, the track is the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, USCC, SCCA, and Motocross. It features multiple layouts including the primary 2.5 miles (4.0 km) high speed tri-oval, a 3.56 miles (5.73 km) sports car course, a 2.95 miles (4.75 km) motorcycle course, and a .25 miles (0.40 km) karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's 180-acre (73 ha) infield includes the 29-acre (12 ha) Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.

The track was built in 1959 by NASCAR founder William "Bill" France, Sr. to host racing held at the former Daytona Beach Road Course. His banked design permitted higher speeds and gave fans a better view of the cars. Lights were installed around the track in 1998 and today, it is the third-largest single lit outdoor sports facility. The speedway has been renovated three times, with the infield renovated in 2004 and the track repaved twice — in 1978 and in 2010.

On January 22, 2013, the track unveiled artist depictions of a renovated speedway. On July 5 of that year, ground was broken for a project that would remove the backstretch seating and completely redevelop the frontstretch seating. The renovation to the speedway is being worked on by Rossetti Architects. The project, named "Daytona Rising", was completed in January 2016, and it cost US $400 million, placing emphasis on improving fan experience with five expanded and redesigned fan entrances (called "injectors") as well as wider and more comfortable seating with more restrooms and concession stands. After the renovations, the track's grandstands include 101,000 permanent seats with the ability to increase permanent seating to 125,000.^[7][8] The project was completed before the start of Speedweeks.

Entry list

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

Qualifying

Kyle Larson was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.^[4]

Starting Lineup

Race

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. B. J. McLeod and Josh Bilicki got their first top 10 results in this race.

Stage Results

Stage One Laps: 50

Stage Two Laps: 50

Final Stage Results

Stage Three Laps: 60

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 45 among 15 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 8 for 31
• Red flags: 1 for 14 minutes and 51 seconds
• Time of race: 2 hours, 54 minutes and 3 seconds
• Average speed: 142.201 miles per hour (228.850 km/h)

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, 2000 Coke Zero 400 winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and two-time Coke Zero 400 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman, and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.

Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings after Playoffs reset Pos Driver Points 1 Kyle Larson 2,052 5 2 Ryan Blaney 2,024 (–28) 3 3 Martin Truex Jr. 2,024 (–28) 1 4 Kyle Busch 2,022 (–30) 5 Chase Elliott 2,021 (–31) 6 6 Alex Bowman 2,015 (–37) 5 7 Denny Hamlin 2,015 (–37) 4 8 William Byron 2,014 (–38) 1 9 Joey Logano 2,013 (–39) 10 Brad Keselowski 2,008 (–44) 3 11 Kurt Busch 2,008 (–44) 3 12 Christopher Bell 2,005 (–47) 6 13 Michael McDowell 2,005 (–47) 9 14 Aric Almirola 2,005 (–47) 4 15 Tyler Reddick 2,003 (–49) 7 16 Kevin Harvick 2,002 (–50) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 960 2 Ford 902 (–58) 3 Toyota 880 (–80) Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.