2021 Xfinity 500

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Race 35 of 36 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series
Date	October 31, 2021 (2021-10-31)
Location	Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia
Course	Permanent racing facility .526 mi (.847 km)
Distance	501 laps, 263.526 mi (424.103 km)
Scheduled Distance	500 laps, 263 mi (423.5 km)
Average speed	70.968 miles per hour (114.212 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports
Grid positions set by competition-based formula
Most laps led
Driver	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	289
Winner
No. 48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports
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, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers	Dave Moody (Backstretch)

The 2021 Xfinity 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on October 31, 2021, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. Contested over 501 laps -- extended from 500 laps due to an overtime finish, on the .526 mile (.847 km) short track, it was the 35th race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, the ninth race of the Playoffs, and final race of the Round of 8. Alex Bowman dumped Denny Hamlin during the closing laps to earn his fourth win in 2021, as well as his sixth overall.

Report

Background

Martinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation-owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At 0.526 miles (0.847 km) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track is also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948. Along with this, Martinsville is the only NASCAR oval track on the entire NASCAR track circuit to have asphalt surfaces on the straightaways, then concrete to cover the turns.

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. This was the final round that it was scheduled, but NASCAR made a change at Bristol in March when the formula was used when rain cancelled qualifying.^[4]

Starting Lineup

Race

Stage Results

Stage One Laps: 130

Stage Two Laps: 130

Final Stage Results

Stage Three Laps: 240

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 15 among 7 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 15 for 91
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 3 hours, 42 minutes and 48 seconds
• Average speed: 70.968 miles per hour (114.212 km/h)

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, 1997 race winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and 2014 race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and Dillon Welch handled the pit road duties from pit lane. Rutledge Wood handled the features from the track.

Radio

MRN covered the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and 7 time Martinsville winner Rusty Wallace had the call for MRN when the field raced down the front straightaway. Dave Moody covered the action for MRN when the field raced down the backstraightway into turn 3. Steve Post and Kim Coon covered the action for MRN from pit lane.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Kyle Larson 5,000 2 Chase Elliott 5,000 (–0) 3 3 Martin Truex Jr. 5,000 (–0) 1 4 Denny Hamlin 5,000 (–0) 2 5 Brad Keselowski 2,323 (–2,677) 3 6 Kevin Harvick 2,318 (–2,682) 2 7 Ryan Blaney 2,308 (–2,692) 8 Joey Logano 2,308 (–2,692) 5 9 Kyle Busch 2,285 (–2,715) 1 10 William Byron 2,280 (–2,720) 1 11 Kurt Busch 2,274 (–2,726) 12 Christopher Bell 2,251 (–2,749) 13 Tyler Reddick 2,232 (–2,768) 14 Alex Bowman 2,221 (–2,779) 15 Aric Almirola 2,184 (–2,816) 16 Michael McDowell 2,139 (–2,861) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 1,296 2 Toyota 1,204 (–92) 3 Ford 1,203 (–93) Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.