2021 South Point 400

2021 South Point 400

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Race 30 of 36 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series
Date	September 26, 2021 (2021-09-26)
Location	Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Distance	267 laps, 400.5 mi (640.8 km)
Average speed	144.643 miles per hour (232.780 km/h)
Attendance	43,000[7]
Pole position
Driver	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports
Grid positions set by competition-based formula
Most laps led
Driver	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	137
Winner
No. 11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network	NBCSN
Announcers	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Radio in the United States
Radio	PRN
Booth Announcers	Doug Rice and Mark Garrow
Turn Announcers	Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

The 2021 South Point 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 26, 2021, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mi (2.4 km) asphalt intermediate speedway, it was the 30th race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, the fourth race of the Playoffs, and the first race of the Round of 12.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada outside the Las Vegas city limits and about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a 1,200-acre (490 ha) complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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

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

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.

Stage One Laps: 80

Stage Two Laps: 80

Stage Three Laps: 107

• Lead changes: 21 among 10 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 4 for 21
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 2 hours, 46 minutes and 8 seconds
• Average speed: 144.643 miles per hour (232.780 km/h)

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns and Kelli Stavast handled the pit road duties from pit lane.

PRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race from the booth when the field raced through the tri-oval. Rob Albright called the race from a billboard in turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2 & Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan and Wendy Venturini handled the duties on pit lane.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Kyle Larson 3,096 1 2 Denny Hamlin 3,082 (–14) 2 3 Kyle Busch 3,074 (–22) 2 4 Martin Truex Jr. 3,070 (–26) 1 5 Ryan Blaney 3,063 (–33) 6 Chase Elliott 3,061 (–35) 2 7 Joey Logano 3,045 (–51) 2 8 Brad Keselowski 3,043 (–53) 1 9 William Byron 3,039 (–57) 2 10 Kevin Harvick 3,036 (–60) 4 11 Alex Bowman 3,030 (–66) 1 12 Christopher Bell 3,018 (–78) 1 13 Tyler Reddick 2,118 (–978) 1 14 Kurt Busch 2,104 (–992) 2 15 Aric Almirola 2,093 (–1,003) 16 Michael McDowell 2,044 (–1,052) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 1,103 2 Ford 1,033 (–70) 3 Toyota 1,030 (–73) Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.