With January winding down, this is the time of year where NASCAR fans start getting excited: we’re inching closer and closer to the 2021 Great American Race and the official start of the next Cup Series season.
And while this is always an excitement-building time of year for racing fans, there’s a reason to be a little more pumped for upcoming Daytona 500: this year’s field is STACKED with talent. Which means we could easily have an actually competitive couple of Duel races for the last remaining spots in the 2021 race.
But that also means that, more than likely, a very good driver isn’t going to be able to race.
The Daytona 500 is special in many ways, but especially in how the starting order is set. First we will have qualifying on Wednesday, February 10, which will set the front row (positions 1st and 2nd). Then, on Thursday, the teams will be split into two groups and run Duel races to set the starting order for the rest of the field.
But here’s the best part about those Duel races: some teams will literally be racing against each other to make the big race on Sunday. Currently there are 45 teams expected to attempt to make the 2021 Daytona 500. There are only 40 spots available to race, which means five teams are going home. Oh, and don’t forget that 36 cars are locked in no matter what thanks to the charter system (click here to see those teams).
Drivers That Will Attempt The 2021 Daytona 500 But Aren’t Guaranteed A Spot (Only 4 Will Make It)
Austin Cindric – Team Penske will try to get four cars into this year’s Great American Race, as the defending Xfintiy Series Champion, Austin Cindric, will be in the #33 Ford in addition to the three other Penske drivers, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Ryan Blaney. The Fords have had a noticeable speed advantage on superspeedways over the last few years, and Cindric did post two top 10 finishes at Daytona and Talladega last season in the Xfinity Series. If Austin races his way into the 2021 Daytona 500 during his Duel race, it’ll be his first career Cup Series start.
Noah Gragson – Beard Motorsports lives for these superspeedway races. This team has ran 13 Cup Series races over the last three years, and 12 of those starts were at a superspeedway track. The other? The Daytona road course last season. Typically, Brendan Gaughan is behind the wheel of this #62 Chevrolet, but since he retired, Beard had to find a replacement–and they got a good one for this race in Noah Gragson. In the Xfinity Series last season, Gragson started off the year with a win at Daytona and followed that up with a 10th at Talladega, a 31st in the second Daytona race, and a 3rd-place finish in the second Talladega race. He’s jumping into a pretty solid car, too; Gaughan finished 7th and 8th in the two Daytona races with this #62 Chevrolet last season.
Kaz Grala – If you didn’t watch much Xfinity Series races last year, you might remember the name Kaz Grala from the Daytona road course race in the Cup Series, when he subbed in for Austin Dillon and finished 7th. This time, though, Grala will be trying to make the field with a Kaulig Racing car, the #16 Chevrolet to be exact. In last year’s Daytona 500, Justin Haley piloted this car to a 13th-place finish, but you have to question what kind of raw speed this car will have, as Kaulig is still getting their feet wet in the Cup Series.
Ryan Preece – The news that kind of flew under the radar a bit this offseason is that the #37 JTG Daugherty team doesn’t have a charter, which means Ryan Preece technically isn’t locked in to any races this year. And with his tendency to wreck quite often–he’s wrecked out of three of his four Daytona Cup Series starts–it wouldn’t be surprising to see Preece miss this year’s Daytona 500. The good news for Preece is that JTG gets its engines from Hendrick Motorsports, which typically a strong in superspeedway qualifying, so the #37 Chevrolet could have a decent starting spot in its Duel race.
David Ragan – Front Row Motorsports will roll out the #36 Ford for David Ragan to attempt to get a third entry in this year’s Daytona 500, as Michael McDowell in the #34 and Anthony Alfredo in the #38 are already locked in thanks to their charters. As far as Ragan and superspeedways, he won here at Daytona back in 2011 (the July race) while he was with Roush Fenway Racing, and came home 4th for Rick Ware Racing in last year’s Great American Race. Superspeedways are definitely one of Ragan’s strong suits.
Ty Dillon – It appears Gaunt Brothers Racing will scale back to a part-time schedule this year and run the superspeedway and road course races with Ty Dillon getting the first crack at things with this year’s Daytona 500. Ty has had strong runs here at Daytona in the past–including three top 10s in a row during the 2018 and 2019 seasons–as well as at the other superspeedway, Talladega, where Ty actually has one of the best average finishes (12.0) among active drivers. The Gaunt Brothers Toyota equipment definitely isn’t anywhere near the elite level, though, so Dillon may need some luck to make this year’s Great American Race.
Timmy Hill – With the race-in spots being so competitive this year, it’s going to take a lot of luck for Timmy Hill to make the race. Don’t be surprised if this #66 team’s game plan is to just ride around and hope for a big wreck to take out the other race-in cars in the Duel. With that being said, that strategy worked pretty well for Hill on the superspeedways last season, as he came home with a 15th-place finish in the fall Talladega race as well as respectable results of 24th and 27th in the two Daytona events.
Chad Finchum – Finchum is in the same boat as Timmy Hill above. They’ll be racing for the same team (MBM Motorsports) and likely have similar below-average speed. With the alternating placement for the Duel races (fastest non-charter car is in the first Duel, 2nd-fastest is in the second Duel, etc.) we’ll probably see these two cars in separate race-in events, which hurts their chances of making the race even more.
NY Racing Entry – It’s been reported that NY Racing will field the #44 car in an attempt to make this year’s Great American Race, but as of this posting, information hasn’t been released as to who the driver will be. The team claims that they will attempt to run the full Cup Series schedule this year as a non-charter team.
