Entry List

Bass Pro Shops Night Race

Saturday, September 18th, 2021

Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, TN

  • 14 Ford
  • 6 Toyota
  • 18 Chevrolet

  • Bristol Motor Speedway
  • Bass Pro Shops Night Race
  • Pole Winner: Martin Truex Jr
  • Age: 41
  • Team: No. 19 - Bass Pro Shops Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
  • Crew Chief: James Small
  • Start positions set by NASCAR's Performance Metrics Qualifying (PMQ).
  • Martin Truex Jr won the Pole Award for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race by having the highest total PMQ.
  • PMQ is a total number calculated on four performance metrics from the previous race:
  • 15% of the driver's fastest lap time position.
  • 25% of the driver's final race finish position.
  • 25% of the owner's final race position.
  • 35% of the Owner Points position.

  • Saturday, September 18th, 2021
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Kyle Larson wins wild NASCAR Cup elimination race at Bristol

Kyle Larson celebrated victory in Saturday's Bass Pro Shops Night Race with a burnout on the frontstretch at Bristol Motor Speedway, as tempers flared between Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott on pit road.

With an assist from Elliott, who took Harvick's line at the .533-mile concrete track and slowed his progress, Larson made the winning pass on Lap 397 of 400 and sealed his sixth NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season.

At the other end of the spectrum, Aric Almirola, Tyler Reddick, Kurt Busch and Michael McDowell were eliminated from the Playoffs in the cutoff race of the Round of 16. William Byron snagged the final transfer spot into the Round of 12 by finishing third behind Larson and Harvick.

That result gave Byron a two-point edge over Almirola and Reddick, the first two drivers out of the Playoff.

On Lap 465 of 500, as Harvick was attempting to pass Elliott for the lead, the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford pinched Elliott's Chevrolet toward the outside wall, with contact between the cars cutting a tire on Elliott's machine.

Elliott brought his car to pit road on Lap 466, lost three laps in the process and returned to the track behind Harvick. On new tires, Elliott quickly passed Harvick to get one lap back and took Harvick's line at the top of the track.

Larson gradually closed on Harvick and made the winning pass on Lap 397. Larson did an admirable job keeping his car under control as Harvick retaliated with contact to the rear of Larson's Camaro on the frontstretch.

"Yeah, that was an awesome race," said Larson, who won for the first time at Bristol and the 12th time in his career. "It was so cool to be able to race there for the win. Obviously, Harvick and Chase got together. Chase was upset. Kind of held him up. It got Harvick having to move around and use his tires up off the bottom.

"I started to get some dive-ins working off of (Turn) 2, got a big run, decided to pull the trigger, slide him, squeeze him a little bit. Then he had me jacked up down the frontstretch. It was wild."

While Larson celebrated, Harvick and Elliott traded their views of the finish in a heated exchange on pit road.

"It's just chicken (expletive)," Harvick said after the confrontation broke up. "I don't know what else to say. Throw a temper tantrum like you're two years old because you got passed for the lead and got a flat tire. We barely even rubbed. It's all Chase's way, or it's no way. If he doesn't get his way, he throws a fit."

Not surprisingly, Elliott had a different interpretation of the events in the closing stages of the race.

"It's something that he does all the time," said the reigning Cup Series champion, who finished 25th. "He runs into your left side constantly at other tracks, and sometimes it does cut down your left sides. Other times it doesn't.

"Whether he does it on purpose, it doesn't matter. At some point, you've got to draw the line. I don't care who he is and how long he's been doing it. I'm going to stand up for myself and my team, and we'll go on down the road."

Of the 12 drivers who advanced to the second round of the Playoff, four represent Hendrick Motorsports (Elliott, Larson, Byron and Alex Bowman); four represent Joe Gibbs Racing (Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Christopher Bell); and three represent Team Penske (Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney).

Harvick is the lone driver from Stewart-Haas Racing to advance to the Round of 12.

Both Kyle Busch and Bell survived cut tires near the end of the race to clinch spots in the next round. Blaney finished fourth and Bowman fifth on Saturday night. Keselowski, Truex, Erik Jones, Hamlin and Matt DiBenedetto completed the top 10.

Harvick and Elliott later continued their discussion behind closed doors in Elliott's No. 9 transporter.

  • Drivers Entered: 38
  • Laps Scheduled: 500
  • Margin of Victory: 0.227 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 3 Hours 2 Minutes 56 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 87.409
  • Cautions: 8 for 71 laps
  • Lead Changes: 23
  • Green Flag Passes: 1,710 (4.0 passes per green flag lap)

  • Bristol Motor Speedway
  • 61st Annual Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race
  • Race Winner: Kyle Larson
  • Age: 29
  • Team : No. 5 - Valvoline Chevrolet
  • Owner: Hendrick Motorsports
  • Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
  • Kyle Larson won the 61st Annual Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, his 12th victory in 252 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his sixth victory and 21st top-10 finish in 2021.
  • This is his first victory and eighth top-10 finish in 13 races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
  • Kevin Harvick (second) posted his 21st top-10 finish in 41 races at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is his 19th top-10 finish in 2021.
  • William Byron (third) posted his second top-10 finish in seven races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
  • Chase Briscoe (13th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Tyler Reddick, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Michael McDowell failed to advance to the Round of 12.
Harvick celebrates win at Bristol
Bristol, Tennessee - September 19, 2020 : Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Busch Light Ford, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Sean GardnerGetty Images
Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway Entry List
ENTRY # DRIVER HOMETOWN DOB AGE MAKE SPONSOR TEAM CREW CHIEF
1 10 Aric Almirola Tampa, FL Mar 14, 1984 40 Ford Smithfield Stewart-Haas Racing Mike Bugarewicz
2 2 Brad Keselowski Auburn Hills, MI Feb 12, 1984 40 Ford Discount Tire Team Penske Jeremy Bullins
3 11 Denny Hamlin Chesterfield, VA Nov 18, 1980 43 Toyota FedEx Freight Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gabehart
4 51 JJ Yeley Phoenix, AZ Oct 5, 1976 48 Chevrolet Nurtec ODT Rick Ware Racing Mark Hillman
5 22 Joey Logano Middleton, CT May 24, 1990 34 Ford Shell Pennzoil Team Penske Paul Wolfe
6 4 Kevin Harvick Bakersfield, CA Dec 8, 1975 48 Ford Subway Delivery Stewart-Haas Racing Rodney Childers
7 1 Kurt Busch Las Vegas, NV Aug 4, 1978 46 Chevrolet Monster Energy Chip Ganassi Racing Matt McCall
8 18 Kyle Busch Las Vegas, NV May 2, 1985 39 Toyota M&M's Joe Gibbs Racing Ben Beshore
9 19 Martin Truex Jr Mayetta, NJ Jun 29, 1980 44 Toyota Bass Pro Shops Joe Gibbs Racing James Small
10 34 Michael McDowell Phoenix, AZ Dec 21, 1984 39 Ford Love's Travel Stops Front Row Motorsports Drew Blickensderfer
11 6 Ryan Newman South Bend, IN Dec 8, 1977 46 Ford Kohler Generators RFK Racing Scott Graves
12 3 Austin Dillon Lewisville, NC Apr 27, 1990 34 Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Off Road Richard Childress Racing Justin Alexander
13 66 David Starr Houston, TX Nov 11, 1967 56 Toyota The Naked Market Motorsports Business Management Johnny Roten
14 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Olive Branch, MS Oct 2, 1987 37 Chevrolet Kroger JTG Daugherty Racing Brian Pattie
15 5 Kyle Larson Sacremento, CA Jul 31, 1992 32 Chevrolet Valvoline Hendrick Motorsports Cliff Daniels
16 48 Alex Bowman Tuscon, AZ Apr 25, 1993 31 Chevrolet Ally Hendrick Motorsports Greg Ives
17 12 Ryan Blaney High Point, NC Dec 31, 1993 30 Ford Menards / Richmond Team Penske Todd Gordon
18 7 Corey Lajoie Kannapolis, NC Sep 25, 1991 33 Chevrolet Schluter Systems Spire Motorsports Ryan Sparks
19 9 Chase Elliott Dawsonville, GA Nov 28, 1995 28 Chevrolet Hooters Hendrick Motorsports Alan Gustafson
20 21 Matt DiBenedetto Grass Valley, CA Jul 27, 1991 33 Ford Reese / Draw-Tite Wood Brothers Racing Jonathan Hassler
21 17 Chris Buescher Prosper, TX Oct 29, 1992 31 Ford Fastenal RFK Racing Luke Lambert
22 43 Erik Jones Byron, MI May 30, 1996 28 Chevrolet US Air Force Tuskegee Airmen Richard Petty Motorsports Jerry Baxter
23 78 BJ McLeod Wauchula, FL Nov 17, 1983 40 Ford Honor and Remember Live Fast Motorsports Frank Kerr
24 37 Ryan Preece Berlin, CT Oct 25, 1990 33 Chevrolet Viva JTG Daugherty Racing Trent Owens
25 99 Daniel Suarez Monterrey, Mexico Jan 7, 1992 32 Chevrolet Coca-Cola Trackhouse Racing Travis Mack
26 42 Ross Chastain Alva, FL Dec 4, 1992 31 Chevrolet Moose Fraternity Chip Ganassi Racing Phil Surgen
27 23 Bubba Wallace Mobile, AL Oct 8, 1993 31 Toyota McDonalds 23XI Racing Mike Wheeler
28 24 William Byron Charlotte, NC Nov 29, 1997 26 Chevrolet Axalta Hendrick Motorsports Rudy Fugle
29 41 Cole Custer Ladera Ranch, CA Jan 23, 1998 26 Ford Autodesk / HaasTooling.com Stewart-Haas Racing Mike Shiplett
30 53 Garrett Smithley Ligonier, PA Apr 27, 1992 32 Chevrolet Boom Mobile Rick Ware Racing Billy Plourde
31 52 Josh Bilicki Menomonee Falls, WI Jun 3, 1995 29 Ford Insurance King Rick Ware Racing Jason Houghtaling
32 8 Tyler Reddick Corning, CA Jan 11, 1996 28 Chevrolet Food City / Childress Vineyards Richard Childress Racing Randall Burnett
33 00 Quin Houff Weyers Cave, VA Sep 15, 1997 27 Chevrolet Boss Hoss Cycles StarCom Racing George Church
34 77 Justin Haley Winamac, IN Apr 28, 1999 25 Chevrolet Diamond Creek Water Spire Motorsports Kevin Bellicourt
35 20 Christopher Bell Norman, OK Dec 16, 1994 29 Toyota Sirius XM Joe Gibbs Racing Adam Stevens
36 15 James Davison Melbourne, Australia Aug 28, 1986 38 Chevrolet Greatest Generations Rick Ware Racing Ken Evans
37 14 Chase Briscoe Mitchell, IN Dec 15, 1994 29 Ford Cummins / Rush Truck Centers Stewart-Haas Racing Johnny Klausmeier
38 38 Anthony Alfredo Ridgefield, CT Mar 1, 1999 25 Ford Dude Wipes Front Row Motorsports Seth Barbour