2021 Daytona 500 (JacksFuture)

P.S:I was asked to change the name so if you just see 2021 Daytona 500 without JacksFuture, just ignore it. They're basically the same page

The 2021 Daytona 500, the 63rd running of the event, was held on February 14, 2021. It was won by Chase Elliott, who won his first career Daytona 500. This race was contested for 206 laps (extended due to overtime finish) around the 2.5 mile (4.0 km) superspeedway.

Entry List
46 cars entered to compete for 40 available spots. 36 teams were automatically locked in to the Daytona 500 with a charter.

Bluegreen Vacations Duels
Kyle Busch won the first Duel, and Ryan Blaney won the second. Ryan Preece and David Ragan qualified through Duel 1, while Austin Cindric and Noah Gragson qualified through Duel 2.

Report
The race began with Kyle Larson on the pole with Alex Bowman alongside. Larson led the first 6 laps before being passed by Kyle Busch. Ryan Blaney assumed the lead two laps later. The first caution of the race came out on Lap 29 when Quin Houff locked his brakes heading onto pit road, slamming into Ryan Preece and triggering a multi car crash involving Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon. Houff would retire while everyone else continued. On Lap 42, Erik Jones got turned by Ricky Stenhouse Jr up into Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez, eliminating the two big new teams. Jones would also retire with damage. The rest of the stage went clean, with Brad Keselowski winning Stage 1 ahead of teammate Joey Logano and Chris Buescher.

After pitstops, racing resumed on Lap 70. Kyle Larson lead before being passed by Chris Buescher on Lap 82. Keselowski lead after that. After pitstops, Keselowski still lead before being passed by Byron, and the next caution came out after Ryan Newman spun. On Lap 126, Tyler Reddick would suffer an engine failure, ending his day. William Byron would win Stage 2.

On Lap 135, racing continued. Matt DiBenedetto lead the field. Ryan Blaney took the lead before Logano passed him for the lead. Behind, Kevin Harvick got turned and hit the inside wall on the backstretch. Racing resumed on Lap 150. Logano lead most of the final stage, subsequently leading the most laps of the race. On Lap 185, Austin Dillon took the lead. 4 laps later, the 8th caution flew when Logano got spun off of Chase Briscoe's front bumper exiting Turn 4. Behind, teammate Cole Custer lost control after being hit by Kurt Busch, and hit the turn 4 wall at high speed. Custer walked away under his own power. Racing resumed on Lap 194, and Elliott took the lead from Austin Dillon, before being passed by Joey Logano who got a huge push from teammate Brad Keselowski. The next lap, Keselowski would get turned by Elliott, triggering the Big One. This collected 13 cars including Keselowski, Elliott (who suffered minor damage), Kyle Larson, Aric Almirola, Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney, Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray and Chase Briscoe. This resulted in a red flag, as well as an overtime. Chase Elliott took the lead on the restart, before another crash involving Logano occurred, as well as including Newman, Alex Bowman, Ross Chastain, Jamie McMurray and Kyle Busch, triggering another red flag and another overtime. Chase Elliott lead until exiting out of turn 4, when Denny Hamlin got a huge surge on the outside with help from Anthony Alfredo and Austin Dillon. Heading into turn 1 on the final lap, Alfredo attempted to pass Hamlin on the inside, but ran into the 11 causing the 11 to spin and Alfredo to hit the outside wall at a vicious angle after being hit by Austin Dillon. Dillon went to the apron to avoid the incident, but got turned himself by Chase Elliott. This accident also collected McDowell, Stenhouse Jr, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Chris Buescher and Austin Cindric. The yellow came out with Chase Elliott leading, and he won his first Daytona 500. This was the first Daytona 500 win for Hendrick Motorsports since 2014, and the first Daytona 500 win for an Elliott since 1987.

Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 65 Stage Two Laps: 65

Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 70

Race statistics

 * Lead changes:29
 * Cautions/Laps:10
 * Red flags:1