The NASCAR Cup Series is well underway for 2021, having kicked off at Busch Clash at Daytona back on February the 9th. In that time, we’ve had 17 races, with 12 different winners. Only Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Alex Bowman have managed more than one, with Martin Truex Jr. leading the way with three wins.
But there are still a lot of races left before the end of the season, and as anyone who watches NASCAR knows, things can change very quickly. One bad crash can put a driver out for the season. One mistake on the track can put you from 1st place to last in the blink of an eye. Meaning it can be anyone’s game.
Let’s take a look at the remaining schedule before we get into some predictions ahead of the rest of the season.
NASCAR Cup Series Schedule
| Date | Time | Race | Track | Location | Laps | Miles | Network |
| Sun May 30th | 6:00 PM ET | Coca-Cola 600 | Charlotte Motor Speedway | Concord, North Carolina | 400 | 600 | Fox / PRN |
| Sun June 6th | 4:00 PM ET | Toyota / Save Mart 350 | Sonoma Raceway | Sonoma, California | 90 | 226.8 | FS1 / PRN |
| Sun June 13th | 6:00 PM ET | NASCAR All-Star Open | Texas Motor Speedway | Fort Worth, Texas | TBA | TBA | FS1 / MRN |
| Sun June 13th | 8:00 PM ET | NASCAR All-Star Race | Texas Motor Speedway | Fort Worth, Texas | TBA | TBA | FS1 / MRN |
| Sun June 20th | 3:30 PM ET | Ally 400 | Nashville Superspeedway | Nashville, Tennessee | 300 | 400 | NBCSN / MRN |
| Sat June 26th | 3:00 PM ET | NASCAR Cup Series Race at Pocono-1 | Pocono Raceway | Long Pond, Pennsylvania | 130 | 325 | NBCSN / MRN |
| Sun June 27th | 3:30 PM ET | Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 | Pocono Raceway | Long Pond, Pennsylvania | 140 | 350 | NBCSN / MRN |
| Sun July 4th | 2:30 PM ET | Jockey Made in America 250 Presented by Kwik Trip | Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin | 62 | 250 | NBC / MRN |
| Sun July 11th | 3:30 PM ET | Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart | Atlanta Motor Speedway | Hampton, Georgia | 260 | 400 | NBCSN / PRN |
| Sun July 18th | 3:00 PM ET | Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway | Loudon, New Hampshire | 301 | 318.46 | NBCSN / PRN |
| Sun Aug 8th | 3:00 PM ET | Go Bowling at The Glen | Watkins Glen International | Watkins Glen, New York | 90 | 220.5 | NBCSN / MRN |
| Sun Aug 15th | 1:00 PM ET | Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard powered by Florida Georgia Line | Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course | Indianapolis, Indiana | 82 | 200 | NBC |
| Sun Aug 22nd | 3:00 PM ET | Firekeepers Casino 400 | Michigan International Speedway | Brooklyn, Michigan | 200 | 400 | NBCSN / MRN |
| Sun Aug 28th | 7:00 PM ET | Coke Zero Sugar 400 | Daytona International Speedway | Daytona Beach, Florida | 160 | 400 | NBC / MRN |
| PLAYOFFS – Round of 16 | |||||||
| Sun Sept 5th | 6:00 PM ET | Cook Out Southern 500 | Darlington Raceway | Darlington, South Carolina | 367 | 501.3 | NBCSN / MRN |
| Sat Sept 11th | 7:30 PM ET | Federated Auto Parts 400 | Richmond Raceway | Richmond, Virginia | 400 | 300 | NBCSN / MRN |
| Sat Sept 18th | 7:30 PM ET | Bass Pro Shops Night Race | Bristol Motor Speedway | Bristol, Tennessee | 500 | 266.5 | NBCSN / PRN |
| PLAYOFFS – Round of 12 | |||||||
| Sun Sept 26th | 7:00 PM ET | South point 400 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway | Las Vegas, Nevada | 267 | 400.5 | NBCSN / PRN |
| Sun Oct 3rd | 2:00 PM ET | YellaWood 500 | Talladega Superspeedway | Talladega, Alabama | 188 | 500.08 | NBCSN / MRN
|
| Sun Oct 10th | 2:00 PM ET | Bank of America ROVAL 400 | Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course | Concord, North Carolina | 109 | 248.52 | NBCSN / PRN |
| PLAYOFFS – Round of 8 | |||||||
| Sun Oct 17th | 2:00 PM ET | Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 | Texas Motor Speedway | Fort Worth, Texas | 334 | 501 | NBCSN / PRN |
| Sun Oct 24th | 3:00 PM ET | Hollywood Casino 400 | Kansas Speedway | Kansas City, Kansas | 267 | 400.5 | NBCSN / MRN |
| Sun Oct 31st | 2:00 PM ET | Xfinity 500 | Martinsville Speedway | Martinsville, Virginia | 500 | 263 | NBCSN / MRN |
| PLAYOFFS – Championship 4 | |||||||
| Sun Nov 7th | 3:00 PM ET | NASCAR Cup Series Championship | Phoenix Raceway | Avondale. Arizona | 312 | 312 | NBCSN / MRN |
Predictions
As we’ve said, things can change in the blink of an eye, but with only 12 races left until the playoffs, excluding the two All-Star events, there isn’t much time for things to go wrong. In the current standings, Toyota’s Denny Hamlin leads the Cup Series on 597 points, despite not having one win under his belt this season. Although, he has had nine top 5 place finishes. Which goes to show, winning more races than your opponents doesn’t always get you to the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race.
If you check out some of the top betting sites, such as Justbet Review, you’ll see them heavily tipping Hamlin to certainly make the playoffs with ease, with his ability to finish the races high up. But whilst he has racked up more points than anyone else this season, safe driving may not win you a title in the final race of the season.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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