NASCAR: Cup series Schedule and Predictions

DOVER, DELAWARE - MAY 16: Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, leads the field during the NASCAR Cup Series Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway on May 16, 2021 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

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 Engle