STEWART-HAAS RACING
NASCAR All-Star Race and All-Star Open
Date: June 13, 2021
Event: NASCAR All-Star Race and All-Star Open (non-points events)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile oval)
NASCAR All-Star Race (100 laps, broken into six stages (15 laps/15 laps/15 laps/15 laps/30 laps/10 laps):
● Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
● Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
● Stage 2 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)
● Stage 3 Winner: Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
● Stage 4 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
● Stage 5 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Note: The NASCAR All-Star Race was comprised of drivers who won a points-paying race in 2020 or 2021, fulltime drivers who have previously won the All-Star Race, fulltime drivers who have won a NASCAR Cup Series championship, and drivers who advanced from the All-Star Open.
SHR Finish in NASCAR All-Star Race:
● Aric Almirola (Started 20th, Finished 8th / Running, completed 100 of 100 laps)
● Cole Custer (Started 4th, Finished 14th / Running, completed 100 of 100 laps)
● Kevin Harvick (Started 12th, Finished 15th / Running, completed 100 of 100 laps)
All-Star Open (50 laps, broken into three stages (20 laps/20 laps/10 laps):
● Race Winner: Aric Almirola of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
● Stage 1 Winner: Ross Chastain of Chip Ganassi Racing (Chevrolet)
● Stage 2 Winner: Tyler Reddick of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
● Fan Vote Winner: Matt DiBenedetto of Wood Brothers Racing (Ford)
Note:The All-Star Open was the undercard event to the NASCAR All-Star Race, where non-qualified drivers attempted to race their way into the All-Star Race by winning any one of the race’s three stages or by winning the fan vote.
SHR Finish in All-Star Open:
● Aric Almirola (Started 10th, Finished 1st / Running, completed 50 of 50 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 9th, Finished 4th / Running, completed 50 of 50 laps)
Notes:
● Almirola raced his way into the All-Star Race by winning the All-Star Open.
● Almirola’s eighth-place result marked his third straight top-10 in the All-Star Race. He finished sixth in 2019 and ninth last year.
● Custer’s 14th-place finish marked his best All-Star Race result. He finished 16th last year.
● Harvick has made an appearance in every single NASCAR All-Star Race in his 21-year career, the most of any driver eligible for this year’s All-Star Race.
● Kyle Larson won the All-Star Race with a .206 of a second margin of victory over runner-up Brad Keselowski.
● The All-Star Race featured 11 lead changes among eight different drivers. Twenty-one drivers comprised the field.
Texas Quotes:
Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“As a team we had a really solid day. Winning the final stage (of the Open) to transfer to the All-Star Race today was the first goal, and we had a fast Smithfield Ford to get it done. It was honestly one of our most solid days all year. We didn’t make any mistakes, and we ran better than we have all year at a 1.5-mile track. And we finally had a race with no mistakes. We needed that heading to Nashville.
“I’m just so thankful for all of our partners that continue to stick behind us even through these bad times. I’ve gotten so many messages of support from our partners – everybody at Smithfield, Ford, GoBowling, Pit Boss, Honey Stinger, Shady Ray sunglasses – everybody continues to build me up and support me even though it’s been a rough year. I’m just proud to give them something to smile about.”
Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“Well, we didn’t win the money tonight, but I think we at least leave here with a better idea on a lot of different things. We had nothing to lose, and I think we made the most of our track time. I think we leave here having gained some knowledge that is going to pay off as we head into the second half of the season.”
Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“We had a really fast Ford Performance Racing School Mustang, and I really thought we were going to have a chance to race our way in. Unfortunately, that incident with the 43 sent us back further than we needed to be and really messed up our handling. It would’ve been cool to race for a million dollars, but it was still fun to be out there and running up front.”
Next Up:
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to points-paying racing on Sunday, June 20 with the inaugural Ally 400 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway. The race gets underway at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
-SHR-
