The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series resumes this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. This will be the first race in 30 years in Middle Tennessee, so expect a warm reception to the competitors on Sunday. With that said, let’s now take a look at some of the favorites, sleepers, and a long shot for the 2021 Ally 400.
Larson is feeling unstoppable right now, and he’s got a lot of reason to feel that way. For one, he’s won all of his last three starts, even the All-Star Race over the weekend at Texas Motor Speedway to take home a cool sum worth $1 million. Prior to that, he topped the Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway and the Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. This season, he already has three wins and nine top 5s with 11 top 10s in 16 starts.
Elliott is having a great stretch himself. Outside of Larson, he’s the driver you likely would want to check out the most, as he has not finished outside the top 10 in any of his last seven starts, including All-Star Race. He’s also the last driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race before Larson started his streak. Elliott finished first late last May in the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. He has eight top 5s and 10 top 10s in 16 starts this season.
Hamlin remains winless this season, but you just don’t count him out. He has nine top 5s and 12 top 10s after all so far this year, and has cracked the top 10 in three of his last four Cup starts. He was eighth in Sonoma and seventh in Charlotte. He also had a six-start stretch from March to May in which he didn’t finish outside of the top 4.
Almirola is still chasing for his first win of the season in the NASCAR Cup Series, but he did come away with a victory in the All-Star Open Race. That’s a nice morale-booster for Almirola, who owns an average finish of 15.18 across 44 races on intermediate track races since February of 2018.
It’s turning out to be another disappointing season for Jones, but there’s still plenty of chance for him to win a race and make the playoff cut. Moreover, he’s been doing better in his last few starts, having finished inside the top 16 in all of his last three NASCAR Cup Series races.
Wallace has not made it to the top 10 in any race this season in the NASCAR Cup Series, though he was sixth in the All-Star Open Race last weekend. If anything, that’s a good performance on an intermediate track.
