(Photo: Lars Baron/Getty Images via Red Bull Content Pool)
By Aaron Bearden

The 2021 racing season has been among the most memorable in recent history.

There were tense title fights. Emotional returns. Historic wins. Confusing gaffes. Nearly every series had at least one notable moment to offer.

With the Christmas holiday approaching and the year soon to be wrapped up, it felt like a good time to reflect on some of the key moments from a year of racing none of us that watched will soon forget.

Here, in no particular order, are 21 of the most memorable incidents from a season filled with them. We’ve added videos recapping them – though some may require you to visit YouTube itself to view.

Enjoy,

1) Max vs. Lewis

Everything seemed to be falling apart for Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing. A strong summer seemingly left the young phenom and organization in position to dethrone Mercedes as both drivers and constructors champions, but a late push from the Brackley squad saw them reaffirm their constructors’ dominance while Lewis Hamilton rose to level out the title fight with Verstappen entering the final race in Abu Dhabi. 

Hamilton won three-straight races to put himself in position to overcome Verstappen’s advantage. Mercedes carried the stronger pace into the final weekend, and even an impressive pole run for Verstappen didn’t matter after Hamilton shot ahead of him in the opening lap. 

Verstappen tried to pass Hamilton back, but pushed him off-course only to see Hamilton take a runoff area and drive off with the lead and no penalty from race control. Red Bull attempted varying strategies, even leaving Sergio Perez out to essentially hold Hamilton up at one stage, but it all seemed to be for naught. 

That is, until a safety car for a crashed Nicholas Latifi brought the title contenders back together in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix’s final laps. Hamilton couldn’t afford to pit and risk losing the lead to Verstappen, but Red Bull was free to bring the 24-year-old in for soft tires. 

There were concerns that the race wouldn’t restart and confusion over how lapped traffic would be handled. But in the end race control made a strange choice, allowing the four cars separating the leaders to unlap themselves before bringing the safety car in prior to the white flag. 

That was all Verstappen needed to make his move. In the most dramatic lap of the 2021 season, Verstappen dove under Hamilton for the lead in Turn 5, withstood two final attacks and marched off to the biggest victory of his career. 

Mercedes protested the results and announced its intention to file an appeal, with the matter yet to be fully resolved at the time of writing. But for now Verstappen is Formula 1 World Champion, while Hamilton will have to wait another year to chase a record eighth series title. 

 

2) Helio Scores No. 4 With Meyer Shank Racing

Helio Castroneves had been after his record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 win since 2009. He’d been as close as anyone, too, losing heartbreakers to Ryan Hunter-Reay and Takuma Sato in 2014 and 2017 along the way. 

But at 46 years old and gone from Team Penske, the Brazilian’s time seemed to be running out. He took an opportunity with rising squad Meyer Shank Racing in the No. 06 – a number former teammate Will Power admitted he wasn’t even sure was Castroneves’ in the initial moments after the race. 

It seemed an interesting pairing. Team co-owner Michael Shank is among the most passionate owners in American motorsports, particularly when it comes to the Month of May. But the organization was still building, with only Jack Harvey running full-time and no IndyCar wins to its credit. 

Yet both the driver and team rose to the occasion in a major way during the 105th edition of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. Castroneves found himself in contention to win the race late, surged past breakout Chip Ganassi Racing star Alex Palou coming to the penultimate lap of the race and fended him off amid lapped traffic to take his fourth victory in American open wheel racing’s biggest event. 

In 2020, Sato had won the Indy 500 in front of nobody, with fans not welcome amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A year later, thousands of fans let their jubilant screams echo throughout the town of Speedway, Indiana, chanting “Helio” as Castorneves stood on the wall and swung his arms like a conductor. 

On a sunny May afternoon, Castroneves entered his name among legends A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears as the only four-time champions of the Indy 500. 

In doing so, he helped one of the country’s most historic racing facilities heal. For a few hours, all was right with the racing world. 

 

3) The Year of Kyle Larson

When historians think back to the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, one name will stand above all others – Kyle Larson. 

One year after watching his NASCAR career prospects plummet after he inexcusably uttered a racial slur on a broadcasted iRacing stream during the sport’s pandemic break, Larson was given a second chance by legendary team owner Rick Hendrick. He found himself with the organization that had taken the championship with Chase Elliott while he was out, given all the tools to succeed at the highest level. 

That’s just what Larson did. 

The Californian’s 2021 season can best be described as historic. He became the first driver with a 10-win season since Jimmie Johnson in 2008, led 2,581 of the year’s 9200 laps – the most of any driver in the 36-race era – added an All-Star Race triumph on for good measure and came within one corner and a flat tire at Pocono Raceway from winning four-consecutive races at one stage. 

As if that wasn’t enough, Larson also continued to be an unstoppable star on the dirt. He won many of the year’s biggest races in sprint cars (Knoxville Nationals, Kings Royal), midgets (Chili Bowl Nationals) and late models (Prairie Dirt Classic). 

Wins in three of the four races before the finale helped Larson ease his way into the Championship 4. But in the end it was his No. 5 pit crew that helped guide the 29-year-old to the biggest win of his NASCAR career, pushing Larson past his three championship rivals on the final pit stop of the race. 

Larson held the lead from there to claim the championship race at Phoenix Raceway and wrap up his unprecedented return season with a Cup Series title. 

 

4) Bubba’s Big Breakthrough

Once a driver that just considered himself lucky to be at the Cup Series level, Bubba Wallace finally found himself at a program with winning expectations when he arrived at the newly-formed 23XI Racing for the 2021 season. 

With ‘His Airness’ Michael Jordan among the owners and a heavy connection to Toyota, the new team had the sort of resources on paper to give Wallace a chance to contend. Wallace also brought significant sponsorship after an explosive 2020 that saw him thrust unexpectedly into the political spotlight, which added to the pressure for his team to perform. 

The new organization showed all the trappings of a building group in its first season, struggling to find consistency but showing occasional glimmers of potential along the way. They failed to make the playoffs, but it was during the postseason run that the team finally had its big moment. 

On a rainy Monday at Talladega Superspeedway, Wallace positioned himself in the lead past the halfway mark, fending off challenges from Team Penske drivers Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski before showers again fell upon the Alabama track. NASCAR waited to see if the track could be dried, but in the end there wasn’t enough time for additional laps to be ran. 

The race was called, making Wallace the second Black driver to win a Cup Series race. 

He gave 23XI Racing its first victory and even ended the unofficial McDonalds Curse – a streak of winless races for cars with primary sponsorship from McDonalds dating back to Jimmy Spencer’s win in the 1994 Diehard 500 at… Talladega Superspeedway. 

 

5) IMSA Title Fight Comes Down to One Final Send

Formula 1’s last lap might not have been the most dramatic or controversial of the 2021 racing season.

Nearly a month earlier, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competitors Felipe Nasr and Ricky Taylor found themselves battling for a position that would determine the series champions in the closing minutes of Motul Petit Le Mans. 

Mazda’s Harry Tincknell held the lead ahead, but it was Nasr in second that had the championship position with the clock winding down. He appeared to be poised for a clean run to the finish, but lapped traffic from the other classes kept the race close and allowed Taylor to close in. 

On the final lap, Taylor found himself on the edge of striking distance. So in the final passing zone, he sent his Wayne Taylor Racing Acura deep to Nasr’s inside. 

Nasr blocked. The two made brief contact, with Taylor shooting off into the grass while Nasr continued on with the corner. 

Taylor briefly emerged with the lead, but he had no grip to accelerate. Nasr lunged back inside of him in the final corner and took the checkered flag to give Action Express Racing the DPi class title. 

 

6) New-look DTM Series Ends Season in Controversy

In need of something to revitalize the series, the DTM underwent significant changes entering 2021. The tour became a GT3-based series, with a new mix of drivers and team in the fold. 

The season had its ups and downs along the way, with some both for and deeply against the change in philosophy. But what can’t be denied is that the year ended with one of the most controversial championship deciders of 2021. 

Points leader Liam Lawson found himself at risk of losing the championship after questionable contact from Kelvin van der Linde’s Audi in the opening turn at the Norisring. But entering the final laps, he still seemed poised to take the title. 

Maximilian Götz was second in the standings with time running out after clashing with van der Linde himself in a battle for third that saw the Audi driver forced to pit with a puncture. 

A third-place finish wouldn’t be enough for Götz, but the Mercedes AMG driver was given an unexpected — and highly controversial — blessing from his manufacturer. 

With just three laps remaining, the leading Winward AMG cars of Phillip Ellis and Lucas Auer slowed dramatically and allowed Götz through for the lead. He drove off to an unexpected victory from there, taking the DTM title from a furious Lawson by three points as the losing driver showed visible frustration. 

 

7) Mostert Conquers the Mountain

Few tracks in all of motorsport require the focus and precision of Australia’s Mount Panorama, home of the Bathurst 1000. So when someone performs something truly special on the circuit, it tends to be a sight to behold. 

Such was the case at the start of December, as Chaz Mostert set a new Repco Supercars Championship track record with a 2:03.373s lap around the track. 

The lap put Mostert’s driving ability on full display, showcasing the complete commitment and pinpoint precision required to find maximum speed on Mount Panorama. Mostert and Walkinshaw Andretti United went on to overcome mid-race tire troubles and win the Bathurst 1000 to complete a tricky Supercars season. 

There’s not much else to say about this one. Just hit play and enjoy the spectacle. It speaks for itself. 

 

8) Daniel Hemric Finally Gets It Done

Daniel Hemric didn’t have to tell you he was sick of hearing it. It was apparent. 

For seven years, during a career that had seen him rise all the way to the NASCAR Cup Series with Richard Childress Racing (RCR), only to lose his ride to Tyler Reddick after a single year, Hemric had heard the questions. 

When would he win? Why had he always come up short? 

The success had been there. Hemric had been to two prior Championship 4’s with RCR before 2021. He had over 50 top-fives between the various national series. But for one reason or another, fate had always kept Hemric from victory lane in the NASCAR ranks. 

That trend continued until the 2021 Xfinity Series finale at Phoenix Raceway, where Hemric found himself once again among the championship contenders, this time with Joe Gibbs Racing. 

It seemed fate would again choose another winner as defending champion Austin Cindric cleared Hemric on the final restart. But heading into the last set of turns, Hemric saw that he was within range for a final attack and dove deep into the corner, making contact with Cindric’s No. 22 Ford. 

Hemric gassed up his No. 18 Toyota, slammed until Cindric’s door and drag raced him to the start-finish line. 

The move proved to be victorious. Hemric edged ahead of Cindric and scored his first Xfinity Series win, with the added bonus of securing the series championship with it. 

Moments later, his team reached out to him on the radio. 

“How about that, champion? Your first win. You’ll never have to answer that stupid question again.” 

His two-word respond was all that needed to be said. 

“Never again.” 

 

9) Marc Marquez gets back to victory lane

No one was certain when Marc Marquez would be back atop the MotoGP podium. 

After suffering a devastating shoulder injury in a nasty high side at Jerez and being plagued by complications from that injury through 2020, Marquez underwent reconstructive surgery that left him struggling with his recovering arm entering the 2021 season. 

The six-time series champion returned to MotoGP competition in April, contesting the third round of the season in Portugal before returning to full-time competition. The full 2021 campaign was a difficult one for Marquez as he managed the injury, but over time he began to show glimpses of his old form. 

Marquez’s return finally saw its breakthrough moment in June at the Sachsenring, with the Spanish star looking every bit up to his old form as he held off a charging Miguel Oliveira to secure his first MotoGP victory in 581 days. 

The Sachsenring king was back.

Marquez went on to score two more wins at Circuit of the Americas and San Marino, offering promise that he could be a contender again when MotoGP returns to action in 2022. 

 

10) Doug Coby Kicks off SRX In Style

There was a lot to love about the debut season from the Superstar Racing Experience. 

From Tony Stewart’s championship run and Marco Andretti’s win at Slinger Super Speedway to the battle between Chase and Bill Elliott in the finale at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, the short-lived summer tour delivered on much of the potential it showed when it was announced. 

But perhaps no moment from the tour of largely-semi-retired stars shone brighter than the celebration from Doug Coby, a short track ace that beat the veterans in the first race at Stafford Speedway. 

In front of an adoring crowd, Coby accidentally slipped when climbing out of his car and fell to the track. 

He recovered quickly, bouncing up and climbing atop his machine to the cheers of the many fans in attendance. 

It wasn’t pretty. There weren’t a lot of style points. But it was pure, unadulterated fun – in a year when many racing tours seemingly couldn’t get out of their own way. 

That set the standard that SRX carried through its full six-race slate. 

 

11) Michael McDowell’s Persistence Pays Off

The 2021 Daytona 500 was one of the most bizarre races of the year. NASCAR’s grand season opener saw a lengthy weather delay, concerns about fog and one of the most awe-inspiring, awful wrecks you’ll ever see to close out the event. 

But in the wee hours of the morning, with a car taped on the right side after an early hit in the wall, Michael McDowell saw the unique event yield the magnum opus of his lengthy NASCAR career. 

Starting his 14th NASCAR Cup season, McDowell dodged the crashing Team Penske duo ahead on the final lap and managed to stay in front of defending Cup champ Chase Elliott until the caution lights lit up seconds later to score a shocking victory in NASCAR’s biggest race for Front Row Motorsports. 

In one triumphant moment, all of his years of effort to stay in the sport paid off in the grandest of ways. 

“To think that (I’d) get my first Cup win at the Daytona 500 is just unbelievable,” McDowell said. “For so many years, just grinding it out to stay in this sport, and to finally get a great opportunity with Bob Jenkins and Front Row Motorsports. To do this where we keep putting ourselves in that position at the end of the Daytona 500.

“A lot of times I made the wrong move at the wrong time or went too soon or didn’t go with the right guy. Tonight it just went right. To be a Daytona 500 champion is just amazing.” 

 

12) A Press Conference For the Ages

The 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series finale was the least dramatic of the four title races held in the last weekend of the NASCAR season – an ironic ending to a year filled with contact and crashes for the tour, particularly in the prior week at Martinsville Speedway. 

Ben Rhodes worked himself into the title position on the final 45-lap run and brought home a third-place finish to score his first series championship. He bookended the year with success, winning the opening two races and scoring a title in last one for the biggest achievement of his NASCAR career. 

No, the true treat of the Truck Series finale had nothing to do with the on-track action. It was the post-race press conference that followed. 

With the help of his “good friend Bud (Light),” Rhodes delivered one of the funniest championship conferences you’ll ever see – filled with sound effects, funny phrases and more than a few distractions. 

If you haven’t seen it yet, take 20 minutes to sit back and enjoy the show. 

 

13) Brad Binder Survives In the Wet

Brad Binder only had one victory during the 2021 MotoGP season, but the series sophomore delivered a ride that’ll make it one to remember for the rest of his life. 

Racing at KTM’s home track in the Austrian Grand Prix, Binder found himself in the lead on the final laps after he elected to race on with slicks at the other leaders pitted with rain beginning to fall. 

What followed were some of the tensest laps of the year for any competitor. But in the end, Binder held on with his slick tires despite treacherous conditions in one of the masterclass performances of the year to deliver a memorable victory for his KTM squad. 

 

14) Jesse Love Steals 2021 ARCA Title After Race-Ending Confusion

Never before has a pass for 14th place been so dramatic. 

Jesse Love entered the 2021 ARCA Menards Series West finale with a one-point championship lead as he looked to defend his 2020 crown, but a disappointing afternoon saw him trailing Jake Drew by one point in the closing laps. 

That appeared to be how the order would run to the end, but a last-lap surprise saw the title change hands in shocking fashion. 

In a cruel twist, Drew’s teammate, Trevor Huddleston, slowed on the last lap. That allowed Love to scoot past him and claim the position he needed to lock up the 2021 title. 

This is still a confusing ending to look back on more than a month after it occurred. We may never fully know what transpired to deliver Love his second ARCA West championship. But it matters not in the record books – Love’s the champ, no matter how strange his path to victory. 

 

15) Dave Blaney’s Still Got It

When the World of Outlaws returned to Sharon Speedway for the first time in 14 years back in May, the fans in attendance never could have prepared themselves for the special result that lied ahead. 

More than 25 years removed from his 1995 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series championship, track owner Dave Blaney shocked the Outlaws and snuck past fellow Ohioan Sheldon Haudenschild on the final lap to score his 95th feature win. 

The 58-year-old climbed out of his No. 10 machine to a cacophony of cheers from the crowd, which was lifted into pandemonium by the unexpected triumph. 

Blaney’s win was his first in over 23 years with the Outlaws, stretching back to a 1997 victory at Southern New Mexico Speedway. He also set the record for longest gap between first and last victories, with 36 years, 1 month and 16 days separating the last win from his first victory at Tri-City (IL) Speedway on April 5, 1985. 

He still isn’t the oldest Outlaws winner — that mark goes to Sammy Swindell — but Blaney was easily the most surprising one of 2021. 

“This is such a proud moment for us,” he said afterward. “This is a car we built ourselves and we just beat the Outlaws.

“Holy crap. It’s a dream come true, and it happened at my home track.”

 

16) F1’s Wet-Weather Debacle in Spa

Many Formula 1 drivers have made their names in the wet, from Ayrton Senna’s ‘Lap of the Gods’ in 1993 to Sebastian Vettel’s shocking win for Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) in the wet at Monza in 2008. 

But there’s a limit to the amount of moisture F1 can compete in – particularly at a dangerous track like Spa-Francorchamps. 

That’s what led FIA officials to pull the plug on this year’s Belgian Grand Prix without contesting a single lap of green-flag action, a move that made sense from a safety perspective. 

But it wasn’t calling the race that stood out on the day in August. It was the fact that the FIA considered the event a complete event. 

Pole-sitter Max Verstappen was credited with a victory after completing three laps behind the safety car on race day, with the race officially lasting just three minutes and 27 seconds. 

It was easily the shortest “race” of F1 history, coming well under the 14-lap Australian Grand Prix in 1991. The event awarded just half-points, but still played a small role in Verstappen’s eventual title pursuit, both giving him points and effectively serving as the tiebreaker win that meant Hamilton had to ensure he finished in the points and ahead of Verstappen to have a chance at the title in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. 

In a year filled with controversy, the Belgian Grand Prix was quickly lost in the shuffle. But the farcical “race” will be an event forever remembered for its disappointing record in F1 history. 

 

17) Ty Gibbs Shows Out

There were many drivers on the list of favorites when the NASCAR Xfinity Series held its second race of the 2021 season on the Daytona International Speedway road course. AJ Allmendinger. Austin Cindric. Shoot, maybe even Andy Lally. 

But few could have anticipated the breakout performance from Ty Gibbs. 

Making his first series start with Joe Gibbs Racing, the grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs used a deep dive through the dirt heading into Turn 1 to take second in overtime. He passed leader Jeb Burton one corner later and never looked back, claiming a breakthrough victory in his debut. 

The 18-year-old had already been showing promise during starts in ARCA competition. But it was February’s triumph in Daytona that elevated Gibbs into consideration as one of NASCAR’s top young prospects. 

 

18) Cameron McAdoo’s Gritty Performance

On paper, Cameron McAdoo’s third-place Supercross run in the second of three 250SX West races at Atlanta Motor Speedway was nothing more than a solid podium. 

But the result meant so much more after what he had to battle through to get there. 

McAdoo was running fifth in the initial race start when he suffered one of the season’s most vicious crashes, slamming head-on into a ramp in an accident that most assumed would end his night, if not season. 

McAdoo laid on the edge of the ramp for some time as medical staff attended to him. But when his trip down it resulted in a red flag, McAdoo saw that his bike was operational and, in a moment of pure heart, pleaded his case to be allowed to resume competition. 

Despite a clearly-hurt leg and perhaps against better judgement from the medics on-site, McAdoo was given an evaluation for a head injury and then cleared to compete. 

What followed was a podium run that led Supercross great Ricky Carmichael to call him “tough as a $2 steak” and arguably the most memorable ride of the 2021 Supercross season. 

 

19) MX-5 Cup. All of It. Seriously.

The Global Mazda MX-5 Cup was the series that kept giving in 2021, providing a litany of intense finishes. 

To make any one race the subject of a highlight would do a disservice to the series, but to leave it out altogether would also be unfair to one of racing’s hidden gems. 

So enjoy a few of the year’s best finishes. 

First up, there’s intense run to the checkered flag from the first race at Daytona international Speedway. 

Then there was an insane three-wide photo finish at Sebring International Raceway. 

And who could forget this intense finish from Road Atlanta? 

If you’ve never watched this series, then you’ve missed out on some classic races. 

 

20) Formula E’s Battery Runs Low in Valencia

There were a lot of positives to enjoy from Formula E’s latest season. The all-electric tour delivered a Monaco race that vastly outshone Formula 1’s race in Monte Carlo. Nyck de Vries’ title run was a tightly-contested one that came down to the final race, through a season filled with close finishes and drama. 

But if there’s one race that’ll be remembered from this year’s Formula E season, it’s Valencia. 

Not for good reason, either. 

Some confusion over the energy subtracted from the cars by the FIA after a safety car left the entire field with little-to-no energy heading into the final lap of the race. 

All but a select few drivers ran out of usable power, resulting in a disastrous, but admittedly entertaining, ending to a messy race. 

 

21) Xfinity’s Three-Car Bristol Battle

This year’s Bristol Night Race was an eventful affair, leaving Kevin Harvick smashing his helmet on his apparently-indestructible glasses after an angry Chase Elliott held him up from a lap down and allowed Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson to slip by the 2014 Cup champ in the closing laps for the win. 

But even that finish had nothing on the prior night’s craziness, delivered by Xfinity Series stars AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric and Justin Allgaier. 

With both the race and regular season title at stake, the trio of top talents put together a two-lap dash for the ages in NASCAR overtime. All three drivers saw a shot at the lead during some stage of the sprint, with Allmendinger only just prevailing as he and Cindric crashed across the line and into Turn 1 to the delight of the fans in attendance. 

Allmendinger later played up the win to the crowd, enjoying a moment of excitement before making a mandatory trip to the infield care center while the remains of his battered car were taken to victory lane. 

Bristol Motor Speedway has seen its fair share of memorable finishes. But perhaps none have been as chaotic as NASCAR’s second series delivered on this dark September night. 

 

There you have it, a list of 21 memorable moments from a year filled with them.

We could have included many more. From NASCAR’s dirt race in Bristol to Kody Swanson’s pieced-together USAC Silver Crown title run, there were more noteworthy races this year than any one list could cover.

What have been your favorite moments of the 2021 season? Let us know in the comments or tweet at us at @MotorsportsBeat.

Keep the Beat marching on. Support us on Patreon.
Become a patron at Patreon!
2021 Aaron Bearden Featured Motorsports