NASCAR All-Star Race results 2021: Red-hot Kyle Larson collects $1 million prize at Texas

Edward Sutelan

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NASCAR All-Star Race results 2021: Red-hot Kyle Larson collects $1 million prize at Texas image

Kyle Larson is on some kind of a roll. 

He came into Sunday's 2021 NASCAR All-Star Race having won two straight Cup Series races, at Charlotte and Sonoma. He added another first-place finish and picked up a $1 million check by finishing strong in a final-stage shootout to hold off Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott for the win at Texas. 

This is Larson's second All-Star win, with his first coming in the 2019 race. 

NASCAR went to a six-stage All-Star format for 2021, and Larson showed early that he would be tough as he won the first stage. He appeared back up near the front when he finished second in the fourth stage behind William Byron, and that is how those two started the fifth stage. Larson went into the 10-lap sixth stage in third behind Elliott and Byron, but in the end it came down to Keselowski, Elliott and Larson. Larson made a bold pass on the outside to get in front.

Keselowski passed him at one point but couldn't hold the advantage. Larson pulled back ahead and held off the competition the rest of the way. 

Sporting News provided updates and highlights throughout the All-Star Open qualifying race and the 2021 NASCAR All-Star Race.

MORE: Watch NASCAR races live with fuboTV (7-day free trial)

NASCAR All-Star Race results

Larson picked up his second All-Star Race win on Sunday. With the win, he becomes the eighth driver to win multiple All-Star races. 

Jimmie Johnson's four wins are the most, while Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon are tied for second-most with three. Larson joins Davey Allison, Mark Martin, Terry Labonte and Kevin Harvick with two wins each. 

Pos. Driver
1. Kyle Larson
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Chase Elliott
4. Joey Logano
5. Ryan Blaney
6. Alex Bowman
7. William Byron
8. Aric Almirola
9. Kyle Busch
10. Kurt Busch
11. Christopher Bell
12. Michael McDowell
13. Martin Truex Jr.
14. Cole Custer
15. Kevin Harvick
16. Tyler Reddick
17. Matt DiBenedetto
18. Ross Chastain
19. Austin Dillon
20. Ryan Newman
21. Denny Hamlin

NASCAR All-Star Race live updates, highlights from Texas

9:56 p.m.: Kyle Larson has won the 2021 NASCAR All-Star Race. Keselowski, Elliott, Logan, Blaney round out the top five. 

9:55 p.m.: One more lap to go. 

9:54 p.m.: With three laps left, Keselowski is staying close behind Larson for the top two spots. Keselowski has tried a few times to move on the inside, but Larson isn't giving him space to move up. 

9:52 p.m.: Now Keselowski clears Larson and Elliott for the lead. Larson moves back up in front, but Keselowski remains in second ahead of Elliott. 

9:51 p.m.: Larson comes around from the outside to pass Elliott. Keselowski and Logano are behind them. 

9:50 p.m.: Time for the final round.10 laps to decide the winner of the All-Star Race.

9:46 p.m.: Elliott's pit crew wins the $100,000 prize. 

9:42 p.m.: Ending Round 5, Elliott, Byron, Larson, Blaney and Keselowski are the top five. The final order in the fifth round will be the positions for the sixth and final round. 

9:38 p.m.: Elliott, Byron and Larson has all moved ahead of Keselowski on the outside. Blaney is just behind Keselowski. 

9:36 p.m.: The green flag is back out and Keselowski will lead over Elliott, Byron and Larson. 

9:32 p.m.: Keselowski is back in the lead as he came out of pit road under the caution. 

9:29 p.m.: Now Keselowski and Logano have pitted. Elliott is now in front of Keselowski and Byron. Chastain has some issues, but is able to save himself. Caution flag comes out. 

9:28 p.m.: The two leaders, Byron and Larson, have both gone to pit row. Keselowski and Logano are now at the front of the race, but the two still need to pit. 

9:20 p.m.: Byron and Larson starting off in the top two spots early in the fifth round. Seven cars are making a pit stop right away. 

9:18 p.m.: During Round 5, drivers will be required to make a green-flag pit stop that will be timed, with the fastest crew winning $100,000. 

9:11 p.m.: Larson pulled up close to nearly be side-by-side with Byron right at the end of the fourth round, but Byron kept his first-place finish.

9:09 p.m.: Byron and Larson are in a close fight for the top two spots with four laps remaining. Byron is keeping himself in front of Larson so far. 

9:07 p.m.: DiBenedetto quickly drops down three spots as a cluster of cars pull ahead of him. He's now down to seventh. 

9:03 p.m.: Time for Round 4, the final 15-lap stage. 

9:02 p.m.: Here's a look at how the standings are looking so far. 

8:55 p.m.: The invert will be nine. Byron, who already has one of the lowest cumulative scores, will start the fourth round in front. Bell, Hamlin, Larson and Ryan Newman round out the top five. 

8:55 p.m.: Bowman finishes the third round in the lead. 

8:51 p.m.: Alex Bowman quickly moves his way up and takes the lead over DiBenedetto with eight laps remaining in the third round. 

8:48 p.m.: Fan-vote winner Matt DiBenedetto doesn't take long to pass Almirola for the top spot. Michael McDowell passes Almirola and is now pushing DiBenedetto for the lead. 

8:45 p.m.: Round 3 will start with a full inversion. So Aric Almirola will now be in the pole position to start things out. 

8:39 p.m.: Blaney kept the first-place lead throughout the race and finished Round 2 on top. Keselowski placed second and Chastain was in third, with Kurt Busch in fourth and Byron in fifth. 

8:32 p.m.: Blaney, maintaining his lead, picked up an incredible save after he was nudged by Chastain, who is up to third in the race. Brad Keselowski is now in second. 

8:31 p.m.: The pace car is in and the drivers are off for the start of Round 2. 

8:23 p.m.: The number for the inversion: 12. Ryan Blaney will start the second round in pole position with Larson now in 12th place. The top three will now be Blaney, Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano. 

8:22 p.m.: Larson stays in first to complete Round 1 with Byron in second, Kyle Busch in third, Chase Elliott in fourth and Cole Custer in fifth. 

8:21 p.m.: Very quietly, Ross Chastain has climbed up from being an All-Star Open winner to moving all the way up to 10th in the All-Star Race on the final lap. 

8:18 p.m.: Kyle Larson holding onto his lead as Kyle Busch and William Byron battle it out for second and third. Byron pulled in behind Busch on the outside in a very tight window. All three drivers are separated by split seconds as Busch passes Larson for a few seconds before Larson retakes the lead. 

8:15 p.m.: The green flag is back out. 

8:14 p.m.: Bell had to put on a new set of tires after his spin. He will only be able to change tires twice more during the rest of the 99 green flag laps. 

8:10 p.m.: The caution flag has been waved after Christopher Bell spins a bit, but he's able to recover. 

8:09 p.m.: The green flag is out and the race is underway. 

8 p.m.: Drivers have started their engines for the 2021 NASCAR All-Star Race. 

7:52 p.m.: The Side Deal now singing the national anthem. 

7:25 p.m.: Drivers being introduced as they walk out double saloon doors. 

All-Star Open results

7 p.m.: Think DiBenedetto was happy to get a spot in the All-Star Race? 

6:48 p.m.: DiBenedetto is the winner of the fan vote to keep racing on Sunday. He'll have a shot at the $1 million cash prize, along with Chastain, Reddick and Almirola. 

6:47 p.m.: Almirola will make his fourth trip to the All-Star Race. He led all 10 laps of the third stage to punch his ticket. Only spot remaining is the winner of the fan vote. 

6:42 p.m.: Almirola leads the third stage of the All-Star Open, with DiBenedetto and Buescher right behind him. 10 laps to go to determine who else makes it to the All-Star Race. 

6:36 p.m.: Reddick punches his ticket to the All-Star Race. Both drivers to reach the All-Star Race will be making their first appearances in the race. 

6:33 p.m.: Now Almirola moves ahead of DiBenedetto and is gaining on Reddick with four laps remaining. 

6:30 p.m.: Reddick has a solid lead with 12 laps remaining in the second round. Matt DiBenedetto moves into second after a bold pass over Cindric. Aric Almirola is now up to third with Cindric in fourth. 

6:25 p.m.: The first round is in the books. On to the second stage of the All-Star Open. 

6:20 p.m.: Ross Chastain takes the lead over Reddick late and advances to the All-Star race with the Round 1 win. 

6:17 p.m.: On the FS1 broadcast, Reddick said that the track is "really slick for me" even as he's in the lead. He's up front with three laps to go. 

6:15 p.m.: Daniel Suarez got caught up in Jones' crash and both drivers are knocked out with damage to both cars. 

6:13 p.m.: Just about as soon as the green flag comes back out, Jones spins out trying to push for second. Caution flag back out, third already in the 20-lap first round. 

6:13 p.m.: Green flag back with seven laps remaining. Reddick remains out in front with Chase Briscoe and Erik Jones right behind him. 

6:07 p.m.: The green flag is back out and Tyler Reddick is keeping his lead from the start. Buescher spins out early after the green flag comes out, and this race is back under a caution. 

6:03 p.m.: Chris Buescher and Austin Cindric will both serve pass-through penalties. 

6:02 p.m.: A caution flag is out as Bubba Wallace spins out. It appears there was no contact to cause the spin. 

6 p.m.: The green flag is being waved and the NASCAR All-Star Open is undereway. 

5:49 p.m.: Brigadier General Lisa M. Craig has given the drivers at the All-Star Open the instruction to start their engines. 

5:41 p.m.: Some early news on positioning for the start of the All-Star Open. 

MORE: Explaining the NASCAR All-Star Race format

NASCAR All-Star Race start time

The green flag for the Open, a qualifying race for drivers who didn't automatically make the All-Star field, will wave shortly after 6 p.m. ET. The Open will set the 18th through 20th positions in the 21-car field.

The 21st and last spot in the field will go the winner of an online fan vote . If the top vote-getter also wins a stage in the Open, then the driver with the second-most votes will get in, and so on, until a driver is chosen.

The All-Star Race is scheduled to start at 8:10 p.m. ET. As of Saturday night, the weather was expected to cooperate. The National Weather Service's nighttime forecast for the track  in Fort Worth, Texas, was for clear skies and a low temperature in the low to mid-70s. Daytime temperatures were expected to reach the mid- to upper 90s, however, and the heat index was forecast to climb over 100 degrees.

NASCAR All-Star Race starting lineup at Texas

The NASCAR drivers who automatically qualified for the 2021 NASCAR All-Star Race field earned eligibility in three ways:

— Won a NASCAR Cup-Series points-paying race in 2020 or 2021. Michael McDowell, (Daytona 500) and Christopher Bell (Daytona Road Course) qualified with wins in '21.

— Won a NASCAR Cup Series championship. There are seven past Cup champions in the All-Star Race field: Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr.

— Won a past NASCAR All-Star Race. Eight previous race winners are in the field: Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Harvick, Larson, Logano and Ryan Newman. Harvick is two-time All-Star Race winner (2007, 2018).

The draw for the starting lineup took place Tuesday. Below are the results:

Start pos. Driver Car No. Team
1 Kyle Larson 5 Hendrick Motorsports
2 Kyle Busch 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
3 Christopher Bell 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
4 Cole Custer 41 Stewart-Haas Racing
5 Austin Dillon 3 Richard Childress Racing
6 Chase Elliott 9 Hendrick Motorsports
7 Joey Logano 22 Team Penske
8 William Byron 24 Hendrick Motorsports
9 Brad Keselowski 2 Team Penske
10 Martin Truex Jr. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
11 Michael McDowell 34 Front Row Motorsports
12 Kevin Harvick 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
13 Kurt Busch 1 Chip Ganassi Racing
14 Ryan Newman 6 Roush Fenway Racing
15 Alex Bowman 48 Hendrick Motorsports
16 Denny Hamlin 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
17 Ryan Blaney 12 Team Penske
18 Ross Chastain 8 Chip Ganassi Racing
19 Tyler Reddick 42 Richard Childress Racing
20 Aric Almirola 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
21 Matt DiBenedetto 21 Wood Brothers Racing

Edward Sutelan

Edward Sutelan Photo

Edward Sutelan joined The Sporting News in 2021 after covering high school sports for PennLive. Edward graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019, where he gained experience covering the baseball, football and basketball teams. Edward also spent time working for The Columbus Dispatch and Cape Cod Times.