The 2021 ARCA Menards Series season was the 69th season of the ARCA Menards Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Lucas Oil 200 on February 13 and ended with the Reese's 150 at Kansas Speedway on October 23. Ty Gibbs was crowned the series champion, having won ten times and finished in the top four in 19 of 20 races.
This ARCA season also featured a historic first, as Fox pit reporter Jamie Little became the first woman to serve as a TV play-by-play announcer in motorsports history.
Teams and drivers Note: If a driver is listed as their own crew chief for a particular race, that means that their entry in that race was a start and park.
Complete schedule Manufacturer Team Driver Crew chief Chevrolet Brad Smith Motorsports 48 Owen Smith Entry was fielded in a collaboration with Fast Track Racing. Brad Smith Brad Smith Kevin Schwarze Jeff Smith Arlis Basham Terry Strange Leo Kryger Wayne Peterson At Kansas in October (Race 20), Brad Smith, initially entered in the No. 48, and Wayne Peterson, initially entered in the No. 06, switched cars after Smith's No. 48 had an issue in practice. Since Peterson intended on starting and parking in the race, he drove the No. 48 and Smith attempted to run the full race in the No. 06. Ford David Gilliland Racing 46 Thad Moffitt Derek Smith Chad Johnston Taylor Gray J. P. Bergeron Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing 18 Ty Gibbs Mark McFarland Venturini Motorsports 15 Drew Dollar Billy Venturini Kevin Reed Jesse Love Parker Chase 20 Corey Heim Shannon Rursch 25 Gracie Trotter Kevin Reed Billy Venturini Kevin Reed Jr. Derek Griffith Parker Chase Brandon Jones Chandler Smith Jesse Love Toni Breidinger Chevrolet Rev Racing 2 Nick Sanchez (R) Steve Plattenberger Toyota Rette Jones Racing with Austin Theriault Landen Lewis Mark Rette Toyota Chevrolet Ford Fast Track Racing 01 Chuck Hiers David Ifft Kevin Cram Chris VanScoy Owen Smith Steven Barton Mike Sroufe Trey Galgon Tony Cosentino Dick Doheny Bryce Haugeberg Michael Harper Owen Smith Stephanie Moyer Mike Basham D. L. Wilson Tony Cosentino Jason Miles Tim Monroe Richard Garvie Willie Mullins Entry was fielded in a collaboration with Mullins Racing. Ford Chevrolet Toyota 10 Jason White Mike Sroufe Jeff McClure Trey Galgon Dick Doheny Chris VanScoy David Ifft Steven Barton Mark Lowrey Ed Pompa Jason Miles Dick Doheny Arnout Kok Willie Mullins Owen Smith D. L. Wilson Brandon Varney Morgen Baird Tim Monroe Ken Schrader Jade Buford Ford Toyota Chevrolet 11 Richard Garvie Steven Barton Mike Sroufe Trey Galgon Dick Doheny Jeff McClure Tony Cosentino Owen Smith Dick Doheny Tony Cosentino Jade Buford Bryce Haugeberg Mason Mingus Ed Pompa Brandon Varney Mike Goudie Owen Smith Ron Vandermeir Jr. Toyota Chevrolet 12 D. L. Wilson Dick Doheny Mike Sroufe Jeff McClure Tony Cosentino Steven Barton Stanton Barrett Nick Igdalsky Dick Doheny Tony Cosentino Stephanie Moyer Ken Schrader Toyota Chevrolet Ford Richmond Clubb Motorsports 27 Tim Richmond Brad Frye Alex Clubb Wayne Peterson Alex Clubb Zachary Tinkle
Limited schedule Manufacturer Team Driver Crew chief Rounds Chevrolet AM Racing 32 Howie DiSavino III Jamie Jones Austin Wayne Self BMI Racing 88 Bridget Burgess Sarah Burgess Bret Holmes Racing 23 Bret Holmes Shane Huffman Sam Mayer Brother-In-Law Racing 57 Bryan Dauzat Bob Rahilly CR7 Motorsports 97 Jason Kitzmiller Todd Myers Empire Racing 8 Sean Corr Derek Hartnagel 45 Rich Bickle Mike Cheek GMS Racing 21 Jack Wood (R) Chad Bryant Daniel Dye Kody Swanson 22 Jack Wood (R) Chad Walter Hendren Motorsports 24 Ryan Unzicker Bill Hendren Hillis Racing Bobby Hillis Jr. Ed Ash Josh Williams Motorsports 60 Brad Perez Josh Williams Max Force Racing 9 Thomas Praytor Tommy Praytor Mullins Racing 3 Willie Mullins Tony Furr Dale Quarterley Alex Quarterley Niece Motorsports 40 Dean Thompson Matt Weber 50 Jett Noland Matt Noyce Morgan Alexander Matt Weber Carson Hocevar Cody Efaw Reeves Racing 88 Scott Reeves Brian Finney Rev Racing 6 Rajah Caruth Glenn Parker Roy Kovski Racing 16 Justin Allgaier Kelly Kovski Kelly Kovski Jon Hanson RSS Racing 28 Kyle Sieg Jeff Green Tony Wilson Spraker Racing Enterprises 63 Dave Mader III Jeff Spraker Steve McGowan Motorsports Zane Smith Bruce Cook Young's Motorsports 02 Toni Breidinger Ryan London Mark Green Mark Green Connor Mosack Bruce Cook Eddie Troconis Ryan London Ford Bull Racing 77 Ed Bull Ralph Solhem Central Coast Racing 13 Todd Souza Michael Muñoz Charles Buchanan Racing 87 Chuck Buchanan Jr. Craig Wood David Gilliland Racing 17 Tanner Gray Chad Johnston Taylor Gray 54 Riley Herbst Richard Boswell Joey Iest Seth Smith Naake-Klauer Motorsports Mike Naake High Point Racing 51 Dean Thompson Travis Thirkettle Huff Racing 36 Ryan Huff Richard Burgess Rette Jones Racing 30 Brittney Zamora Mark Rette Cole Williams Max Gutiérrez Kris Wright Adam Lemke Landen Lewis Stewart-Haas Racing 14 Chase Briscoe Johnny Klausmeier Sunrise Ford Racing 6 Trevor Huddleston Bill Sedgwick 9 Jake Drew Jeff Schrader Toyota Bill McAnally Racing 16 Jesse Love Travis Sharpe 19 Derek Kraus John Camilleri 99 Cole Moore Mario Isola Cram Racing Enterprises 94 Benny Chastain Kevin Cram Bob Schacht Chris Hacker Derrick Lancaster Racing 29 Derrick Lancaster Don Akers Hattori Racing Enterprises 1 Austin Hill David McCarty Jerry Pitts Racing 7 Takuma Koga Jerry Pitts Joe Gibbs Racing 81 Sammy Smith Jamie Jones MacZink Racing 65 Jeffery MacZink Jarod MacZink Pedroncelli Racing 33 P. J. Pedroncelli Ty Joiner Performance P-1 Motorsports 77 Tony Toste Dave McKenzie TC Motorsports 91 Justin Carroll Ron Otto Terry Carroll Venturini Motorsports 55 Derek Griffith Dave Leiner Jr. Parker Chase Toni Breidinger Ford Toyota CCM Racing 7 Eric Caudell Jeremy Petty Chevrolet Toyota Cook-Finley Racing 42 Conner Jones Amber Slagle Sean Samuels Tyler Ankrum Parker Retzlaff Chevrolet Toyota Ferrier McClure Racing 44 John Ferrier Jeff McClure Stephanie Moyer Owen Smith Chevrolet Ford Greg Van Alst Motorsports 35 Greg Van Alst Jim Long Donnie Richeson Ford Chevrolet Jankowiak Motorsports 73 Andy Jankowiak Mike Dayton Andy Seuss Ford Chevrolet Toyota Kimmel Racing 69 Scott Melton Bill Kimmel Will Kimmel Russ Lane Will Kimmel Toyota Ford Vanco Racing 66 Ron Vandermeir Jr. Ron Vandermeir Sr. Jeff McClure Tim Monroe Kyle Lockrow Toyota Ford Visconti Motorsports 74 Mason Diaz Tommy Baldwin Jr. Chris Werth Ron Otto Chevrolet Ford Wayne Peterson Racing Con Nicolopoulos Michael Peterson George Gimbert Wayne Peterson Nate Moeller A. J. Moyer Don Thompson Wayne Peterson Zachary Tinkle Brad Smith
Notes
Changes Teams On November 13, 2020, it was announced that Lira Motorsports would be returning to the series for the first time since 2017, fielding a part-time entry for late model and NASCAR Roots driver Logan Misuraca. She and the team also announced that they would run part-time in the Truck Series in 2021. They started the season at ARCA's preseason test session at Daytona in January where Misuraca was initially on the entry list in a No. 33 car for Lira, which was later withdrawn. Misuraca revealed in an interview in April that her deal with Lira had fallen through. On December 8, 2020, Ken Schrader confirmed that he would be closing down his longtime ARCA team, Ken Schrader Racing, which would only keep its dirt racing operations in 2021. This will be the first season since 1990 where KSR has not competed in the series. Schrader's iconic No. 52 car only competed part-time from 2018 to 2020 due to lack of sponsorship. NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver Andy Jankowiak bought some of the assets of Schrader's team to form his own team, Jankowiak Motorsports, and make his debut in the series. They entered the No. 73 car for Jankowiak at Daytona, Talladega, Charlotte, Pocono, Watkins Glen and Bristol. On December 22, 2020, it was announced that Mullins Racing would be entering a second car in the season-opener at Daytona. However, due to a lack of sponsorship, this did not end up happening. It would have been the first time they fielded a second car by themselves, as Mullins partnered with other teams to lease their owner points in 2017 and 2018 for Robert Bruce to drive a second Mullins car in the race at Elko both years. On December 23, 2020, it was announced that Greg Van Alst, who last competed in the series in 2002, would be starting his own team, the No. 35 Chevy, and running a part-time schedule after buying a car from the closed Chad Bryant Racing. On January 8, 2021, ThePitLane revealed that Nick Sanchez would be competing full-time for Rev Racing in the main ARCA Menards Series in 2021, making it the team's first time fielding a full-time car in the series. Sanchez previously competed full-time for Rev Racing in the East Series in 2020 and part-time in 2019. The official announcement of this came on January 15, where it was also revealed that Sanchez would be using the No. 6. However, Sanchez instead ended up using the No. 2. On January 14, 2021, it was announced that Win-Tron Racing would merge into AM Racing, a Truck Series team that they have had an alliance with for multiple years and that they have shared a race shop with beginning in 2020. Howie DiSavino III will continue to drive part-time in the team's No. 32 car. On January 14, 2021, Truck Series team Young's Motorsports announced that they would expand into the ARCA Menards Series, fielding the No. 02 car on a part-time basis beginning at Daytona. The team participated in the series' Daytona testing in January with Kris Wright (one of their full-time Truck Series drivers) and Toni Breidinger driving. Their first race came at Daytona with Breidinger, who will run a part-time schedule with the team, with it being her first time in the series since 2018.
Drivers On September 15, 2020, it was announced that Sam Mayer, who drove the No. 21 car for GMS Racing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series along with the full season in the East Series (where he won the championship), would move up to the Xfinity Series in June 2021, driving the JR Motorsports No. 8 car, in the second half of the season after he turns 18 and is eligible to race in the series. On November 2, 2020, GMS announced that Jack Wood will drive for them full-time in the East Series and in all of the Showdown races in the main ARCA Menards Series, replacing Mayer in the No. 21. Wood previously drove part-time in the ARCA Menards Series West, fielding his own team, Velocity Racing. The team ended up changing plans again, as Wood instead began driving in the main ARCA Series full-time instead of the East Series. Their full season plans were soon cancelled, as Wood and the team would skip the races at Toledo (in order for him to compete in the Truck Series race at Circuit of the Americas, also driving for GMS) and Mid-Ohio. Soon after, GMS would promote Wood to the Truck Series full-time in their No. 24 truck, and after that, he would only run the Watkins Glen and Bristol ARCA races. On December 15, 2020, it was announced that Michael Self, the championship runner-up for the past two years, would be leaving ARCA in 2021 to take a non-driving position with Trans-Am team Silver Hare Racing, becoming the team's general manager. Venturini replaced Self in the No. 25 with multiple drivers. Gracie Trotter, Derek Griffith, Parker Chase, Brandon Jones, Chandler Smith, Jesse Love, and Toni Breidinger all drove the car during the season. On December 18, 2020, David Gilliland Racing announced that Joey Iest would join the team to drive in six or more East Series races for the team. Because the 2021 East Series schedule features 8 races, and 3 of them being combination races with the big ARCA Menards Series, at least one of Iest's six races will be in a combination race. Iest ended up driving the full season in the East Series and all 3 combination races in the team's No. 54 car.