NASCAR: 3 more potential surprise winners for 2021

Throughout the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, there have been multiple surprise winners. Here is a look at three more who could join that list before the regular season ends.

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season has seen plenty of surprises. There have been plenty of free agency surprises, such as Trackhouse Racing Team purchasing Chip Ganassi Racing and GMS Racing making the move to the Cup Series next year, and there have been quite a few surprises on the track as well.

The season opened up with a major surprise in Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell winning the Daytona 500, breaking an 0 for 357 streak to start his career in the “Great American Race”.

In the very next race at the Daytona International Speedway road course, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell secured his first career victory. Then recently, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola grabbed his first career non-superspeedway victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and his first win of any kind since 2018. In total, there have been 13 different winners through 23 races so far this year.

While Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, two veterans and future Hall of Famers, still haven’t won this year after combining for almost half of the win total last year, it won’t necessarily be a surprise if/when they do.

It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if consistent solid finishers such as Richard Childress Racing teammates Tyler Reddick or Austin Dillon do either. But there are still some potential surprise winners out there who could emerge before the 26-race regular season ends.

Here is a look at three who could pull it off.

Possible surprise winner No. 1 – Ross Chastain

While it would be a surprise to see Ross Chastain win, it may not be as much of a hot take as it seems. The watermelon farmer from Alva, Florida has shown promise in his first (and only) year with Chip Ganassi Racing in the Cup Series.

He has found success in on road courses, having secured top seven finishes in three of the last four road course races, including a fourth place finish in the inaugural race at Circuit of the Americas. Additionally, Chastain grabbed a career-high second place finish in the inaugural race at Nashville Superspeedway.

Chastain now also finds himself in a much more secure spot off the race track as well. He went from debuting with Chip Ganassi Racing to finding out that his team would be sold to Trackhouse Racing Team for next year, but now he knows that he is set to stick with Trackhouse Racing Team and drive the #1 Chevrolet in the 2022 season.

With another road course race on the regular season schedule and Chastain in a much more secure spot for 2022 than he was a few weeks ago, the stars may align for him join his teammate Kurt Busch in victory lane this year.

A win would not only be a pleasant surprise for current team owner Chip Ganassi in his last year as a Cup Series team owner, but it would impress his future bosses at Trackhouse Racing Team as well.