The race was marred by a late race crash including Trey Hutchens, Johnny Sauter, and Drew Dollar. Coming into Turn 3, Hutchens would blow a tire and was slow on the track- crucially, he could not get to pit road, and was stuck on the frontstretch, meaning he could not get to pit road for an extremely long time, or until the caution came out. Sauter and Dollar were in a battle for position coming off Turn 4 when Sauter, who could not see Hutchens, slammed the back side of Hutchens car with the right side of his, causing both cars to be destroyed in the incident. Dollar would also be involved, but was able to continue. The crash would lead to major controversy, with critics saying that NASCAR should have noticed Hutchens' car on track being slow, and that the caution should have been put out.[2][3]
The first and final practice would take place on May 28, 2021 at 12:34 PM EST. Austin Hill of Hattori Racing Enterprises would set the fastest time, with a 30.391 and an average speed of 177.684 miles per hour (285.955 km/h).[6]
Qualifying was to be originally held on Friday, May 28 after practice- however, rain would fall on the track, and qualifying was canceled. Therefore, NASCAR reverted to the metric system they had been using- a formula based on the previous race, this being the 2021 Toyota Tundra 225. As a result, Todd Gilliland of Front Row Motorsports would win the pole.[11]
Following the lap 116 wreck, Hutchens spoke to the media, looking visibly shakened. He would report that "I cut a tire getting into (Turn) 3 and tried to slow down to get to pit road and the hole closed up, so I ended up slow down the frontstretch and (Sauter) just ran into the back of us. … They were coming pretty hard. They probably needed to throw the yellow a little sooner.”[3]
