The NASCAR subplots to keep an eye on in 2021

This weekend's traditional NASCAR Cup curtain-raiser at Daytona will commence a 2021 season that promises plenty of excitement courtesy of a revamped calendar and some significant driver moves.

Chief of those is the rehabilitated Kyle Larson, who is back in one of the biggest seats in NASCAR at Hendrick Motorsport following the departure of Jimmie Johnson for IndyCar.

Larson's former ride at Chip Ganassi Racing has been taken over by Ross Chastain after Matt Kenseth's final hurrah in 2020, while Erik Jones is now at the helm of the famed Richard Petty Motorsports #43 Chevrolet previously occupied by new 23XI driver Bubba Wallace after Jones' seat at Joe Gibbs Racing was taken by Christopher Bell.

Each will be clamouring to make a good start to life with their new squads in the biggest NASCAR race of them all. So, before poleman Alex Bowman leads the field to the green flag, here's what you need to know.

1. Global superstars get involved

There isn't a great deal that Michael Jordan and Pitbull haven't achieved in their respective careers. One has an Olympic Gold medal and is a household name for his performances on the court; the other is a Grammy-award winning rapper who's flogged over 100million singles. But, until now, one thing neither had done was to be the co-owner of a NASCAR Cup team.

The importance of two new high-profile, non-white owners entering NASCAR cannot be overstated. And they are not here simply to make up the numbers or as a cynical marketing ploy to boost their brands

Along with Cup star Denny Hamlin, Jordan is the co-owner of 23XI Racing, with Bubba Wallace as the driver and the team enjoying a technical link-up with Toyota. Pitbull, meanwhile, has joined forces with former NASCAR and sportscar driver Justin Marks to run the only foreign-born champion in NASCAR's history - Mexico's 2016 Xfinity champion Daniel Suarez - for Trackhouse Racing, which is affiliated to Richard Childress Racing.

The importance of two new high-profile, non-white owners entering NASCAR cannot be overstated. And they are not here simply to make up the numbers or as a cynical marketing ploy to boost their brands.

Pitbull believes in using the platform of NASCAR to improve STEM education in those minority communities historically indifferent to motorsport.

"This is deeper than sponsorships, this is a movement," he says. "This is a revolution, taking a sport and creating a culture because when we first opened SLAM [his school system in minority areas], we brought [along] a NASCAR car.

"If you'd have seen the look on those kids' faces when they saw that car, they just had no clue that it was actually something that was tangible. It's all about creating awareness."

2. NASCAR makes a turn to the right

One criticism (fairly) laid at NASCAR's door in recent years has been the dearth of road courses on the schedule. Instead of throwing something different into the mix, we got lumbered with Kentucky Speedway.

With NASCAR forced into a calendar rejig in 2020 by you know what, the road course at Daytona was used for the first time at Cup level, to go with the increasingly popular Charlotte 'roval'. And for 2021, the road-course presence has been further ramped up, with seven events across the 36 rounds. Sonoma returns, but the real star attraction is a trip to Circuit of The Americas, to use the full-length 20-turn Formula 1 layout.

"I think it's great to have a fresh schedule and probably the most challenging track is CoTA," explains Austin Dillon. "There is so much that road course has to offer. I feel like it's multiple road courses in one - it's one of the biggest tracks we have ever gone to."

Watkins Glen makes a welcome return, with Road America making its first Cup appearance since 1956. The final new road course is a switch from the oval to the infield of Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400.

But the biggest curveball is the spring Bristol round being turned into a dirt race - the first since September 1970. The obvious cashing in of the 'entertainment' card here is one thing, but as Dillon muses: "Some people who are very comfortable on other tracks are not going to be as comfortable at Bristol..."

3. Practice shortage makes it tough for rookies

When NASCAR stuck its head up and became the first major sports championship to resume its season last May, the protocols put in place were strong, and decimated the tried-and-tested three-day-weekend format.

"I remember that first race, I was like, 'Are we really going to go to Darlington and not make any laps and all expect not to crash in Turn 1?'" remarked eventual champion Chase Elliott.

"We can talk to [Briscoe], he can pick our brains, but until he goes out there and feels it for himself and experiences it, it's going to be all-new" Aric Almirola

NASCAR built in competition cautions around 25 to 30 laps into stage one of races, to provide drivers and crew chiefs a limited time to fettle their machines on the go. But it was perhaps no surprise that it was two of the most experienced drivers - Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin - who ran the show during the summer months, racking up win after win as the struggle to drive through any problems afflicted most of the field.

It'll be more of the same this year, with only a few high-profile events - the Daytona 500, the new road courses, Nashville, and the Phoenix finale - featuring any practice or qualifying. With seat time therefore at a premium, the rookies of 2021 have a tougher job acclimatising to the step up from Xfinity, and will be forced to rely on their team-mates to a greater extent than usual.

The biggest challenge?

"Just trying to figure out how the track is going to change," explains Chase Briscoe, the latest recruit through the revolving Stewart-Haas Racing door. "Obviously, guys like Kevin, Aric [Almirola] and even [sophomore] Cole [Custer], they kind of know how these tracks transition through 400, 500-mile races.

"I'll be trying to go with them and figure out what the car needs at the start of the race, or at the end of it. And even things like green-flag pitstops and knowing what their mark is, maybe there's a sign on the wall or whatever they use."

For his part, Almirola is willing to assist Briscoe, but insists that the rookies must learn the hard way.

"Transitioning to the Cup car, he doesn't know what to expect when he fires off at Homestead or even at Daytona how the car is going to drive, what is it going to be like in the draft, how is it going to behave in the middle of three-wide or late in the tyre run," explains the two-time race winner.

"As much as somebody else tells you, until you experience it for yourself, it's really difficult. We can talk to him, he can pick our brains, but until he goes out there and feels it for himself and experiences it, it's going to be all-new."

4. Life in the old girl yet

Like in Formula 1 with the new technical regulations originally planned for this season, the decision was swiftly taken by NASCAR last spring to kick the Next Gen car down the road, giving the current cars a stay of execution. It means that the Gen 7 contraption has an extra 12 months of real-life testing to refine it before it's introduced to competition at the 2022 Daytona 500. And that might be a good thing.

An independent rear-suspension system is probably the biggest trick in the new car's armoury, one that leaves it like a "completely different creature", according to Joey Logano's crew chief Todd Gordon.

2004 champion Kurt Busch noted a big problem with the new steering system on ovals - not exactly ideal when three-quarters of your calendar is on them...

"I would say it's the biggest change we'll see in how we work on our race cars and how they work on a race track, probably comparable with when we went to the Car of Tomorrow back when," he says.

"There are tons of opportunity, and one of the things that we've done pretty well here as a group is exploiting the opportunity that comes with change and look forward to what that brings."

In on-track testing last year, 2004 champion Kurt Busch noted a big problem with the new steering system on ovals - not exactly ideal when three-quarters of your calendar is on them...

"The high load issues with the steering were discovered on the oval, and the feel in the steering was so far off that it made [Martin] Truex [Jr] and I look at each other awkwardly, like, we're going to be on tiptoes around each other with the sequence of trying to learn the aero," he elucidates.

Busch also alluded to the new twin exhaust, which will run under the driver, as another area where attention is needed.

5. The driver who deserves to get a ride in 2022

Usually, a driver is given their P45 if they aren't performing and delivering results, with the name-sticker ripped off their steed at the end of that year. What is most definitely unusual is for a driver performing at a high level to be shown the door with a full season still to complete.

That's the situation Matt DiBenedetto finds himself in after the Team Penske juggernaut opted to place reigning Xfinity Series champion Austin Cindric at the affiliated Wood Brothers team for 2022.

"Winning takes care of it all, that's the best goal!" he replies, when asked when he'd like to finalise a 2022 drive. "I think those talks start popping up around summer time. Most people have deadlines in their contracts, and I think mine is 1 September, so probably around late summer to have discussions or to have an idea of what is going on."

The variety of tracks on which DiBenedetto's 11 top-10 finishes were produced in 2020, including superspeedways and short tracks, was impressive. He has morphed into a consistent, dependable runner in the higher echelons of the midfield, and it would be a travesty if he was sidelined in 2022.

6. The curious case of Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch is in a unique situation at the start of the 2021 season. Now that Jimmie Johnson has departed, he's the sole multiple Cup champion on the grid and - inherited victory in the Busch Clash aside - he's in the middle of an alarming dip in form.

Since winning at Pocono in June 2019, Busch has claimed just two victories in 58 starts. Although the first of those was at Homestead to claim the 2019 crown, drastic action was called for to get the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota back at the front of the pack.

Busch is known to tinker with his car throughout practice more than most, and the loss of such sessions in 2020 was a major contributing factor to the largely anonymous campaign. But there are no excuses now

"I kind of feel like I got fired from the #18 car and moved over to the #20 guys with the way everything played out, how it looks in the shop," he jokes when asked about the 2021 change in crew chiefs at JGR. Long-term chief Adam Stevens has moved over to Christopher Bell's garage, with Ben Beshore coming aboard to boss a driver who is, on his day, arguably the quickest in the field.

Busch's 2020 campaign was a disaster, with various calamities leaving him in a scrap to extend his record of a Cup win in every full-time season. That's something he eventually did with a 'Hail Mary' fuel strategy at Texas Motor Speedway in October, after following a new car-build direction with Stevens.

"I feel like there was something to that, and that kind of opened up some eyes around JGR as a whole," says Busch. "And, hopefully, what we can do to get ourselves back in the right frame of mind to go out there and have a more successful season as a four-car group, not just the #18 team."

Busch is known to tinker with his car throughout practice more than most, and the loss of such sessions in 2020 was a major contributing factor to the largely anonymous campaign. But there are no excuses now. A fresh start means he must deliver.