2013 Food City 500
| Race details[1][2][3] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 4 of 36 in the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season | |||
| Date | March 17, 2013 | ||
| Location | Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 0.533 mi (0.858 km) | ||
| Distance | 500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.89 km) | ||
| Weather | Rain with a temperature around 66 °F (19 °C); wind out of the SW at 9 miles per hour (14 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 92.206 mph (148.391 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||
| Time | 14.813 seconds | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Laps | 117 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 5 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, and Larry McReynolds | ||
| Nielsen Ratings |
4.6/11 (7.519 million viewers) | ||
The 2013 Food City 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on March 17, 2013, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 500 laps on the 0.533 mile (0.858 km) concrete oval, it was the fourth race of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series championship. Kasey Kahne of Hendrick Motorsports won the race, while Kyle Busch finished second. Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five.
Report
Background
Bristol Motor Speedway, is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.533 miles (0.858 km) long.[4] The track's turns are banked from twenty-four to thirty degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked from six to ten degrees. The back stretch also has banking from six to ten degrees.[4] The track has a seating capacity of 160,000 people.[4] The race consists of 500 laps, which is equivalent to a race distance of 266.5 miles (428.9 km).[4]
Before the race, Jimmie Johnson was leading the Drivers' Championship with 129 points, while Brad Keselowski stood in second with 124 points. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. followed in the third position, seventeen points ahead of Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards in fourth and fifth. Mark Martin, with 95, was two points ahead of Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle, as Clint Bowyer was one point ahead of Aric Almirola in tenth, and two points ahead of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.. Paul Menard completed the first twelve positions with 82 points.[5] The defending winner of the race was Keselowski, who won the race in 2012.[6]
Practice and qualifying
Three practice sessions were held before the race. The first session, held on March 15, 2013, was 90 minutes long. The second and third were held on March 16, and were both 60 minutes long.[7] During the first practice session, Keselowski was quickest with a time of 14.869, ahead of Kenseth and Kyle Busch in second and third. Bowyer followed in the fourth position, ahead of Hamlin in fifth.[8]
In the Saturday morning session, Busch was quickest, ahead of Kenseth and Hamlin in second and third. Jeff Burton and Kahne followed in the fourth and fifth positions.[9] Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, and Johnson rounded out the first ten positions.[9] Busch and Keselowski were quickest during ten consecutive laps with an average speed of 124.874 miles per hour (200.965 km/h) and 124.702 miles per hour (200.688 km/h), respectively.[9] In the final practice session for the race, Busch remained quickest with a time of 15.372 seconds.[10] Kahne followed in second, ahead of David Gilliland and Kenseth in third and fourth.[10] Hamlin, who was third quickest in second practice,[9] only managed fifth.[10]
During qualifying, forty-four cars were entered, but only forty-three were able to start because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure.[11] Busch clinched his eleventh career pole position, with a record-setting[3] time of 14.813 seconds.[12] After his qualifying run, Busch commented, “The car felt great during that lap. We’ve never really worried too much about qualifying runs. We unloaded with a really good race car and we just kept fine-tuning to make it a little bit better – and we were able to get it where it was pretty quick in practice.”[3] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Kahne.[12] Hamlin qualified third, Brian Vickers took fourth, and Paul Menard started fifth, after being scored fifteenth in the final practice session.[12] McMurray, Keselowski, Tony Stewart, Martin Truex Jr., and Joey Logano completed the first ten positions on the grid.[12] The driver that failed to qualify was Scott Riggs.[12]
Results
Qualifying
Race results
Standings after the race
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References
- ↑ "Sprint Cup Series Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
- ↑ Brown, Brian (March 13, 2013). "The Food City 500". Rotoworld.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 Livingstone, Seth (March 15, 2013). "Busch breaks Bristol qualifying record". NASCAR. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 "Bristol Motor Speedway Track Facts". Bristol Motor Speedway. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
- ↑ "Pre-race Drivers' Championship Standings". SPEED. Fox Sports. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
- ↑ "2012 Food City 500". Racing-reference.info. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
- ↑ "Food City 500 Practice/Qualifying Times". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
- ↑ "2013 NSCS Food City 500 First Practice Session Speeds". Catchfence. Citizen Journalist Media Corps. March 15, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 "Food City 500 2nd Practice Speeds". Motor Racing Network. March 16, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
- 1 2 3 "Food City 500 Final Practice Speeds". Motor Racing Network. March 16, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
- ↑ "Entry List: Food City 500" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Food City 500 Starting Grid". Motor Racing Network. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2013 season |
Next race: 2013 Auto Club 400 |