Nascar The 2013
The 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 65th season of NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 42nd modern-era Cup season. The season began on February 16, 2013, at Daytona International Speedway, with the Sprint Unlimited, followed by the Daytona 500 on February 24.[1] The season ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 17.
Nascar The 2013
The 2013 season was the first season using the Generation 6 race car, the Car of Tomorrow's successor, and marked the return to the qualifying procedure that was used before the 2005 season. However, at the two road courses on the schedule drivers qualified in groups instead of single laps. In September 2012, NASCAR removed a ban introduced in the 2008 season on testing at tracks that were on any of the premier series' schedules, replacing it with a testing limit.
In preparation for the 2013 season, NASCAR allowed the manufacturers participating in the series to develop a new car that resembles the production models. Areas of the car that were allowed to be changed were the area above the doors, hood and truck lid.[83]
Ford was the first to announce their 2013 car on January 24, 2012, with the Ford Fusion;[84] however, the company modified the car in June 2012 by designing a new grille and hood lines.[85] Afterward, Dodge revealed their 2013 Dodge Charger,[83] while Chevrolet announced that the Chevrolet Impala would no longer race in the series, instead the Chevrolet SS, which is expected to go into production in 2014, would.[86] On May 22, 2012, Toyota announced that the Toyota Camry would continue to be their race model for the 2013 season.[87]
On July 30, 2012, NASCAR approved each of the manufacturer's design after the results of the final aerodynamic test, allowing them to begin making parts for the cars. The new cars are expected to premiere in the 2013 Daytona Speedweeks.[88] Dodge announced on August 7, 2012, that it would not participate in the series during the 2013 season after recording 55 victories in the previous eleven years.[89][90]
To benefit the safety of the drivers, NASCAR improved the roll cage that surrounds the driver after a large amount testing in the NASCAR Research and Development Center. The improvement features a new forward roof bar and center roof support bar that intersects in the center of the front section of the roll cage.[91] NASCAR later released cosmetic changes to the 2013 car, including the driver's last name on the windshield, the sponsor's logo placed on the roof, the team logo being moved from the headlights to the front bumper, and the reduction in size of contingency decals and car numbers due to the smaller size of the car.[92] During the Autoweek's Racing Conference in Detroit, Michigan, NASCAR announced that the manufacturer logos will be placed on either side of the drivers' name to increase manufacturer identity.[93]
Furthermore, NASCAR removed the top-35 qualifying rule that was introduced in 2005 to revert to the previous qualifying rule. The rule was originally established so that full-time teams, as well as their sponsors, were ensured a spot in the race when 50+ cars attempted to race. For 2013, the top 36 starting positions were set by qualifying speed. Positions 37 to 42 were set by provisionals (based on owners points). Similar to previous seasons, the forty-third position were given to the most recent series champion who didn't qualify on time or the next available team in owner's points. Unlike in previous years, the previous years' Owners points were only used for the first three races of a season instead of five. Also, NASCAR instituted a random draw to determine qualifying order instead of inverting the first practice speeds. Director of Competition Robin Pemberton stated the change was made due to teams manipulating their first practice run to get a later qualifying draw.[98]
The 2013 schedule differentiated slightly from the 2012 season. The fall Chase races at Kansas Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway (Hollywood Casino 400 and the Camping World RV Sales 500) returned to their original positions on the schedule because of the completion of Kansas Speedway's reconfiguring project. That was the only change on the whole schedule.[1]
The 2013 season began on February 16, 2013, at Daytona International Speedway with Kevin Harvick winning the 2013 Sprint Unlimited in his final season with Richard Childress Racing.[111] Five days later, Harvick recorded another victory at Daytona International Speedway in the first qualifying race of the Daytona 500, while Kyle Busch was victorious in the second qualifying race.[112]
Johnson retook the lead shortly after the lap 154 restart and held the lead until lap 244 when he was beaten off of pit road by Kenseth, who didn't take any tires following a caution for Brian Vickers' collision with the wall. On the restart, Kenseth restarted on the outside and pulled away as Johnson spun his tires. Joey Logano tried to make it three-wide in turn one. This partly resulted in Johnson's car losing control and spinning onto the track apron. Johnson made a pit stop and restarted 25th on lap 251. However, Kenseth continued to lead, and he picked up his fourth win of 2013, ahead of Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer, Logano, and Kurt Busch. Johnson battled back to finish ninth after his spin.
The spin by Bowyer led to controversy as to whether or not Bowyer spun himself out intentionally to allow Truex to win the tiebreaker with Newman. While Bowyer claimed that the spin was unintentional, audio from Brian Vickers' car was uncovered, revealing that Ty Norris had Vickers unnecessarily pit on the final restart in order to help Truex into the Chase. As it turned out, this forced Newman to the back of the cycle on pit stops, ensuring he would not finish high enough to break the tie with Truex. On September 9, 2013, NASCAR docked 50 owner/driver points from all three MWR teams. As the penalty was applied before points were reset for the Chase, this had the effect of ejecting Truex from the Chase and putting Newman in his place. Bowyer's totals were not affected, as he was locked into the Chase at Bristol. While NASCAR determined Bowyer's spin was not intentional, it found that MWR had manipulated the Chase standings by having Vickers pit improperly. Norris was also suspended indefinitely.[120][121]
Kenseth held the lead on the restart as Johnson started to fall back. The eighth caution came out on lap 230 for another spin by David Reutimann and Johnson led Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr., among others, down pit road as Kenseth and many others stayed out. Kenseth led on the lap 235 restart but was passed by Clint Bowyer on lap 239 and quickly fell back, falling all the way to 17th by the ninth caution on lap 285. Meanwhile, Johnson recovered to third by the caution as Jeff Gordon took the lead from Bowyer a lap earlier (lap 283). The caution came out for Reed Sorenson's stalled car on the track. Gordon and Johnson were the first two off of pit road and they held those positions on the lap 291 restart. On lap 298, the tenth caution fell over the track for debris off of Earnhardt's car. Landon Cassill was spun by Kasey Kahne on lap 309 to bring out the eleventh caution. Johnson fell to fourth on the lap 315 restart, and Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman got together on lap 319 in turn one, causing Newman to spin and bring out the twelfth caution. On lap 328, Juan Pablo Montoya made it three-wide with Marcos Ambrose and Truex, causing Truex to get spun and cause the 13th caution. Jimmie Johnson pitted from sixth and fell to 20th for the lap 333 restart. Debris on the frontstretch caused the 14th caution on lap 338, and Gordon and Kyle Busch made pit stops, giving the lead to Denny Hamlin. Clint Bowyer then took the lead from Hamlin on lap 351 and led until Cole Whitt spun and hit the wall in turn three on lap 366 to cause to 15th caution. Hamlin was the first off of pit road, but Elliott Sadler stayed out to take the lead. Matt Kenseth took the lead on lap 374 and J. J. Yeley spun on lap 380 to bring out the 16th caution. Kenseth continued to lead through the 17th caution on lap 416 for debris in turn one and the following pit stops and held the lead on the lap 424 restart. Kenseth was passed for the lead by Jeff Gordon on lap 479 and Gordon scored his first win of the season ahead of Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, and Jimmie Johnson. The win awarded the 2013 Manufacturer Championship to Chevrolet and the finishes by Kenseth and Johnson caused a tie in the championship points, with the tiebreaker going to Kenseth with more race victories.
After heavy battling on the restart, Johnson and Carl Edwards got together in turn one on lap 163, causing them to fall to 26th and 27th, respectively, as J. J. Yeley spun behind them. Ryan Newman took the lead by not pitting, as Matt Kenseth had a 25-second stop to fall from seventh to 29th. Johnson restarted 25th and worked his way back into the top 15, as Newman continued to lead over Joey Logano. Lap 191 saw a hard crash for David Reutimann in turn one to cause to seventh caution, and all of the frontrunners came down pit road, leaving Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne out front. As Logano led after the restart, Johnson came from fifth to third, and Kenseth dropped from 12th place to 20th as his car continued to have handling problems. By lap 224, Kahne had run down and taken the lead from Logano, and Kenseth had further fallen to 25th. Kahne pitted on lap 247, allowing Johnson to lead his first lap of the race. Johnson pitted on lap later, giving the lead to Edwards, who then gave the lead to Kevin Harvick on lap 250. Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, and others stayed out several laps longer. Harvick ran out of fuel on lap 268, giving the lead to Earnhardt, who pitted on lap 271. Ryan Newman took the lead for four laps, then gave the top spot to Greg Biffle for a lap, before Carl Edwards cycled into a four-second lead over Kahne. The eighth caution waved on lap 282 for debris from Danica Patrick's car, and eleven lead lap cars stayed out, including Edwards, Kahne, Johnson, and Harvick. Edwards continued leading on the lap 289 restart over Kahne, but Harvick passed Johnson to move into third. Harvick passed Kahne on lap 295 and began trying to run down Edwards. However, Harvick could not close and Edwards appeared to be on his way to sweeping the 2013 Phoenix races. But with a lap and a half to go, Edwards ran out of fuel and Harvick took home the victory in his penultimate race with Richard Childress Racing. Kahne came in second and Johnson finished third, having led only one lap despite starting on pole. Edwards finished 21st, and Kenseth limped home in 23rd, losing 21 points to Johnson in the Championship standings to fall to 28 points behind. 041b061a72