2013 Party in the Poconos 400

2013 Party in the Poconos 400

Race details[1][2]
Race 14 of 36 in the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
Date	June 9, 2013 (2013-06-09)
Location	Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4 km)
Distance	160 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Weather	Overcast with a temperature around 72 °F (22 °C); wind out of the WNW at 9 miles per hour (14 km/h).
Average speed	144.202 mph (232.071 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
Time	2013 Owner Points
Most laps led
Driver	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	128
Winner
No. 48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	TNT
Announcers	Adam Alexander, Wally Dallenbach, Jr. and Kyle Petty
Nielsen Ratings	2.8/7 (4.358 million viewers)[3]

The 2013 Party in the Poconos 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on June 9, 2013, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, United States. Contested over 160 laps on the 2.5–mile (4 km) triangular superspeedway, it was the fourteenth race of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series championship. Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports won the race, his third win of the 2013 season, while Greg Biffle finished second. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Tony Stewart, and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five.

This was the final NASCAR race for Jason Leffler before his death in a sprint car crash on June 12, 2013.

Report

Background

Pocono Raceway, the race track where the race was held.

Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.^[4] The track's turns are banked differently; the first is banked at 14°, the second turn at 8° and the final turn with 6°.^[4] However, each of the three straightaways are banked at 2°.^[5] The front stretch at Pocono Raceway is 3,740 feet long, the longest at the track.^[5] The back stretch, is 3,055 feet long, while the short stretch, which connects turn two with turn three, is only 1,780 feet long.^[5] Joey Logano was the defending race winner after winning the race in 2012.^[6]

Before the race, Johnson was leading the Drivers' Championship with 473 points, while Carl Edwards stood in second with 443 points. Clint Bowyer followed in the third with 423, 24 points ahead of Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick in fourth and fifth. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., with 398, was in sixth; six ahead of Kasey Kahne, who was scored seventh. Eighth-placed Kyle Busch was three points ahead of Paul Menard and five ahead of Brad Keselowski in ninth and tenth.^[7] Jeff Gordon was eleventh with 361, while Aric Almirola completed the first twelve positions with 354 points.^[8] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 92 points, eight points ahead of Toyota. Ford was third after recording only 64 points before the race.^[9]

Practice and qualifying

Jimmie Johnson was rewarded the pole position after rain showers cancelled qualifying.

Three practice sessions were held before the race. The first session, scheduld on June 7, 2013, was scheduled for 90 minutes, but was canceled because of rain showers.^[10] The second and third, held a day later on June 8, 2013, were 50 and 60 minutes long.^[11]

Forty-three cars were entered for qualifying.^[12] However, wet weather soaked the track, therefore canceling the session and making the owner's points championship determine the qualifying grid.^[13] Johnson, whose owner was first in the owner's championship before the race, was rewarded the pole position.^[14] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Edwards.^[14] Bowyer was third, Kenseth took fourth, ahead of Earnhardt, Jr. who started fifth.^[14] Kahne, Kyle Busch, Menard, Keselowski and Gordon rounded out the first ten positions.^[14]

In the Saturday morning session, Johnson was quickest, ahead of Edwards and Kurt Busch in second and third. Marcos Ambrose and Harvick followed in the fourth and fifth positions.^[15] Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Earnhardt, Jr., Keselowski, and Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the first ten positions.^[15] In the final practice session for the race, Kurt Busch was quickest with a time of 51.331 seconds.^[16] Johnson followed in second, ahead of Edwards and Stewart in third and fourth.^[16] Ryan Newman, who was fifteenth quickest in second practice,^[15] managed fifth.^[16]

Results

Qualifying

Race results

Notes

^1 Points include 3 Chase for the Sprint Cup points for winning, 1 point for leading a lap, and 1 point for most laps led.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings[18] Pos Driver Points 1 Jimmie Johnson 521 2 Carl Edwards 470 (–51) 3 Clint Bowyer 452 (–69) 2 4 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 439 (–82) 5 Kevin Harvick 434 (–87) 2 6 Matt Kenseth 418 (–103) 1 7 Kyle Busch 412 (–109) 1 8 Kasey Kahne 400 (–121) 1 9 Brad Keselowski 398 (–123) 3 10 Greg Biffle 395 (–126) 11 Jeff Gordon 393 (–128) 3 12 Paul Menard 385 (–136)

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 101 2 Toyota 90 (–11) 3 Ford 68 (–33) Note: Only the first twelve positions are included for the driver standings.

References