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 ahead of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who finished third. 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 is a three-turn superspeedway that is Template:Convert long.[1] The track's turns are banked differently; the first is banked at 14°, the second turn at 8° and the final turn with 6°.[1] However, each of the three straightaways are banked at 2°.[2] The front stretch at Pocono Raceway is 3,740 feet long, the longest at the track.[2] 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.[2] Joey Logano was the defending race winner after winning the race in 2012.[3]
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.[4] Jeff Gordon was eleventh with 361, while Aric Almirola completed the first twelve positions with 354 points.[5]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.[6]
Practice and 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.[7] The second and third, held a day later on June 8, 2013, were 50 and 60 minutes long.[8]
Forty-three cars were entered for qualifying.[9] However, wet weather soaked the track, therefore canceling the session and making the owner's points championship determine the qualifying grid.[10] Johnson, whose owner was first in the owner's championship before the race, was rewarded the pole position.[11] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Edwards.[11] Bowyer was third, Kenseth took fourth, ahead of Earnhardt, Jr. who started fifth.[11] Kahne, Kyle Busch, Menard, Keselowski and Gordon rounded out the first ten positions.[11]
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.[12] Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Earnhardt, Jr., Keselowski, and Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the first ten positions.[12] In the final practice session for the race, Kurt Busch was quickest with a time of 51.331 seconds.[13] Johnson followed in second, ahead of Edwards and Stewart in third and fourth.[13] Ryan Newman, who was fifteenth quickest in second practice,[12] managed fifth.[13]
Results[]
Qualifying[]
Race results[]
- Notes
Template:Note 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[]
Template:Col-start | valign="top" style="width:25%;" |
- Drivers' Championship standings[14]
| Pos | Driver | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| File:Nuvola single chevron right.svg | 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 521 |
| File:Nuvola single chevron right.svg | 2 | Carl Edwards | 470 (–51) |
| File:Nuvola single chevron right.svg | 3 | Clint Bowyer | 452 (–69) |
| File:1uparrow green.svg 2 | 4 | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | 439 (–82) |
| File:Nuvola single chevron right.svg | 5 | Kevin Harvick | 434 (–87) |
| File:1downarrow red.svg 2 | 6 | Matt Kenseth | 418 (–103) |
| File:1uparrow green.svg 1 | 7 | Kyle Busch | 412 (–109) |
| File:1downarrow red.svg 1 | 8 | Kasey Kahne | 400 (–121) |
| File:1uparrow green.svg 1 | 9 | Brad Keselowski | 398 (–123) |
| File:1uparrow green.svg 3 | 10 | Greg Biffle | 395 (–126) |
| File:Nuvola single chevron right.svg | 11 | Jeff Gordon | 393 (–128) |
| File:1downarrow red.svg 3 | 12 | Paul Menard | 385 (–136) |
| valign="top" style="width:25%;" |
- Manufacturers' Championship standings
| Pos | Manufacturer | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| File:Nuvola single chevron right.svg | 1 | Chevrolet | 101 |
| File:Nuvola single chevron right.svg | 2 | Toyota | 90 (–11) |
| File:Nuvola single chevron right.svg | 3 | Ford | 68 (–33) |
- Note: Only the first twelve positions are included for the driver standings.
|}
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "NASCAR TRACK: POCONO RACEWAY". Fox Sports. Retrieved on 2013-06-05.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Pocono Raceway". NBC Sports. Retrieved on 2013-06-05.
- ↑ "2012 Pocono 400 Presented by #NASCAR". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved on 2013-06-05.
- ↑ Ryan, Nate (2013-06-04). "NASCAR docks Keselowski points, fines crew chief $25K", USA Today. Retrieved on 2013-06-05.
- ↑ "2013 FedEx 400 Report". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. ESPN (2013-06-02). Retrieved on 2013-06-05.
- ↑ "Manufacturer's Championship Classification". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved on 2013-06-05.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedjohnsonrainpole - ↑ "Party in the Poconos 400 Practice/Qualifying Times". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved on 2013-06-05.
- ↑ "2013 Party in the Poconos 400 Entry List". Motor Racing Network. Retrieved on 2013-06-08.
- ↑ Caraviello, David (2013-06-07). "RAIN WASHES OUT QUALIFYING AT POCONO". NASCAR. Retrieved on 2013-06-08.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 "2013 Party in the Poconos 400 Starting Lineup". Motor Racing Network (2013-06-07). Retrieved on 2013-06-08.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Party in the Poconos 400 1st Practice Speeds". Motor Racing Network (2013-06-08). Retrieved on 2013-06-08.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "Party in the Poconos 400 Final Practice Speeds". Motor Racing Network (2013-06-08). Retrieved on 2013-06-08.
- ↑ "NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Driver Leaders". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. ESPN (2013-06-09). Retrieved on 2013-06-10.