Stock Car Racing Wiki
Advertisement

The 2013 Sprint Cup Series was the 65th season of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The season began with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 24 and ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 17.

Jimmie Johnson led the points standings through much of the regular season and entered the Chase with 4 wins, including a win at the season opening Daytona 500. Matt Kenseth, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, entered the Chase with 5 wins and was seeded first. Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Greg Biffle would also enter the chase with high seeding due to wins.

After the Chase cutoff race at Richmond, it was discovered that Michael Waltrip Racing had manipulated the standings by having Brian Vickers pit improperly and Clint Bowyer intentionally spin, causing a timely caution and allowing Martin Truex, Jr. to qualify for the Chase. Additionally, Front Row Motorsports aided Joey Logano in making the Chase as well. Subsequent points penalties effectively removed Truex from the Chase while allowing Ryan Newman into the first wild card position in the chase, and since Logano earned the second wild card position as a result of Front Row Motorsports’ manipulation, a special third wild card position was added to the Chase for Jeff Gordon. In subsequent years, the controversy became known as “Spingate”.

In the Chase, Kenseth won the first two races, while Johnson won the third. Johnson finished higher than Kenseth at the fourth race, which narrowed the points lead Kenseth had over Johnson. At Talladega, Johnson led the most laps and finished seven positions better than Kenseth, causing Johnson to inherit the points lead. A second place finish by Kenseth at Martinsville caused both drivers to be tied in points, but then Johnson dominated the race at Texas, and finished 3rd at Phoenix, while Kenseth finished one lap down in 23rd at Phoenix, opening a 28 point lead for Johnson entering the final race of the season. At Homestead, Kenseth finished second while Johnson finished ninth, ensuring Johnson his sixth championship in his twelfth full time season, and Hendrick Motorsports’ eleventh championship.

The 2013 season was the first season to use the Generation 6 car, and marked a return to the qualifying procedure that was used before 2005, except at road courses where group qualifying was used. In addition, a ban on testing at any premier series tracks was removed, and replaced with a testing limit. It was the first season without Dodge, while Chevrolet took the opportunity with the new car to replace the Impala with the Chevrolet SS.

Full Time Teams[]

Manufacturer Team Number Driver Major Sponsor
Chevrolet bowtie 2023 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna
McDonald's
42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target
Furniture Row Racing 78 Kurt Busch Furniture Row
Hendrick Motorsports 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance
24 Jeff Gordon AARP Drive to End Hunger
Axalta Coating Systems
48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's
88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. National Guard
Phoenix Racing 51 A.J. Allmendinger (9)
Regan Smith (6)
Austin Dillon (4)
Justin Allgaier (4)
Kyle Larson (4)
Ryan Truex (3)
Bobby Labonte (1)
Jacques Villeneuve (1)
Owen Kelly (1)
Brendan Gaughan (1)
Mike Bliss (1)
Michael McDowell (1)
Richard Childress Racing 27 Paul Menard Menards
29 Kevin Harvick Budweiser
Jimmy Johns
31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar
Richard Childress Racing
Circle Sport
33 Landon Cassill (21)
Tony Raines (7)
Austin Dillon (5)
Ron Fellows (2)
Brian Scott (1)
Stewart-Haas Racing 10 Danica Patrick * GoDaddy
14 Tony Stewart (21)
Mark Martin (12)
Austin Dillon (2)
Max Papis (1)
Bass Pro Shops
Mobil 1
39 Ryan Newman Quicken Loans
Tommy Baldwin Racing 7 Dave Blaney (35)
Justin Marks (1)
SANY America
36 J.J. Yeley (34)
Victor Gonzalez, Jr. (2)
Ford logo FAS Lane Racing 32 Timmy Hill *(19)
Ken Schrader (10)
Terry Labonte (5)
Boris Said (2)
Oxywater
Federated Auto Parts
Front Row Motorsports 34 David Ragan Taco Bell
35 Josh Wise (35)
Michael McDowell (1)
MDS Transport
38 David Gilliland Long John Silver's
Germain Racing 13 Casey Mears GEICO
Penske Racing 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite
22 Joey Logano Shell-Pennzoil
Richard Petty Motorsports 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Tools/DeWalt
43 Aric Almirola Smithfield
Roush Fenway Racing 16 Greg Biffle 3M
17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. * Best Buy
Ford EcoBoost
99 Carl Edwards Fastenal
Toyota Badge BK Racing 83 David Reutimann Burger King
93 Travis Kvapil Burger King
Joe Gibbs Racing 11 Denny Hamlin (32)
Brian Vickers (3)
Mark Martin (1)
FedEx
18 Kyle Busch M&M's/Mars Incorporated
20 Matt Kenseth Home Depot
Dollar General
JTG Daugherty Racing 47 Bobby Labonte (27)
A.J. Allmendinger (9)
Kingsford
Bush's Baked Beans
Scott Products
Michael Waltrip Racing 15 Clint Bowyer 5-Hour Energy
55 Mark Martin (15)
Brian Vickers (14)
Elliott Sadler (4)
Michael Waltrip (3)
Aaron's
56 Martin Truex, Jr. NAPA
NEMCO Motorsports 87 Joe Nemechek (34)
Tomy Drissi (2)
Swan Racing 30 David Stremme (25)
Cole Whitt (7)
Kevin Swindell (1)
Parker Kligerman (2)
Swan Energy
Lean1

Major Part Time Teams[]

Manufacturer Team Number Driver Sponsor
Ford logo Leavine Family Racing 95 Scott Speed (14)
Reed Sorenson (6)
Scott Riggs (1)
Blake Koch (1)
Phil Parsons Racing 98 Michael McDowell (31)
Johnny Sauter (2)
Toyota Badge Humphrey Smith Racing 19 Mike Bliss (18)
Alex Kennedy (3)
Jason Leffler (1)
Scott Riggs (1)

Schedule[]

Round Date Race Name Track TV
February 16, 2013 Sprint Unlimited Daytona International Speedway FOX
February 21, 2013 Budweiser Duels Daytona International Speedway SPEED Channel
1 February 24, 2013 Daytona 500 Daytona International Speedway FOX
2 March 3, 2013 Subway Fresh Fit 500 Phoenix International Raceway FOX
3 March 10, 2013 Kobalt Tools 400 Las Vegas Motor Speedway FOX
4 March 17, 2013 Food City 500 Bristol Motor Speedway FOX
5 March 24, 2013 Auto Club 400 Auto Club Speedway FOX
6 April 7, 2013 STP Gas Booster 500 Martinsville Speedway FOX
7 April 13, 2013 NRA 500 Texas Motor Speedway FOX
8 April 21, 2013 STP 400 Kansas Speedway FOX
9 April 27, 2013 Toyota Owners 400 Richmond International Raceway FOX
10 May 5, 2013 Aaron's 499 Talladega Superspeedway FOX
11 May 11, 2013 Bojangles' Southern 500 Darlington Raceway FOX
May 18, 2013 Sprint All-Star Race Charlotte Motor Speedway SPEED Channel
12 May 26, 2013 Coca-Cola 600 Charlotte Motor Speedway FOX
13 June 2, 2013 FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks Dover International Speedway FOX
14 June 9, 2013 Party in the Poconos 400 Presented by Walmart Pocono Raceway TNT
15 June 16, 2013 Quicken Loans 400 Michigan International Speedway TNT
16 June 23, 2013 Toyota / Save Mart 350 Sonoma Raceway TNT
17 June 29, 2013 Quaker State 400 Kentucky Speedway TNT
18 July 6, 2013 Coke Zero 400 Daytona International Speedway TNT
19 July 14, 2013 Camping World RV Sales 301 New Hampshire Motor Speedway TNT
20 July 28, 2013 Crown Royal Presents the Samuel Deeds 400 Indianapolis Motor Speedway ESPN
21 August 4, 2013 GoBowling.com 400 Pocono Raceway ESPN
22 August 11, 2013 Cheez-It 355 at the Glen Watkins Glen International ESPN
23 August 18, 2013 Pure Michigan 400 Michigan International Speedway ESPN
24 August 24, 2013 Irwin Tools Night Race Bristol Motor Speedway ABC
25 September 1, 2013 AdvoCare 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway ESPN
26 September 7, 2013 Federated Auto Parts 400 Richmond International Raceway ABC
Chase for the Sprint Cup
27 September 15, 2013 GEICO 400 Chicagoland Speedway ESPN
28 September 22, 2013 Sylvania 300 New Hampshire Motor Speedway ESPN
29 September 29, 2013 AAA 400 Dover International Speedway ESPN
30 October 6, 2013 Hollywood Casino 400 Kansas Speedway ESPN
31 October 12, 2013 Bank of America 500 Charlotte Motor Speedway ABC
32 October 20, 2013 Camping World RV Sales 500 Talladega Superspeedway ESPN
33 October 27, 2013 Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 Martinsville Speedway ESPN
34 November 3, 2013 AAA Texas 500 Texas Motor Speedway ESPN
35 November 10, 2013 AdvoCare 500 Phoenix International Raceway ESPN
36 November 17, 2013 Ford EcoBoost 400 Homestead-Miami Speedway ESPN

Results[]

Round Race Pole Winner Winner Make Cautions Caution Laps Average Speed Number of Lead Changes
2013 Sprint Unlimited Carl Edwards Kevin Harvick Chevrolet bowtie 2023 3 6 177.538 9
2013 Budweiser Duel #1 Danica Patrick Kevin Harvick Chevrolet bowtie 2023 1 3 177.282 4
2013 Budweiser Duel #2 Jeff Gordon Kyle Busch Toyota Badge 0 0 193.966 6
1 2013 Daytona 500 Danica Patrick Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet bowtie 2023 6 24 159.250 28
2 2013 Subway Fresh Fit 500 Mark Martin Carl Edwards Ford logo 8 43 105.187 12
3 2013 Kobalt Tools 400 N/A Matt Kenseth Toyota Badge 5 25 146.287 22
4 2013 Food City 500 Kyle Busch Kasey Kahne Chevrolet bowtie 2023 10 66 92.206 17
5 2013 Auto Club 400 Denny Hamlin Kyle Busch Toyota Badge 9 46 135.351 17
6 2013 STP Gas Booster 500 Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet bowtie 2023 12 85 72.066 12
7 2013 NRA 500 Kyle Busch Kyle Busch Toyota Badge 7 36 144.751 18
8 2013 STP 400 Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth Toyota Badge 8 40 133.611 13
9 2013 Toyota Owners 400 Matt Kenseth Kevin Harvick Chevrolet bowtie 2023 11 75 92.141 10
10 2013 Aaron's 499 N/A David Ragan Ford logo 5 31 148.729 30
11 2013 Bojangles' Southern 500 Kurt Busch Matt Kenseth Toyota Badge 5 25 141.383 9
2013 Sprint All-Star Race Carl Edwards Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet bowtie 2023 7 16 90.672 8
12 2013 Coca-Cola 600 Denny Hamlin Kevin Harvick Chevrolet bowtie 2023 11 61 130.521 24
13 2013 FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks Denny Hamlin Tony Stewart Chevrolet bowtie 2023 7 32 123.172 21
14 2013 Party in the Poconos 400 Presented by Walmart N/A Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet bowtie 2023 6 19 144.202 12
15 2013 Quicken Loans 400 Carl Edwards Greg Biffle Ford logo 8 38 139.278 22
16 2013 Toyota / Save Mart 350 Jamie McMurray Martin Truex, Jr. Toyota Badge 7 19 76.658 10
17 2013 Quaker State 400 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Matt Kenseth Toyota Badge 10 42 131.948 11
18 2013 Coke Zero 400 Kyle Busch Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet bowtie 2023 6 27 154.313 18
19 2013 Camping World RV Sales 301 Brad Keselowski Brian Vickers Toyota Badge 12 58 98.735 10
20 2013 Crown Royal Presents the Samuel Deeds 400 Ryan Newman Ryan Newman Chevrolet bowtie 2023 3 14 153.485 20
21 2013 GoBowling.com 400 Jimmie Johnson Kasey Kahne Chevrolet bowtie 2023 9 35 129.009 27
22 2013 Cheez-It 355 at the Glen Marcos Ambrose Kyle Busch Toyota Badge 8 21 87.001 5
23 2013 Pure Michigan 400 Joey Logano Joey Logano Ford logo 9 34 144.593 20
24 2013 Irwin Tools Night Race Denny Hamlin Matt Kenseth Toyota Badge 11 74 90.279 16
25 2013 AdvoCare 500 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Kyle Busch Toyota Badge 9 47 135.128 28
26 2013 Federated Auto Parts 400 Jeff Gordon Carl Edwards Ford logo 5 29 105.028 17
27 2013 GEICO 400 Joey Logano Matt Kenseth Toyota Badge 9 46 125.855 25
28 2013 Sylvania 300 Ryan Newman Matt Kenseth Toyota Badge 7 37 107.573 19
29 2013 AAA 400 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet bowtie 2023 4 21 130.909 19
30 2013 Hollywood Casino 400 Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick Chevrolet bowtie 2023 15 71 114.884 24
31 2013 Bank of America 500 Jeff Gordon Brad Keselowski Ford logo 4 20 158.308 24
32 2013 Camping World RV Sales 500 N/A Jamie McMurray Chevrolet bowtie 2023 3 10 178.795 52
33 2013 Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 Denny Hamlin Jeff Gordon Chevrolet bowtie 2023 17 111 70.337 15
34 2013 AAA Texas 500 Carl Edwards Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet bowtie 2023 5 26 151.754 28
35 2013 AdvoCare 500 Jimmie Johnson Kevin Harvick Chevrolet bowtie 2023 8 49 105.733 23
36 2013 Ford EcoBoost 400 Matt Kenseth Denny Hamlin Toyota Badge 8 37 130.693 22

Final Points Standings[]

Pos. Driver Races Wins Top 5s Top 10s Poles Points Difference
1 Jimmie Johnson 36 6 16 24 3 2419
2 Matt Kenseth 36 7 12 20 3 2400 -19
3 Kevin Harvick 36 4 9 21 1 2385 -34
4 Kyle Busch 36 4 16 22 3 2364 -55
5 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 36 0 10 22 2 2363 -56
6 Jeff Gordon 36 1 8 17 2 2337 -82
7 Clint Bowyer 36 0 10 19 0 2336 -83
8 Joey Logano 36 1 11 19 2 2323 -96
9 Greg Biffle 36 1 4 13 0 2321 -98
10 Kurt Busch 36 0 11 16 1 2309 -110
11 Ryan Newman 36 1 6 18 2 2286 -133
12 Kasey Kahne 36 2 11 14 0 2283 -136
13 Carl Edwards 36 2 9 16 2 2282 -137
14 Brad Keselowski 36 1 9 16 1 1041 -1,378
15 Jamie McMurray 36 1 4 9 1 1007 -1,412
16 Martin Truex Jr 36 1 7 15 0 998 -1,421
17 Paul Menard 36 0 3 9 0 949 -1,470
18 Aric Almirola 36 0 1 6 0 913 -1,506
19 Ricky Stenhouse Jr 36 0 1 3 1 909 -1,510
20 Jeff Burton 36 0 2 6 0 906 -1,513
21 Juan Pablo Montoya 36 0 4 8 0 894 -1,525
22 Marcos Ambrose 36 0 0 6 1 872 -1,547
23 Denny Hamlin 32 1 4 8 5 753 -1,666
24 Casey Mears 36 0 0 1 0 719 -1,700
25 Mark Martin 28 0 1 5 1 649 -1,770
26 David Gilliland 36 0 1 2 0 648 -1,771
27 Danica Patrick 36 0 0 1 1 646 -1,773
28 David Ragan 36 1 1 2 0 633 -1,786
29 Tony Stewart 21 1 5 8 0 594 -1,825
30 Dave Blaney 35 0 0 0 0 526 -1,893
31 Travis Kvapil 36 0 0 0 0 496 -1,923
32 J.J. Yeley 35 0 0 1 0 472 -1,947
33 David Reutimann 36 0 0 0 0 465 -1,954
34 Bobby Labonte 28 0 0 0 0 412 -2,007
35 A.J. Allmendinger 18 0 0 1 0 410 -2,009
36 David Stremme 25 0 0 0 0 362 -2,057
37 Michael McDowell 33 0 0 1 0 210 -2,209
38 Timmy Hill 19 0 0 0 0 190 -2,229
39 Ken Schrader 10 0 0 0 0 118 -2,301
40 Michael Waltrip 4 0 2 2 0 114 -2,305
41 Scott Speed 12 0 0 1 0 99 -2,320
42 Terry Labonte 5 0 0 0 0 87 -2,332
43 Boris Said 2 0 0 0 0 48 -2,371
44 Ron Fellows 2 0 0 0 0 31 -2,388
45 Alex Kennedy 3 0 0 0 0 21 -2,398
46 Justin Marks 1 0 0 0 0 14 -2,405
47 Scott Riggs 7 0 0 0 0 11 -2,408
48 Victor Gonzalez, Jr. 2 0 0 0 0 10 -2,409
49 Brian Keselowski 2 0 0 0 0 9 -2,410
50 Tomy Drissi 2 0 0 0 0 8 -2,411
51 Jacques Villeneuve 1 0 0 0 0 3 -2,416
52 Jason Leffler 1 0 0 0 0 1 -2,418
53 Brian Vickers 17 1 2 6 0 -50 -2,469

Only Cup Series points-eligible drivers shown. Drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup are highlighted in yellow.

Complete statistics can be found at Racing-Reference.info.

Rookie of the Year[]

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. won the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award for 2013.[1]

Position Driver Points Wins
1 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 253 0
2 Danica Patrick 232 0
3 Timmy Hill 189 0

Manufacturer's Championship[]

With 16 wins, Chevrolet won the Manufacturer's Championship for 2013.[2]

Position Make Points Race Wins
1 Chevrolet bowtie 2023 254 16
2 Toyota Badge 229 14
3 Ford logo 194 6

References[]

NASCAR Cup Series seasons
1949
1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959
1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969
1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979
1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999
2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019
2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025
Advertisement