2013 Food City 500

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.

2013 Food City 500

Race details[1][2][3]
Race 4 of 36 in the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
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	Kyle Busch	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)

Report

Background

Bristol Motor Speedway, the track where the race was held.

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

Kyle Busch won the pole position, the eleventh of his career

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

Grid	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	14.813	129.535
2	5	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	14.875	128.995
3	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	14.879	128.960
4	55	Brian Vickers	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	14.929	128.528
5	27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	14.949	128.356
6	1	Jamie McMurray	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	14.957	128.288
7	2	Brad Keselowski	Penske Racing	Ford	14.966	128.211
8	14	Tony Stewart	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	14.990	128.005
9	56	Martin Truex, Jr.	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	14.997	127.946
10	22	Joey Logano	Penske Racing	Ford	15.005	127.877
11	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	15.006	127.869
12	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	15.008	127.852
13	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	15.010	127.835
14	38	David Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	15.015	127.792
15	13	Casey Mears	Germain Racing	Ford	15.039	127.588
16	31	Jeff Burton	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	15.048	127.512
17	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	15.053	127.470
18	29	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	15.055	127.453
19	78	Kurt Busch	Furniture Row Racing	Chevrolet	15.062	127.393
20	43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	15.064	127.377
21	99	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	15.066	127.360
22	9	Marcos Ambrose	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	15.066	127.360
23	15	Clint Bowyer	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	15.073	127.300
24	16	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	15.078	127.258
25	83	David Reutimann	BK Racing	Toyota	15.093	127.132
26	30	David Stremme	Swan Racing	Toyota	15.157	126.595
27	95	Scott Speed	Leavine Family Racing	Ford	15.159	126.578
28	17	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	15.165	126.528
29	51	A. J. Allmendinger	Phoenix Racing	Chevrolet	15.178	126.420
30	34	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	15.180	126.403
31	39	Ryan Newman	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	15.200	126.237
32	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	15.235	125.947
33	7	Dave Blaney	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	15.247	125.848
34	98	Michael McDowell	Phil Parsons Racing	Ford	15.260	125.740
35	36	J. J. Yeley	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	15.261	125.732
36	19	Mike Bliss	Humphrey Smith Racing	Toyota	15.264	125.708
37	93	Travis Kvapil	BK Racing	Toyota	15.333	125.142
38	87	Joe Nemechek	NEMCO-Jay Robinson Racing	Toyota	15.363	124.897
39	47	Bobby Labonte	JTG Daugherty Racing	Toyota	15.382	124.743
40	35	Josh Wise	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	15.386	124.711
41	10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	15.395	124.638
42	33	Landon Cassill	Circle Sport	Chevrolet	15.427	124.379
43	32	Terry Labonte	FAS Lane Racing	Ford	15.560	123.316
Failed to Qualify
	44	Scott Riggs	Xxxtreme Motorsport	Ford	15.418	124.452
Source:[12][3]

Race results

Kasey Kahne won the race.

Pos	Grid	Car	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	2	5	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	500	47
2	1	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	500	43
3	7	2	Brad Keselowski	Penske Racing	Ford	500	42
4	19	78	Kurt Busch	Furniture Row Racing	Chevrolet	500	41
5	23	15	Clint Bowyer	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	500	39
6	32	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	500	38
7	31	39	Ryan Newman	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	500	37
8	4	55	Brian Vickers	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	500	–
9	5	27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	500	35
10	6	1	Jamie McMurray	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	500	34
11	24	16	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	500	33
12	9	56	Martin Truex, Jr.	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	500	32
13	29	51	A. J. Allmendinger	Phoenix Racing	Chevrolet	500	31
14	18	29	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	500	30
15	15	13	Casey Mears	Germain Racing	Ford	500	29
16	28	17	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	500	28
17	10	22	Joey Logano	Penske Racing	Ford	500	28
18	21	99	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	499	26
19	22	9	Marcos Ambrose	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	499	25
20	26	30	David Stremme	Swan Racing	Toyota	498	24
21	30	34	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	498	24
22	13	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	498	22
23	3	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	498	21
24	14	38	David Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	496	20
25	43	32	Terry Labonte	FAS Lane Racing	Ford	496	19
26	40	35	Josh Wise	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	496	–
27	35	36	J. J. Yeley	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	495	17
28	41	10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	495	16
29	38	87	Joe Nemechek	NEMCO-Jay Robinson Racing	Toyota	490	–
30	17	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	487	14
31	8	14	Tony Stewart	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	464	13
32	16	31	Jeff Burton	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	458	12
33	42	33	Landon Cassill	Circle Sport	Chevrolet	410	11
34	11	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	390	11
35	12	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	390	10
36	33	7	Dave Blaney	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	321	8
37	20	43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	245	7
38	37	93	Travis Kvapil	BK Racing	Toyota	234	6
39	25	83	David Reutimann	BK Racing	Toyota	184	5
40	27	95	Scott Speed	Leavine Family Racing	Ford	184	4
41	39	47	Bobby Labonte	JTG Daugherty Racing	Toyota	159	3
42	34	98	Michael McDowell	Phil Parsons Racing	Ford	26	2
43	36	19	Mike Bliss	Humphrey Smith Racing	Toyota	3	–
Source:

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Brad Keselowski 171 1 2 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 157 2 3 Jimmie Johnson 151 5 4 Clint Bowyer 128 3 5 Greg Biffle 126 2 6 Denny Hamlin 125 7 7 Kasey Kahne 124 3 8 Carl Edwards 124 3 9 Paul Menard 118 7 10 Kyle Busch 115 11 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 115 3 12 Joey Logano 104

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 29 2 Toyota 25 (-4) 3 Ford 22 (-7) Note: Only the first twelve positions are included for the driver standings.

References

1. "Sprint Cup Series Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
2. Brown, Brian (March 13, 2013). "The Food City 500". Rotoworld.com. NBC Sports. Archived from the original on March 15, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
3. Livingstone, Seth (March 15, 2013). "Busch breaks Bristol qualifying record". NASCAR. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
4. "Bristol Motor Speedway Track Facts". Bristol Motor Speedway. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
5. "Pre-race Drivers' Championship Standings". SPEED. Fox Sports. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
6. "2012 Food City 500". Racing-reference.info. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
7. "Food City 500 Practice/Qualifying Times". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Archived from the original on March 14, 2013. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
8. "2013 NSCS Food City 500 First Practice Session Speeds". Catchfence. Citizen Journalist Media Corps. March 15, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
9. "Food City 500 2nd Practice Speeds". Motor Racing Network. March 16, 2013. Archived from the original on April 11, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
10. "Food City 500 Final Practice Speeds". Motor Racing Network. March 16, 2013. Archived from the original on April 11, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
11. "Entry List: Food City 500" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 7, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
12. "Food City 500 Starting Grid". Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on April 11, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2013.