| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 11 of 36 in the2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | May 11, 2013 (2013-05-11) | ||
| Location | Darlington Raceway,Darlington,South Carolina,U.S. | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.366 miles (2.198 km) | ||
| Distance | 367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.799 km) | ||
| Weather | Clear with a temperature around 82 °F (28 °C); wind out of the SW at 13 miles per hour (21 km/h). | ||
| Average speed | 141.383 mph (227.534 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Furniture Row Racing | ||
| Time | 27.032 seconds | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Laps | 265 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy,Darrell Waltrip,Larry McReynolds | ||
| Nielsen ratings | 3.8/7 (5.9 million viewers) | ||
The2013 Bojangles' Southern 500, the 64th running of theevent, was aNASCARSprint Cup Series stock car race held on May 11, 2013, atDarlington Raceway inDarlington, South Carolina,United States. The race was contested over 367 laps on the 1.366–mile (2.198 km) oval, it was the eleventh race of the2013 Sprint Cup Series championship.Matt Kenseth ofJoe Gibbs Racing won the race, his third win of the 2013 season, while his teammateDenny Hamlin finished second.Jeff Gordon grabbed his 300th top 5 finish in his 700th Sprint Cup start, whileJimmie Johnson andKevin Harvick rounded out the top five.
There were five cautions for 25 laps and nine lead changes between four different drivers throughout the course of the race. The result moved Kenseth to the third position in theDrivers' Championship, 59 points behindJimmie Johnson in first and five ahead ofDale Earnhardt Jr. in fourth.Chevrolet maintained its lead in theManufacturers' Championship, two points ahead ofToyota and 18 ahead ofFord, with 25 races remaining in the season.
Darlington Raceway is a four-turn 1.366 mi (2.198 km) oval.[3] The track's first two turns are banked at twenty-five degrees, while the final two turns are banked two degrees lower at twenty-three degrees.[3] The front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch is banked at six degrees.[3] Darlington Raceway can seat up to 60,000 people.[3]Jimmie Johnson was the defending race winner after winning the event during the2012 race.[4]
Before the race, Johnson was leading theDrivers' Championship with 383 points, whileCarl Edwards stood in second with 342 points.Dale Earnhardt Jr. followed in the third with 324, seven ahead ofMatt Kenseth in fourth, and eight ahead ofClint Bowyer in fifth.Brad Keselowski, with 314, was in sixth; fifteen points ahead ofKasey Kahne. Eighth-placedAric Almirola was three points ahead ofPaul Menard and eight ahead ofKyle Busch in ninth and tenth.Greg Biffle was eleventh with 280, whileKevin Harvick completed the first twelve positions with 279 points.[5] In theManufacturers' Championship,Chevrolet was leading with 68 points, five points ahead ofToyota.Ford was third after recording only 52 points during the first ten races.[6]
(R) - Denotes rookie driver.
(i) - Denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Two practice sessions were held in preparation for the race; both on Friday, May 10, 2013. The first session lasted for 120 minutes, while second session was 45 minutes long.[7] During the first practice session, Menard, for theRichard Childress Racing team, was quickest ahead of Bowyer in second and McMurray in third.[8] Earnhardt Jr. was scored fourth, and Edwards managed fifth.[8] Kyle Busch,Martin Truex Jr.,Juan Pablo Montoya, Kenseth, and Biffle rounded out the top ten quickest drivers in the session.[8]
Montoya was quickest in the second and final practice session, ahead ofRicky Stenhouse Jr. in second and Edwards in third.[9]Jeff Burton was fourth quickest, andKurt Busch took fifth.[9] Biffle, Kenseth,Jeff Gordon, Truex Jr., and Kyle Busch followed in the top ten.[9]
During qualifying, forty-three cars were entered.[10] Kurt Busch clinched his firstpole position of the season, with a record time of 27.032 seconds.[11] After his qualifying run, Kurt Busch commented, "Wow, what an incredible lap. The way the team gave me the confidence right when we first unloaded, the team deserves all the credit. This gives me a great shot to stay ahead of the field and win by two-thousandths of a second this time."[12] He was joined on the front row of thegrid by Johnson.[11] Kyle Busch qualified third, Kahne took fourth, and Truex Jr. started fifth.[11]Denny Hamlin, Kenseth, Gordon, Biffle, and Harvick completed the first ten positions on the grid.[11]
Kurt Busch started on Pole in the #78Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet and would lead the early laps until his younger brother Kyle Busch took the lead from him.
In a rather dominate effort, Kyle would lead a majority of the race until around 50 to goKasey Kahne would challenge him. While racing for the lead Kahne would make contact with the wall ending his chances at victory with 20 to go.
After Kahne’s misfortune it appeared to be Kyle Busch’s race to lose until hisJoe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth started charging hard in the last 20 laps. Kenseth would catch Busch and quickly pass him going onto win his 3rd race of the 2013 season, his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing.
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| Previous race: 2013 Aaron's 499 | Sprint Cup Series 2013 season | Next race: 2013 Coca-Cola 600 |
