| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 8 of 36 in the2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
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| Date | April 21, 2013 (2013-04-21) | ||
| Location | Kansas Speedway,Kansas City, Kansas,U.S. | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.4 km (1.5 miles) | ||
| Distance | 267 laps, 400.5 mi (644.5 km) | ||
| Weather | Overcast with a temperature around 60 °F (16 °C); wind out of the S at 10 miles per hour (16 km/h). | ||
| Average speed | 119.546 mph (192.391 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||
| Time | 28.145 seconds | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Laps | 163 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy,Darrell Waltrip,Larry McReynolds | ||
| Nielsen ratings | 4.2/10 (6.495 million viewers) | ||
The2013 STP 400 was aNASCARSprint Cup Series stock carrace that was held on April 21, 2013, atKansas Speedway inKansas City, Kansas,United States. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5–mile (2.4 km) tri-oval, it was the eighth race of the2013 Sprint Cup Series championship.Matt Kenseth ofJoe Gibbs Racing won the race, his second win of the 2013 season and second straight at Kansas Speedway, whileKasey Kahne finished second.Jimmie Johnson,Martin Truex Jr. andClint Bowyer rounded out the top five
This was the third straight Sprint Cup race of 2013 where the winner won from the pole and led the most laps, following wins byJimmie Johnson at Martinsville andKyle Busch at Texas. This was the first such streak in over 28 years (the last time there were three straight races won from the pole was in 1985; withBill Elliott at Michigan,Dale Earnhardt at Bristol, and Elliott at Darlington).
Kansas Speedway is a four-turntri-oval track that is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long.[3] The track's turns arebanked from seventeen to twentydegrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is nine to eleven degrees. The back stretch, opposite of the front, is at only five degrees.[3] The racetrack has a seating capacity for more than 72,000 spectators.[3]Denny Hamlin was the defending race winner after winning the event in2012.[4]
Before the race,Jimmie Johnson was leading theDrivers' Championship with 269 points, whileKyle Busch stood in second with 251 points.Greg Biffle followed in the third position, four points ahead ofBrad Keselowski and five ahead ofCarl Edwards in fourth and fifth.Dale Earnhardt Jr., with 234, was two points ahead ofKasey Kahne and twenty-six ahead ofClint Bowyer, asPaul Menard was two points ahead ofMatt Kenseth and fourteen ahead ofKevin Harvick in tenth and eleventh.Jamie McMurray completed the first twelve positions with 190 points.[5][6]
(R) - Denotes rookie driver.
(i) - Denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Three practice sessions are scheduled to be held before the race. The first session, held on April 19, 2013, was 90 minutes long. The second and third were held on April 20, and were 55 and 50 minutes long, respectively.[7] During the first practice session, Edwards was quickest with a time of 28.117 seconds, ahead ofRicky Stenhouse Jr. andSam Hornish Jr. in second and third.Martin Truex Jr. followed in the fourth position, ahead ofAric Almirola in fifth.[8]
During qualifying, forty-four cars were entered, meaning only one car was not able to start because of NASCAR'squalifying procedure.[9] Kenseth clinched his ninth careerpole position, with a record-setting time of 28.145 seconds.[10] After his qualifying run, Kenseth commented, "We didn't think we had a chance. It's unexpected, and it's one of the fastest tracks of the year. Felt great to go out late and jump over the other guys."[11] He was joined on the front row of thegrid by Edwards.[10] Stenhouse Jr. qualified third, Hornish Jr. took fourth, and Kyle Busch started fifth.[10] Almirola, Truex Jr.,Mark Martin,Ryan Newman, and Bowyer completed the first ten positions on the grid.[10] The driver who failed to qualify for the race wasJoe Nemechek.[10]
In the Saturday morning session,Juan Pablo Montoya was quickest, ahead of Stenhouse Jr. and Almirola in second and third. Biffle and Edwards followed in the fourth and fifth positions.[12] Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Menard, and Newman rounded out the first ten positions.[12] In the final practice session for the race, Kenseth was quickest with a time of 28.615 seconds.[13] Almirola followed in second, ahead of Montoya andKurt Busch in third and fourth.[13] Kahne, who was twelfth quickest in second practice,[12] managed fifth.[13]
The race started at 1:16 p.m. EDT withMatt Kenseth leading the field to the green flag, The first caution came out on lap 6 whenKyle Busch spun out in the back straightaway, the race restarted on lap 9, The second caution came out on lap 39 whenDave Blaney blew an engine and collided intoDanica Patrick, the race restarted on lap 43, A couple of laps later, the third caution then came out for debris on lap 75, the race restarted on lap 78, The fourth caution then came out on lap 87 whenElliott Sadler spun out, the race restarted on lap 91, withMatt Kenseth the race leader.
The fifth caution came out on lap 106 for a two-car wreck involvingKyle Busch andJoey Logano. The race restarted on lap 115 withMartin Truex Jr. the race leader, the sixth caution then came out on lap 174 whenBrian Vickers spun out, the race restarted with 89 laps to go, The seventh caution came out for a multi-car wreck involvingMarcos Ambrose,Casey Mears andJosh Wise, the race restarted with 81 laps to go, A couple of laps later, Debris on the back straightaway brought out the eighth caution of the day, with 50 laps to go, the race restarted with 43 laps to go withMatt Kenseth the race leader,Matt Kenseth won his race in Kansas.
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