2013 Toyota/Save Mart 350

Race details[1][2]
Race 16 of 36 in the2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
The 2013 Toyota/Save Mart 350 program cover.
Date	June 23, 2013 (2013-06-23)
Location	Sonoma Raceway,Sonoma,California,United States
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	1.99 miles (3.2 km)
Distance	110 laps, 218.9 mi (352.3 km)
Weather	Clear with a high temperature around 85 °F (29 °C); wind out of the SW at 16 miles per hour (26 km/h).
Average speed	76.658 mph (123.369 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Jamie McMurray	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing
Time	75.422 seconds
Most laps led
Driver	Martin Truex Jr.	Michael Waltrip Racing
Laps	51
Winner
No. 56	Martin Truex Jr.	Michael Waltrip Racing
Television in the United States
Network	TNT
Announcers	Adam Alexander,Wally Dallenbach Jr. andKyle Petty
Nielsen ratings	3.0/7 (4.660 million viewers)

The2013 Toyota/Save Mart 350 was aNASCARSprint Cup Series stock carrace held on June 23, 2013, atSonoma Raceway inSonoma,California,United States. Contested over 110 laps on the 1.99-mile (3.2 km)road course, it was the sixteenth race of the2013 Sprint Cup Series championship, and the first of two road course competitions on the schedule.Martin Truex Jr. ofMichael Waltrip Racing won the race, breaking a 218-race winless streak stretching back to June 2007, whileJeff Gordon finished second.Carl Edwards,Kurt Busch, andClint Bowyer rounded out the top five. The top rookie of the race wasRicky Stenhouse Jr. who finished 27th.

Sonoma Raceway is one of two road courses to holdNASCAR races, the other beingWatkins Glen International.^[3] The standard road course at Sonoma Raceway is a 12-turn course that is 2.52 miles (4.06 km) long;^[4] the track was modified in 1998, addingthe Chute, which bypassed turns 5 and 6, shortening the course to 1.95 miles (3.14 km).^[4] The Chute was only used for NASCAR events such as this race, and was criticized by many drivers, who preferred the full layout.^[5] In 2001, it was replaced with a 70-degree turn, 4A, bringing the track to its current dimensions of 1.99 miles (3.20 km).^[6]Clint Bowyer was the defending race winner after winning the race in2012.^[7]

Seven teams chose to temporarily replace their regular drivers withroad course ringers.Humphrey Smith Racing choseAlex Kennedy to drive the No. 19Toyota,^[8] whileCircle Sport choseRon Fellows to drive their No. 33Chevrolet.^[9]Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) selectedVictor Gonzalez Jr. to drive the No. 36 Chevrolet, making Gonzalez Jr. the firstCaribbean driver to race in theSprint Cup Series.^[10] TBR also choseJustin Marks to drive the No. 7.^[11]Brian Keselowski choseDrive for Diversity graduatePaulie Harraka to drive the No. 52Ford,^[12] whileNEMCO-Jay Robinson Racing selectedTomy Drissi to drive their No. 87 car, replacingJoe Nemechek.^[13]Boris Said competed during the race in the No. 32FAS Lane Racing Ford.^[11]Jacques Villeneuve, the1995 Indianapolis 500 winner and1997 Formula One World Champion, was selected byPhoenix Racing to drive the No. 51 as well.^[14]Jason Bowles was tabbed byMichael Waltrip Racing to pilot the No. 55 in place ofBrian Vickers in practice and qualifying due to Vickers participating in theJohnsonville Sausage 200 atRoad America.^[15]

Before the race,Jimmie Johnson was leading theDrivers' Championship with 538 points, whileCarl Edwards stood in second with 507 points.^[16] Bowyer followed in the third with 489, thirteen points ahead ofKevin Harvick and thirty-three ahead ofMatt Kenseth in fourth and fifth.^[16]Kyle Busch, with 452, was in sixth; five ahead ofDale Earnhardt Jr., who was scored seventh.^[16] Eighth-placedGreg Biffle was thirteen points ahead ofBrad Keselowski and twenty-six ahead ofTony Stewart in ninth and tenth.^[16]Paul Menard was eleventh with 415, whileKasey Kahne completed the first twelve positions with 407 points.^[16] In theManufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 107 points, fifteen points ahead of Toyota.^[17]Ford was third after recording only 79 points before the race.^[17]

For the first time,Amtrak ran a special train fromSacramento to the race on trackage that had never seen a passenger train. The train was run usingCapitol Corridor equipment. 500 fans total rode the train.

(R) - Denotes rookie driver.

(i) - Denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

Two practice sessions were held on June 21 in preparation for the race. The first session was 105 minutes, while second session was 90 minutes long.^[18]

During the first practice session,Marcos Ambrose, for theRichard Petty Motorsports team, was quickest ahead ofJuan Pablo Montoya in second andCasey Mears in third.^[19]Kurt Busch was scored fourth, andJamie McMurray managed fifth.^[19] Biffle, Keselowski, Bowyer,Martin Truex Jr., andJoey Logano rounded out the top ten quickest drivers in the session.^[19] Bowyer had the quickest ten consecutive lap average with an average speed of 92.404 miles per hour (148.710 km/h).^[19] In the final practice session for the race, Bowyer was quickest with a time of 75.765 seconds.^[20] McMurray followed in second, ahead of Kyle Busch and Edwards in third and fourth.^[20] Montoya, who was second quickest in second practice,^[19] could only manage fifth.^[20]

Starting with this race, NASCAR changed qualifying procedures for Sprint Cup races held on the road courses. Rather than having one car attempt to qualify at a time, groups of either five or six cars were released in five-second intervals and had a five-minute time limit to complete their runs.^[21] McMurray clinched his ninth careerpole position,^[22] with a lap time of 75.422 seconds and a speed of 94.986 miles per hour (152.865 km/h).^[23] He was joined on the front row of thegrid by Ambrose.^[23] Edwards qualified third, Biffle took fourth, and Bowyer started fifth.^[23] Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Logano, Kyle Busch, andJeff Gordon completed the first ten positions on the grid.^[23]

Source:^[24]

Notes

^1 Points include 3Chase for the Sprint Cup points for winning, 1 point for leading a lap, and 1 point for most laps led.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jimmie Johnson 573 2 Carl Edwards 548 (–25) 3 Clint Bowyer 528 (–45) 4 Kevin Harvick 510 (–63) 5 Matt Kenseth 481 (–92)

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 113 2 Toyota 101 (-12) 3 Ford 83 (-30) Note: Only the first twelve positions are included for the driver standings.

• 2013 in sports in California
• 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
• June 2013 sports events in the United States
• NASCAR races at Sonoma Raceway

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