The 2013 Sprint Unlimited at Daytona was a non-championship NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on February 16, 2013, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 75 laps, it was the first exhibition race of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series season. Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress Racing won the race, while Greg Biffle finished second. Joey Logano, Tony Stewart, and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five.
Report
Background
Daytona International Speedway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.
A total of twenty-two drivers were eligible to compete in the race, including 2012 pole position winners and previous winners of the race who had qualified for at least one race during the 2012 season, but only nineteen drivers participated in the race. Notable drivers not invited to the race were Brad Keselowski and Clint Bowyer, the 2012 champion and champion runner up, who didn't collect any pole positions in 2012. In yellow are previous Daytona Shootout winners without pole wins in the 2012 season.
Unlike other races, the race format was chosen by a fan poll, and was 75 laps long, with three segments of 30, 25, and 20 laps. Which was chosen over a format that would have seen a 35, 30, and a 10 lap segments and a 40, 20, and 15 lap segments. Fans also voted to mandate drivers to perform a 4-tire pitstop after the first segment over a 2-tire stop or no mandatory pitstop. Fans also voted for no cars to be eliminated following the second segment over 2, 4, and 6 cars being eliminated (though 7 cars were out due to crashes or mechanical issues before that point.) Fans also voted for the firesuit miss Sprint Cup appeared in victory lane in.
Practice and qualifying Two practice sessions were held before the race, which was on February 15, 2013. The first session lasted 45 minutes, while the second lasted 60 minutes. Kevin Harvick was quickest with a time of 45.601 seconds in the first session, less than two-hundredths of a second faster than Aric Almirola. Greg Biffle with a quickest time of 45.660 seconds was third, ahead of Kasey Kahne, Martin Truex Jr., and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Juan Pablo Montoya was seventh, still within a second of Harvick's time. Also in the first session, five cars were involved in an accident after Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch collided. In the second and final practice session, Denny Hamlin was quickest with a fastest time of 45.906 seconds. Joey Logano followed in second, ahead of Biffle and Harvick. Almirola was fifth quickest, with a time of 46.027. Montoya, Kahne, Marcos Ambrose, Kyle Busch, and Terry Labonte rounded out to the first ten positions.
Results
Qualifying Grid Driver Team Manufacturer1 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford2 55 Mark Martin Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota3 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet4 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford5 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota6 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota7 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet8 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford9 22 Joey Logano Penske Racing Ford10 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford11 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet12 20Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 18Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14 42Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 15 14Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 16 88Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 17 29Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 18 78Kurt Busch Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 19 32Terry Labonte FAS Lane Racing Ford Source:
Race results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Laps 1 29Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 75 2 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 75 3 22 Joey Logano Penske Racing Ford 75 4 14Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 75 5 20Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 75 6 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford75 7 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet75 8 88Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 75 9 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota75 10 42Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 75 11 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford75 12 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford75 13 78Kurt Busch Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 14 14 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet14 15 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota14 16 18Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14 17 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet14 18 55 Mark Martin Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota14 19 32Terry Labonte FAS Lane Racing Ford 2Source:
References