The 2013 Party in the Poconos 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on June 9, 2013, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, United States. Contested over 160 laps on the 2.5–mile (4 km) triangular superspeedway, it was the fourteenth race of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series championship. Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports won the race, his third win of the 2013 season, while Greg Biffle finished second. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five.
This was the final NASCAR race for Jason Leffler before his death in a sprint car crash on June 12, 2013.
Report
Background
Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is long. The track's turns are banked differently; the first is banked at 14°, the second turn at 8° and the final turn with 6°. However, each of the three straightaways are banked at 2°. The front stretch at Pocono Raceway is 3,740 feet long, the longest at the track. The back stretch, is 3,055 feet long, while the short stretch, which connects turn two with turn three, is only 1,780 feet long. Joey Logano was the defending race winner after winning the race in 2012.
Before the race, Johnson was leading the Drivers' Championship with 473 points, while Carl Edwards stood in second with 443 points. Clint Bowyer followed in the third with 423, 24 points ahead of Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick in fourth and fifth. Dale Earnhardt Jr., with 398, was in sixth; six ahead of Kasey Kahne, who was scored seventh. Eighth-placed Kyle Busch was three points ahead of Paul Menard and five ahead of Brad Keselowski in ninth and tenth. Jeff Gordon was eleventh with 361, while Aric Almirola completed the first twelve positions with 354 points. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 92 points, eight points ahead of Toyota. Ford was third after recording only 64 points before the race.
Entry list (R) - Denotes rookie driver.
(i) - Denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points. DriverTeamManufacturer1Jamie McMurrayEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet2Brad KeselowskiPenske RacingFord5Kasey KahneHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet7Dave BlaneyTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet9Marcos AmbroseRichard Petty MotorsportsFord10Danica Patrick (R)Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet11Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota13Casey MearsGermain RacingFord14Tony StewartStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet15Clint BowyerMichael Waltrip RacingToyota16Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord17Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (R)Roush Fenway RacingFord18Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota19Jason LefflerHumphrey Smith RacingToyota20Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota22Joey LoganoPenske RacingFord24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet27Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet30David StremmeSwan RacingToyota31Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet32Timmy Hill (R)FAS Lane RacingFord33Landon Cassill (i)Circle SportChevrolet34David RaganFront Row MotorsportsFord35Josh Wise (i)Front Row MotorsportsFord36J. J. YeleyTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet38David GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord39Ryan NewmanStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet42Juan Pablo MontoyaEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet43Aric AlmirolaRichard Petty MotorsportsFord44Scott RiggsXxxtreme MotorsportsFord47Bobby LabonteJTG Daugherty RacingToyota48Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet51A. J. AllmendingerPhoenix RacingChevrolet55Mark MartinMichael Waltrip RacingToyota56Martin Truex Jr.Michael Waltrip RacingToyota78Kurt BuschFurniture Row RacingChevrolet83David ReutimannBK RacingToyota87Joe Nemechek (i)NEMCO-Jay Robinson RacingToyota88Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet93Travis KvapilBK RacingToyota98Michael McDowellPhil Parsons RacingFord99Carl EdwardsRoush Fenway RacingFordOfficial entry list
Practice and qualifying
Three practice sessions were held before the race. The first session, scheduled on June 7, 2013 for 90 minutes, was canceled because of rain showers. The second and third, held a day later on June 8, 2013, were 50 and 60 minutes long.
Forty-three cars were entered for qualifying. However, wet weather soaked the track, therefore canceling the session and making the owner's points championship determine the qualifying grid. Johnson, whose owner was first in the owner's championship before the race, was rewarded the pole position. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Edwards. Bowyer was third, Kenseth took fourth, ahead of Earnhardt Jr. who started fifth. Kahne, Kyle Busch, Menard, Keselowski and Gordon rounded out the first ten positions.
In the Saturday morning session, Johnson was quickest, ahead of Edwards and Kurt Busch in second and third. Marcos Ambrose and Harvick followed in the fourth and fifth positions. Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Earnhardt Jr., Keselowski, and Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the first ten positions. In the final practice session for the race, Kurt Busch was quickest with a time of 51.331 seconds. Johnson followed in second, ahead of Edwards and Stewart in third and fourth. Ryan Newman, who was fifteenth quickest in second practice, managed fifth.
Race
Results
Qualifying Grid Driver Team Manufacturer 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevroletrowspan="43" colspan="2" 2 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway RacingFord 3 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip RacingToyota 4 20Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 5 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress RacingChevrolet 6 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet 7 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet 8 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs RacingToyota 9 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress RacingChevrolet 10 2 Brad Keselowski Penske RacingFord 11 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet 12 43Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 13 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway RacingFord 14 55Mark Martin Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 15 56 Martin Truex Jr.Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 16 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway RacingFord 17 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs RacingToyota 18 51 A. J. Allmendinger Phoenix RacingChevrolet 19 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 20 78 Kurt Busch Furniture Row RacingChevrolet 21 22 Joey Logano Penske RacingFord 22 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet 23 39 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 24 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress RacingChevrolet 25 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet 26 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty MotorsportsFord 27 13 Casey Mears Germain RacingFord 28 34 David Ragan Front Row MotorsportsFord 29 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty RacingToyota 30 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 31 38 David Gilliland Front Row MotorsportsFord 32 7 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet 33 30 David Stremme Swan RacingToyota 34 83 David Reutimann BK RacingToyota 35 36 J. J. Yeley Tommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet 36 35 Josh Wise Front Row MotorsportsFord 37 33 Landon Cassill Circle SportChevrolet 38 32 Timmy Hill FAS Lane RacingFord 39 93 Travis Kvapil BK RacingToyota 40 87 Joe NemechekNEMCO-Jay Robinson Racing Toyota 41 98 Michael McDowell Phil Parsons RacingFord 42 19 Jason LefflerHumphrey Smith Racing Toyota 43 44 Scott Riggs Xxxtreme MotorsportsFordSource:
Race results Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Led Points 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 160 12848 2 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 160 042 3 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 160 041 4 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 160 040 5 39 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 160 1940 6 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 160 038 7 78 Kurt Busch Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 160 037 8 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 160 036 9 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 160 035 10 22 Joey Logano Penske Racing Ford 160 034 11 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 160 033 12 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 160 032 13 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 160 031 14 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 160 030 15 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 160 029 16 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Ford 160 429 17 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 160 027 18 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 160 927 19 55 Mark Martin Michael Waltrip Racing Chevrolet160 0 25 20 93 Travis Kvapil BK Racing Toyota160 0 24 2143 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 160 0 23 22 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Ford160 0 22 23 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip RacingToyota 160 0 21 24 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford160 0 20 25 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota160 0 19 26 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford160 0 18 2747 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty RacingToyota160 0 17 2830 David Stremme Swan RacingToyota 160 0 16 2910 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 160 0 15 3027 Paul Menard Richard Childress RacingChevrolet160 0 14 317 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet160 0 13 32 83 David Reutimann BK RacingToyota159 0 12 3351 A. J. Allmendinger Phoenix RacingChevrolet158 0 11 34 35 Josh Wise Front Row MotorsportsFord157 0 – 35 32 Timmy Hill FAS Lane RacingFord156 0 9 36 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet 141 0 8 3734 David Ragan Front Row MotorsportsFord121 0 7 38 33 Landon Cassill Circle SportChevrolet70 0 – 39 36 J. J. Yeley Tommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet39 0 5 4098 Michael McDowell Phil Parsons RacingFord33 0 4 41 44 Scott Riggs Xxxtreme Motorsports Ford28 0 3 42 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO-Jay Robinson Racing Toyota11 0 – 43 19 Jason Leffler Humphrey Smith Racing Toyota8 0 1Source:
Notes
Points include 3 Chase for the Sprint Cup points for winning, 1 point for leading a lap, and 1 point for most laps led.
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jimmie Johnson 521 2 Carl Edwards 470 (–51) 3 Clint Bowyer 452 (–69) 2 4 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 439 (–82) 5 Kevin Harvick 434 (–87)
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet101 2 Toyota90 (–11) 3 Ford68 (–33)
Note: Only the first twelve positions are included for the driver standings.
References