The 2013 Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race scheduled to be held on June 29, 2013, at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, United States, but was postponed to June 30 due to persistent rain. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) tri-oval, it was the seventeenth race of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series championship. Matt Kenseth of Joe Gibbs Racing won the race, his fourth win of the 2013 season, while Jamie McMurray finished second. Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five.
| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 17 of 36 in the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
 The 2013 Quaker State 400 program cover, with artwork by Sam Bass. The painting is called "Kentucky Moonlight". | |||
| Date |
June 29, 2013 June 30, 2013 (Postponed) | ||
| Location | Kentucky Speedway, Sparta, Kentucky, United States | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.5 miles (2.4 km) | ||
| Distance | 267 laps, 400.5 mi (644.542 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching up to 69.1 °F (20.6 °C); wind speeds approaching 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 131.948 mph (212.350 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 29.406 seconds | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 182 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TNT | ||
| Announcers | Adam Alexander, Wally Dallenbach Jr. and Kyle Petty | ||
| Nielsen ratings | 2.6 (3.984 million viewers) | ||
Report
editBackground
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Entry list
edit(R) - Denotes rookie driver.
(i) - Denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice and qualifying
editTwo practice sessions were held on June 28 in preparation for the race. The first session was 60 minutes in duration, while the second session was 90 minutes long.[3]
During the first practice session, Kevin Harvick, for the Richard Childress Racing team, was quickest ahead of Jimmie Johnson in second and Brad Keselowski in third.[4] Kurt Busch scored fourth and Jeff Gordon managed fifth.[4] Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers, Juan Pablo Montoya, Paul Menard, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top ten quickest drivers in the session.[4] In the final practice session for the race, Johnson was quickest with a time of 29.819 seconds.[5] Carl Edwards followed in second ahead of Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon in third and fourth.[5] Jeff Burton, who was twelfth quickest in second practice,[4] managed fifth.[5]
During qualifying, Dale Earnhardt Jr. clinched his twelfth career pole position,[6] with a record lap time of 29.406 seconds and a speed of 183.636 miles per hour (295.533 km/h).[7] After his qualifying run, Earnhardt Jr. said, "We thought we had a top-five car in practice, and we got some good cloud cover about six or seven cars in front of us before we went to qualify, and that brought the track temp down to give us a good advantage," Earnhardt said. "It gave us a good opportunity to run a bit quicker lap than maybe what the car had in it."[6] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Edwards.[7] Johnson qualified third, Kyle Busch took fourth, and Marcos Ambrose started fifth.[7] Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski, Brian Vickers, and Juan Pablo Montoya completed the first ten positions on the grid.[7]
Race
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Start
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First half
editThe race was scheduled to start on the Saturday at 8:00 p.m., but was delayed until the following afternoon due to rain, with the new start time set at 12:00 p.m. E.T. This change in schedule prompted NASCAR to impose a competition caution on lap 30 ahead of the race to allow teams to check their tire wear and make adjustments.
Carl Edwards led lap 1. The race ran without incident until the scheduled competition caution was brought out on lap 29, and ended on lap 36. The second caution of the race was issued for a tire blowout on lap 39 and lasted until lap 48. The third caution occurred on lap 49 for a multi-car wreck including Brad Keselowski, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, and others. It started with Brad Keselowski spinning in the grass, taking out multiple cars in the process. The wreck caused the red flag to be displayed with Jimmie Johnson as the race leader. The fourth caution came out on lap 89 for debris on the track.
Second half
editDavid Gilliland blew a tire Kasey Kahne won the free pass, and the race restarted on lap 94. The fifth caution of the race came out on lap 149; Jeff Gordon won the free pass under caution, and the race restarted on lap 154. Jimmie Johnson took the lead, and then the next caution was on lap 241 for a tire blowout.
Final wreck and finish
editThe race restarted on lap 243, and on 246, the sixth caution came out. The race restarted on lap 250, and Matt Kenseth won his first race at Kentucky.
Results
editQualifying
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Race results
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Standings after the race
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References
edit- ↑ "2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
- ↑ "2013 Quaker State 400 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
- ↑ "Quaker State 400 Race Information". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 "Quaker State 400 1st Practice Speeds". Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on July 2, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
- 1 2 3 "Quaker State 400 Final Practice Speeds". Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on July 2, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
- 1 2 Spencer, Reid (June 28, 2013). "Dale Earnhardt Jr. takes his first pole of 2013". NASCAR. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "2013 Quaker State 400 Qualifying Results". Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on July 4, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
- ↑ "2013 Quaker State 400 Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 17, 2025.