2013 Party in the Poconos 400

Pocono Raceway, the race track where the race was held.

Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.[4] The track's turns are banked differently; the first is banked at 14°, the second turn at 8° and the final turn with 6°.[4] However, each of the three straightaways are banked at 2°.[5] The front stretch at Pocono Raceway is 3,740 feet long, the longest at the track.[5] 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.[5] Joey Logano was the defending race winner after winning the race in 2012.[6]

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.[7] Jeff Gordon was eleventh with 361, while Aric Almirola completed the first twelve positions with 354 points.[8] 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.[9]

Jimmie Johnson was rewarded the pole position after rain showers cancelled 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.[10] The second and third, held a day later on June 8, 2013, were 50 and 60 minutes long.[11]

Forty-three cars were entered for qualifying.[12] However, wet weather soaked the track, therefore canceling the session and making the owner's points championship determine the qualifying grid.[13] Johnson, whose owner was first in the owner's championship before the race, was rewarded the pole position.[14] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Edwards.[14] Bowyer was third, Kenseth took fourth, ahead of Earnhardt, Jr. who started fifth.[14] Kahne, Kyle Busch, Menard, Keselowski and Gordon rounded out the first ten positions.[14]

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.[15] Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Earnhardt, Jr., Keselowski, and Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the first ten positions.[15] In the final practice session for the race, Kurt Busch was quickest with a time of 51.331 seconds.[16] Johnson followed in second, ahead of Edwards and Stewart in third and fourth.[16] Ryan Newman, who was fifteenth quickest in second practice,[15] managed fifth.[16]

Notes

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