2013 STP 400

Kansas Speedway, the race track where the race was held.

Kansas Speedway is a four-turn tri-oval track that is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long.[3] The track's turns are banked from seventeen to twenty degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is nine to eleven degrees. The back stretch, opposite of the front, is at only five degrees.[3] The racetrack has a seating capacity for more than 72,000 spectators.[3] Denny Hamlin was the defending race winner after winning the event in 2012.[4]

Before the race, Jimmie Johnson was leading the Drivers' Championship with 269 points, while Kyle Busch stood in second with 251 points. Greg Biffle followed in the third position, four points ahead of Brad Keselowski and five ahead of Carl Edwards in fourth and fifth. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., with 234, was two points ahead of Kasey Kahne and twenty-six ahead of Clint Bowyer, as Paul Menard was two points ahead of Matt Kenseth and fourteen ahead of Kevin Harvick in tenth and eleventh. Jamie McMurray completed the first twelve positions with 190 points.[5][6]

Matt Kenseth (shown here in 2009) won his ninth career pole position and also won the race.

Three practice sessions are scheduled to be held before the race. The first session, held on April 19, 2013, was 90 minutes long. The second and third were held on April 20, and were 55 and 50 minutes long, respectively.[7] During the first practice session, Edwards was quickest with a time of 28.117 seconds, ahead of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Sam Hornish, Jr. in second and third. Martin Truex, Jr. followed in the fourth position, ahead of Aric Almirola in fifth.[8]

During qualifying, forty-four cars were entered, meaning only one car was not able to start because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure.[9] Kenseth clinched his ninth career pole position, with a record-setting time of 28.145 seconds.[10] After his qualifying run, Kenseth commented, "We didn't think we had a chance. It's unexpected, and it's one of the fastest tracks of the year. Felt great to go out late and jump over the other guys."[11] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Edwards.[10] Stenhouse, Jr. qualified third, Hornish, Jr. took fourth, and Kyle Busch started fifth.[10] Almirola, Truex, Jr., Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, and Bowyer completed the first ten positions on the grid.[10] The driver who failed to qualify for the race was Joe Nemechek.[10]

In the Saturday morning session, Juan Pablo Montoya was quickest, ahead of Stenhouse, Jr. and Almirola in second and third. Biffle and Edwards followed in the fourth and fifth positions.[12] Truex, Jr., Kyle Busch, Earnhardt, Jr., Menard, and Newman rounded out the first ten positions.[12] In the final practice session for the race, Kenseth was quickest with a time of 28.615 seconds.[13] Almirola followed in second, ahead of Montoya and Kurt Busch in third and fourth.[13] Kahne, who was twelfth quickest in second practice,[12] managed fifth.[13]

The race started at 1:16 p.m. EDT with Matt Kenseth leading the field to the green flag, The first caution came out on lap 6 when Kyle Busch spun out in the back straightaway, the race restarted on lap 9, The second caution came out on lap 39 when Dave Blaney blew an engine and collided into Danica Patrick, the race restarted on lap 43, A couple of laps later, the third caution then came out for debris on lap 75, the race restarted on lap 78, The fourth caution then came out on lap 87 when Elliott Sadler spun out, the race restarted on lap 91, with Matt Kenseth the race leader.

The fifth caution came out on lap 106 for a two-car wreck involving Kyle Busch and Joey Logano. The race restarted on lap 115 with Martin Truex, Jr. the race leader, the sixth caution then came out on lap 174 when Brian Vickers spun out, the race restarted with 89 laps to go, The seventh caution came out for a multi-car wreck involving Marcos Ambrose, Casey Mears and Josh Wise, the race restarted with 81 laps to go, A couple of laps later, Debris on the back straightaway brought out the eighth caution of the day, with 50 laps to go, the race restarted with 43 laps to go with Matt Kenseth the race leader, Matt Kenseth won his race in Kansas.

1. ^ Jeff Gordon collided into the SAFER barrier and failed to complete his qualifying lap.[15]