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.
The track, 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.[1] The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5miles long.[2] 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,[3] but only nineteen drivers participated in the race.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]
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.[7] 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.[8] Also in the first session, five cars were involved in an accident after Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch collided.[9] 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.[10]
| Pos | Grid | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | 29 | 75 | ||||||
| 2 | 4 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | 75 | ||||
| 3 | 9 | 22 | Joey Logano | Penske Racing | Ford | 75 | |||
| 4 | 15 | 14 | 75 | ||||||
| 5 | 12 | 20 | 75 | ||||||
| 6 | 8 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 75 | |||
| 7 | 3 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 75 | |||
| 8 | 16 | 88 | 75 | ||||||
| 9 | 6 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 75 | |||
| 10 | 14 | 42 | 75 | ||||||
| 11 | 10 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 75 | |||
| 12 | 1 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 75 | |||
| 13 | 18 | 78 | 14 | ||||||
| 14 | 11 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14 | |||
| 15 | 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 14 | |||
| 16 | 13 | 18 | 14 | ||||||
| 17 | 7 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14 | |||
| 18 | 2 | 55 | Mark Martin | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 14 | |||
| 19 | 19 | 32 | 2 | ||||||