2013 Toyota/Save Mart 350

2013 Toyota/Save Mart 350

Race details[1][2]
Race 16 of 36 in the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
Date	June 23, 2013
Location	Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California, United States
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.99 mi (3.2 km)
Distance	110 laps, 218.9 mi (352.3 km)
Weather	Clear with a high temperature around 85 °F (29 °C); wind out of the SW at 16 miles per hour (26 km/h).
Average speed	76.658 mph (123.369 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Jamie McMurray	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing
Time	75.422 seconds
Most laps led
Driver	Martin Truex, Jr.	Michael Waltrip Racing
Laps	51
Winner
No. 56	Martin Truex, Jr.	Michael Waltrip Racing
Television in the United States
Network	TNT
Announcers	Adam Alexander, Wally Dallenbach, Jr. and Kyle Petty
Nielsen Ratings	3.0/7 (4.660 million viewers)

The 2013 Toyota/Save Mart 350 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on June 23, 2013, at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, United States. Contested over 110 laps on the 1.99-mile (3.2 km) road course, it was the sixteenth race of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series championship, and the first of two road course competitions on the schedule. Martin Truex, Jr. of Michael Waltrip Racing won the race, breaking a 218-race winless streak stretching back to June 2007, while Jeff Gordon finished second. Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five. The top rookie of the race was Ricky Stenhouse Jr who finished 27th.

Report

Background

Sonoma Raceway, the road course where the race was held.

Sonoma Raceway is one of two road courses to hold NASCAR races, the other being Watkins Glen International.^[3] The standard road course at Sonoma Raceway is a 12-turn course that is 2.52 miles (4.06 km) long;^[4] the track was modified in 1998, adding the Chute, which bypassed turns 5 and 6, shortening the course to 1.95 miles (3.14 km).^[4] The Chute was only used for NASCAR events such as this race, and was criticized by many drivers, who preferred the full layout.^[5] In 2001, it was replaced with a 70-degree turn, 4A, bringing the track to its current dimensions of 1.99 miles (3.20 km).^[6] Clint Bowyer was the defending race winner after winning the race in 2012.^[7]

Seven teams chose to temporarily replace their regular drivers with road course ringers. Humphrey Smith Racing chose Alex Kennedy to drive the No. 19 Toyota,^[8] while Circle Sport chose Ron Fellows to drive their No. 33 Chevrolet.^[9] Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) selected Victor Gonzalez, Jr. to drive the No. 36 Chevrolet, making Gonzalez, Jr. the first Caribbean driver to race in the Sprint Cup Series.^[10] TBR also chose Justin Marks to drive the No. 7.^[11] Brian Keselowski chose Drive for Diversity graduate Paulie Harraka to drive the No. 52 Ford,^[12] while NEMCO-Jay Robinson Racing selected Tomy Drissi to drive their No. 87 car, replacing Joe Nemechek.^[13] Boris Said competed during the race in the No. 32 FAS Lane Racing Ford.^[11] Jacques Villeneuve, the 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner and 1997 Formula One World Champion, was selected by Phoenix Racing to drive the No. 51 as well.^[14] Jason Bowles was tabbed by Michael Waltrip Racing to pilot the No. 55 in place of Brian Vickers in practice and qualifying due to Vickers participating in the Johnsonville Sausage 200 at Road America.^[15]

Before the race, Jimmie Johnson was leading the Drivers' Championship with 538 points, while Carl Edwards stood in second with 507 points.^[16] Bowyer followed in the third with 489, thirteen points ahead of Kevin Harvick and thirty-three ahead of Matt Kenseth in fourth and fifth.^[16] Kyle Busch, with 452, was in sixth; five ahead of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who was scored seventh.^[16] Eighth-placed Greg Biffle was thirteen points ahead of Brad Keselowski and twenty-six ahead of Tony Stewart in ninth and tenth.^[16] Paul Menard was eleventh with 415, while Kasey Kahne completed the first twelve positions with 407 points.^[16] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 107 points, fifteen points ahead of Toyota.^[17] Ford was third after recording only 79 points before the race.^[17]

For the first time, Amtrak ran a special train from Sacramento to the race on trackage that had never seen a passenger train. The train was run using Capitol Corridor equipment. 500 fans total rode the train.

Practice and qualifying

Jamie McMurray won the pole position.

Two practice sessions were held on June 21 in preparation for the race. The first session was 105 minutes, while second session was 90 minutes long.^[18]

During the first practice session, Marcos Ambrose, for the Richard Petty Motorsports team, was quickest ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya in second and Casey Mears in third.^[19] Kurt Busch was scored fourth, and Jamie McMurray managed fifth.^[19] Biffle, Keselowski, Bowyer, Martin Truex, Jr., and Joey Logano rounded out the top ten quickest drivers in the session.^[19] Bowyer had the quickest ten consecutive lap average with an average speed of 92.404 miles per hour (148.710 km/h).^[19] In the final practice session for the race, Bowyer was quickest with a time of 75.765 seconds.^[20] McMurray followed in second, ahead of Kyle Busch and Edwards in third and fourth.^[20] Montoya, who was second quickest in second practice,^[19] could only manage fifth.^[20]

Starting with this race, NASCAR changed qualifying procedures for Sprint Cup races held on the road courses. Rather than having one car attempt to qualify at a time, groups of either five or six cars were released in five-second intervals and had a five-minute time limit to complete their runs.^[21] McMurray clinched his ninth career pole position,^[22] with a lap time of 75.422 seconds and a speed of 94.986 miles per hour (152.865 km/h).^[23] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Ambrose.^[23] Edwards qualified third, Biffle took fourth, and Bowyer started fifth.^[23] Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Logano, Kyle Busch, and Jeff Gordon completed the first ten positions on the grid.^[23]

Qualifying order

Source:^[24]

Group 1 No. Driver Team Manufacturer 30 David Stremme Swan Racing Company Toyota 36 Victor Gonzalez, Jr. Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevy 7 Justin Marks Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevy 52 Paulie Harraka Go Green Racing Ford 37 J. J. Yeley Max Q Motorsports Chevy 87 Tomy Drissi NEMCO-Jay Robinson Racing Toyota Group 2 No. Driver Team Manufacturer 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 32 Boris Said FAS Lane Racing Ford 83 David Reutimann BK Racing Toyota 35 Josh Wise Front Row Motorsports Ford 19 Alex Kennedy Humphrey Smith Motorsports Toyota Group 3 No. Driver Team Manufacturer 33 Ron Fellows Circle Sport Chevy 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevy 55 Jason Bowles (for Brian Vickers) Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 51 Jacques Villeneuve Phoenix Racing Chevy 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy Group 4 No. Driver Team Manufacturer 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevy 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevy 93 Travis Kvapil BK Racing Toyota 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford

Group 5 No. Driver Team Manufacturer 39 Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevy Group 6 No. Driver Team Manufacturer 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevy 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevy 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevy Group 7 No. Driver Team Manufacturer 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Ford 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 56 Martin Truex, Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 22 Joey Logano Penske Racing Ford Group 8 No. Driver Team Manufacturer 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevy 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Ford 78 Kurt Busch Furniture Row Racing Chevy 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevy

Results

Qualifying

Grid	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	1	Jamie McMurray	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	75.422	94.986
2	9	Marcos Ambrose	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	75.471	94.924
3	99	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	75.586	94.779
4	16	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	75.592	94.772
5	15	Clint Bowyer	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	75.620	94.737
6	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	75.711	94.623
7	78	Kurt Busch	Furniture Row Racing	Chevrolet	75.750	94.574
8	22	Joey Logano	Penske Racing	Ford	75.788	94.527
9	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	75.933	94.346
10	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	75.943	94.334
11	14	Tony Stewart	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	76.010	94.251
12	29	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	76.039	94.215
13	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	76.039	94.215
14	56	Martin Truex, Jr.	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	76.200	94.016
15	5	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	76.401	93.768
16	27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	Ford	76.464	93.691
17	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	76.465	93.690
18	2	Brad Keselowski	Penske Racing	Ford	76.470	93.684
19	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	76.471	93.683
20	47	Bobby Labonte	JTG Daugherty Racing	Toyota	76.483	93.668
21	13	Casey Mears	Germain Racing	Ford	76.555	93.580
22	51	Jacques Villeneuve	Phoenix Racing	Chevrolet	76.576	93.554
23	34	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	76.592	93.535
24	32	Boris Said	FAS Lane Racing	Ford	76.642	93.474
25	33	Ron Fellows	Circle Sport	Chevrolet	76.650	93.464
26	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	76.686	93.420
27	31	Jeff Burton	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	76.784	93.301
28	30	David Stremme	Swan Racing	Toyota	76.819	93.258
29	38	David Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	76.829	93.246
30	39	Ryan Newman	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	76.878	93.187
31	10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	76.922	93.133
32	43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	77.001	93.038
33	93	Travis Kvapil	BK Racing	Toyota	77.169	92.835
34	55	Brian Vickers	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	77.224	92.769
35	35	Josh Wise	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	77.240	92.750
36	7	Justin Marks	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	77.360	92.606
37	17	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	77.445	92.504
38	83	David Reutimann	BK Racing	Toyota	77.590	92.331
39	19	Alex Kennedy	Humphrey Smith Racing	Toyota	78.271	91.528
40	52	Paulie Harraka	Brian Keselowski Motorsports	Ford	78.367	91.416
41	87	Tomy Drissi	NEMCO-Jay Robinson Racing	Toyota	79.051	90.625
42	36	Victor Gonzalez, Jr.	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	N/A	N/A
43	37	J. J. Yeley	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	80.143	89.390
Source:[23][25]

Race results

Pos	Grid	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Led	Points^1
1	14	56	Martin Truex, Jr.	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	110	51	48
2	10	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	110	4	43
3	3	99	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	110	0	41
4	7	78	Kurt Busch	Furniture Row Racing	Chevrolet	110	15	41
5	5	15	Clint Bowyer	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	110	0	39
6	15	5	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	110	0	38
7	2	9	Marcos Ambrose	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	110	18	38
8	4	16	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	110	0	36
9	19	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	110	0	35
10	12	29	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	110	0	34
11	8	22	Joey Logano	Penske Racing	Ford	110	10	34
12	26	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	110	0	32
13	34	55	Brian Vickers	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	110	3	–
14	16	27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	110	0	30
15	30	39	Ryan Newman	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	110	0	29
16	21	13	Casey Mears	Germain Racing	Ford	110	0	28
17	33	93	Travis Kvapil	BK Racing	Toyota	110	0	27
18	24	32	Boris Said	FAS Lane Racing	Ford	110	0	26
19	6	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	110	0	25
20	32	43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	110	0	24
21	18	2	Brad Keselowski	Penske Racing	Ford	110	7	24
22	25	33	Ron Fellows	Circle Sport	Chevrolet	110	0	22
23	17	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	110	0	21
24	29	38	David Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	110	0	20
25	1	1	Jamie McMurray	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	110	2	20
26	38	83	David Reutimann	BK Racing	Chevrolet	110	0	18
27	37	17	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	110	0	17
28	11	14	Tony Stewart	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	110	0	16
29	31	10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	110	0	15
30	36	7	Justin Marks	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	110	0	14
31	27	31	Jeff Burton	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	110	0	13
32	35	35	Josh Wise	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	110	0	12
33	23	34	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	110	0	11
34	13	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	110	0	10
35	9	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	109	0	9
36	28	30	David Stremme	Swan Racing	Toyota	109	0	8
37	42	36	Victor Gonzalez, Jr.	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	109	0	7
38	41	87	Tomy Drissi	NEMCO-Jay Robinson Racing	Toyota	108	0	6
39	40	52	Paulie Harraka	Brian Keselowski Motorsports	Ford	89	0	5
40	39	19	Alex Kennedy	Humphrey Smith Racing	Toyota	30	0	4
41	22	51	Jacques Villeneuve	Phoenix Racing	Chevrolet	19	0	3
42	43	37	J. J. Yeley	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	7	0	PE
43	20	47	Bobby Labonte	JTG Daugherty Racing	Toyota	0	0	1
Source:

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.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jimmie Johnson 573 2 Carl Edwards 548 (–25) 3 Clint Bowyer 528 (–45) 4 Kevin Harvick 510 (–63) 5 Matt Kenseth 481 (–92) 2 6 Greg Biffle 479 (–94) 7 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 479 (–94) 2 8 Kyle Busch 461 (–112) 9 Brad Keselowski 454 (–119) 3 10 Martin Truex, Jr. 453 (–120) 1 11 Kasey Kahne 445 (–128) 1 12 Paul Menard 445 (–128)

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 113 2 Toyota 101 (-12) 3 Ford 83 (-30) Note: Only the first twelve positions are included for the driver standings.

References

1. "2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
2. Brown, Brian (2013-06-19). "The Toyota/Save Mart 350". Rotoworld.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
3. White, Rea (18 June 2010). "Road course races challenge the specialists". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 2010-07-25. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
4. "Sears Point". gt-racing.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
5. "Passing is tough in Chute". The Augusta Chronicle. 28 June 1998. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
6. "Sears Point Breaks Ground On Modified Chute". Racingwest.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
7. "2012 Toyota / Save Mart 350". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
8. Bonkowski, Jerry (2013-06-19). "Alex Kennedy attempts Sprint Cup debut, will drive Jason Leffler’s car". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
9. "Ron Fellows Joins Circle Sport Lineup for NASCAR Road Course Events". Catchfence. Citizen Journalist Media Corps. 2013-06-04. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
10. "TBR Tabs Gonzalez Jr. for Road Races". Motor Racing Network. 2013-04-20. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
11. DiZinno, Tony (2013-06-20). "NASCAR’s Sonoma 2013 road course ringers, analyzed". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
12. Spencer, Lee (2013-06-12). "D4D driver gets Sprint Cup chance". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
13. "Tomy Drissi climbs into No. 87 at Sonoma". Stock Car Spin. 2013-06-19. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
14. "Villeneuve to pilot No. 51 Cup car at Sonoma". NASCAR. 2013-06-17. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
15. Albert, Zack (2013-06-18). "Vickers ready for unique road racing double". NASCAR. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
16. "2013 Quicken Loans 400 Report" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. 2013-06-16. p. 2. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
17. "Manufacturer's Championship Classification". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
18. "2013 Toyota/Save Mart 350 Race Information". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
19. "NSCS Practice 1: 25th Annual Toyota/Save Mart 350" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
20. "2013 NSCS Toyota/Save Mart 350 Final Practice Session Speeds". Catchfence.com. 2013-06-21. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
21. "Road Course Qualifying Explained". Motor Racing Network. 2013-06-17. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
22. "Jamie McMurray tops Marcos Ambrose to win Sonoma pole". Sports Illustrated. 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
23. "2013 Toyota/Save Mart 350 Qualifying Results". Racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
24. "Sonoma Sprint Cup qualifying order". NASCAR. 2013-06-21. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
25. "Toyota / Save Mart Qualifying Grid". Motor Racing Network. 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2013-06-23.