The 2013 Auto Club 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on March 24, 2013, at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, United States. Contested over 200 laps on the 2-mile (3.2 km) asphalt D-shaped oval, it was the fifth race of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series championship. Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing won the race, his first of the season, and the first Sprint Cup win at Auto Club for Joe Gibbs, completing a weekend sweep, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second. Joey Logano, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five.

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Background

Auto Club Speedway was a four-turn superspeedway that was long. The track's turns were banked from fourteen degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, was banked at eleven degrees. Unlike the front stretch, the backstraightaway was banked at three degrees. The track had a seating capacity of 92,100 people. The race consisted of 200 laps, which is equivalent to a race distance of .

Before the race, Brad Keselowski was leading the Drivers' Championship with 166 points, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. stood in second with 157 points. Jimmie Johnson followed in the third position, 23 points ahead of Clint Bowyer and 25 points ahead of Greg Biffle in fourth and fifth. Denny Hamlin, with 125, was one point ahead of Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards, as Paul Menard was three points ahead of Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in tenth and eleventh. Joey Logano completed the first twelve positions with 104 points. The defending winner of the race was Tony Stewart, who won the race in 2012.

Entry list (R) - Denotes rookie driver.

(i) - Denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points. DriverTeamManufacturer1Jamie McMurrayEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet2Brad KeselowskiPenske RacingFord5Kasey KahneHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet7Dave BlaneyTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet9Marcos AmbroseRichard Petty MotorsportsFord10Danica Patrick (R)Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet11Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota13Casey MearsGermain RacingFord14Tony StewartStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet15Clint BowyerMichael Waltrip RacingToyota16Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord17Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (R)Roush Fenway RacingFord18Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota19Mike Bliss (i)Humphrey Smith RacingToyota20Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota22Joey LoganoPenske RacingFord24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet27Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet30David StremmeSwan RacingToyota31Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet32Timmy Hill (R)FAS Lane RacingFord33Landon Cassill (i)Circle SportChevrolet34David RaganFront Row MotorsportsFord35Josh Wise (i)Front Row MotorsportsFord36J. J. YeleyTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet38David GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord39Ryan NewmanStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet42Juan Pablo MontoyaEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet43Aric AlmirolaRichard Petty MotorsportsFord44Scott RiggsXxxtreme MotorsportsFord47Bobby LabonteJTG Daugherty RacingToyota48Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet51A. J. AllmendingerPhoenix RacingChevrolet55Mark MartinMichael Waltrip RacingToyota56Martin Truex Jr.Michael Waltrip RacingToyota78Kurt BuschFurniture Row RacingChevrolet83David ReutimannBK RacingToyota87Joe Nemechek (i)NEMCO-Jay Robinson RacingToyota88Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet93Travis KvapilBK RacingToyota98Michael McDowellPhil Parsons RacingFord99Carl EdwardsRoush Fenway RacingFordOfficial entry list

Practice and qualifying

Three practice sessions were held before the race. The first session, held on March 22, 2013, was 60 minutes long. The second and third were held on March 23, and were 55 and 50 minutes long. During the first practice session, Bowyer was quickest with a time of 38.832, ahead of Hamlin and A. J. Allmendinger in second and third. Kyle Busch followed in the fourth position, ahead of Logano in fifth.

In the Saturday morning session, Biffle was quickest, ahead of Allmendinger and Busch in second and third. Hamlin and Kurt Busch followed in the fourth and fifth positions. Bowyer, Mark Martin, Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., and Logano rounded out the first ten positions. In the final practice session for the race, Martin was quickest with a time of 39.269 seconds. Bowyer followed in second, ahead of Matt Kenseth and Johnson in third and fourth. Keselowski, who was eighteenth quickest in second practice, managed fifth.

During qualifying, forty-three cars were entered, meaning all of the cars were able to start because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Hamlin clinched his twelfth career pole position, with a time of 38.410 seconds. After his qualifying run, Hamlin commented,“Honestly, I think our car was really fast. I knew, talking to a few people in my motor home... it’s cocky to say, but I said, ‘Man, I can almost guarantee a pole, if we have a late draw.’ When they told me we were third, I was like, ‘OK. Well, just never mind. Forget that." He was joined on the front row of the grid by Biffle. Keselowski qualified third, Kyle Busch took fourth, and Kenseth started fifth. Logano, Truex Jr., Tony Stewart, Martin, and Kurt Busch completed the first ten positions on the grid.

Race With seven laps to go, Joey Logano took the lead after a brief duel with former teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. Hamlin and Logano had been involved in an incident the previous race at Bristol, with the sentiments carrying over to this race. Hamlin chased Logano down and the two were side-by-side for most of the final lap, but Logano attempted to block Hamlin in the final turn and was sent up into the outside wall, while Hamlin came off the banking and smashed head-on into the inside concrete retaining wall, allowing Busch to pass both cars on the high side and take the win.

Although Hamlin climbed out of the car right after the crash, he immediately collapsed and lied on the track. He was airlifted to the hospital as a precaution. It was announced the next day that Hamlin had suffered a massive L1 compression fracture, or a collapsed vertebra, likely because the area where his car hit the wall was lacking a SAFER barrier. The resulting injuries forced Hamlin to miss the next four races. Mark Martin filled in for Hamlin at Martinsville while Brian Vickers filled in at Texas, Kansas, and Richmond. Hamlin did not start another race until Talladega in May, although the team arranged for Vickers to take over at the first caution flag pit stop. Hamlin did not return full-time to his race car until the following week at Darlington.

In response to the accident, for 2014, Auto Club Speedway installed an additional 1,000 foot SAFER barrier along the wall where Hamlin's car had impacted.

Following the finish, Logano was also involved in an altercation with Stewart after a blocking move made by Logano on Stewart during the final restart. Stewart ended with a 22nd-place finish following the incident. Stewart went on to confront Logano in the pit lane and who had to be restrained by crews from Danica Patrick's team after Logano threw a water bottle at Stewart.

Results

Qualifying Grid Driver Team Manufacturer 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.410 187.451 2 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 38.458 187.217 3 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Ford 38.472 187.149 4 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.476 187.130 5 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.567 186.688 6 22 Joey Logano Penske Racing Ford 38.603 186.514 7 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 38.653 186.273 8 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 38.738 185.864 9 55 Mark Martin Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 38.753 185.792 10 78 Kurt Busch Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 38.777 185.677 11 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Ford 38.886 185.157 12 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 38.901 185.085 13 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 38.945 184.876 14 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38.979 184.715 15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.998 184.625 16 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.051 184.374 17 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 39.081 184.233 18 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.121 184.044 19 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.128 184.011 20 39 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 39.133 183.988 21 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 39.162 183.852 22 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 39.194 183.702 23 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 39.195 183.697 24 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39.222 183.570 25 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 39.291 183.248 26 51 A. J. Allmendinger Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 39.320 183.113 27 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 39.340 183.020 28 83 David Reutimann BK Racing Toyota 39.382 182.825 29 7 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 39.418 182.658 30 35 Josh Wise Front Row Motorsports Ford 39.422 182.639 31 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39.448 182.519 32 30 David Stremme Swan Racing Toyota 39.458 182.473 33 93 Travis Kvapil BK Racing Toyota 39.465 182.440 34 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 39.671 181.493 35 98 Michael McDowell Phil Parsons Racing Ford 39.760 181.087 36 33 Landon Cassill Circle Sport Chevrolet 39.760 181.087 37 36 J. J. Yeley Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 39.955 180.203 38 44 Scott Riggs XXXtreme Motorsports Ford 40.038 179.829 39 32 Timmy Hill FAS Lane Racing Ford 40.118 179.471 40 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 40.155 179.305 41 19 Mike Bliss Humphrey Smith Racing Toyota 40.369 178.355 42 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 40.492 177.813 43 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO-Jay Robinson Racing Toyota 40.645 177.144Source:

Race results