The 2013 Camping World RV Sales 301 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on July 14, 2013, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, United States. Contested over 302 laps, it was the nineteenth race of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Brian Vickers of Michael Waltrip Racing won the race, his third career and final Sprint Cup win, while Kyle Busch finished second. Jeff Burton, Brad Keselowski, and Aric Almirola rounded out the top five.

Report

Background

New Hampshire Motor Speedway opened on June 5, 1990, as a four-turn oval track, long. The track's turns are banked at two to seven degrees, while the front stretch, the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at one degree and are 1,500 feet in length. The track has a grandstand seating capacity of 93,521 spectators. Kasey Kahne was the defending race winner.

Before the race, Jimmie Johnson was leading the Drivers' Championship with 658 points, while Clint Bowyer stood in second with 609 points. Carl Edwards followed in third with 587, two points ahead of Kevin Harvick and thirty-nine ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in fourth and fifth. Matt Kenseth, with 540, was in sixth; seven points ahead of Kyle Busch, who was scored seventh. Eighth-placed Greg Biffle was fifteen points ahead of Kurt Busch and seventeen ahead of Tony Stewart in ninth and tenth. Martin Truex Jr. was eleventh with 493, while Kahne completed the first twelve positions with 490 points. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 128 points, twelve points ahead of Toyota. Ford was third with 91 points.

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 RacingChevrolet32Ken SchraderFAS 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 MotorsportsFord47Bobby LabonteJTG Daugherty RacingToyota48Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet51A. J. AllmendingerPhoenix RacingChevrolet52Morgan Shepherd (i)Brian Keselowski MotorsportsToyota55Brian Vickers (i)Michael 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, scheduled on July 12, 2013, was 90 minutes long. The second and third, held a day later on July 13, 2013, were 55 and 60 minutes long. In the first practice session, Brad Keselowski was the quickest with a best lap time of 28.111 seconds. Kyle Busch followed in second, ahead of Denny Hamlin and Jamie McMurray in third and fourth. Earnhardt Jr. was scored fifth quickest with a best lap time of 28.369, 258 thousandths of a second slower than Keselowski. Gordon, Johnson, Kurt Busch, Edwards, and Bowyer completed the top-ten.

During the qualifying session, Keselowski recorded his third career pole position with a lap time of 28.022 seconds and a speed of . Johnson had the second best lap time, but was disqualified because his car didn't meet height requirements, prompting him to start last of the forty-three car field. Kurt Busch, who completed his lap in 28.040 seconds, will start alongside Keselowski on the grid, in front of Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, and Gordon. Edwards, with a lap time of 28.112 seconds, was scored sixth ahead of Hamlin and Kahne in seventh and eighth. Jeff Burton and Juan Pablo Montoya completed the first ten grid positions with lap times of 28.162 and 28.191.

In the Saturday morning session, Kurt Busch was quickest with a fastest lap time of 28.531 seconds, six-thousandths of a second faster than Kenseth in second. Kyle Busch managed to be third quickest with a fastest lap time of 28.563, 0.032 slower than his brother Kurt. Bowyer and Edwards followed in the fourth and fifth positions. Johnson, Joey Logano, Hamlin, Truex Jr., and Montoya completed the first ten positions. In the final practice session for the race, Brian Vickers was quickest with a time of 28.548 seconds and a best speed of . Earnhardt Jr. followed in second, ahead of Kenseth and Bowyer in third and fourth. Johnson, who was sixth quickest in second practice, managed fifth.

Race The second half of the season started with Brad Keselowski clinching the pole. Jimmie Johnson (who qualified second) was sent to the rear of the field for failing post-qualifying inspection. Keselowski led the first few laps, but relinquished the lead to Kyle Busch, who, in turn, lost it to Kurt Busch. As drivers came into and fell out of the top ten due to pit strategy, both Kurt and Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, and others took turns at the front.

Stewart led the majority of the last 100 laps, but Brian Vickers passed both Stewart and Kyle Busch with about 15 laps left. The race saw an unusually high amount of cautions, with the 12th of the day coming out with four to go to set up a green-white-checker finish. On the restart, Vickers held the lead over Stewart and Busch, but coming to the white flag, Stewart ran out of fuel. This allowed Vickers to take his third career win over Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton, Keselowski, and Aric Almirola. Morgan Shepherd, who qualified and finished 41st, became the oldest driver to compete in the Sprint Cup Series at age 71.

Results

Qualifying Grid Driver Team Manufacturer 1 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Ford 28.022 135.922 2 78 Kurt Busch Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 28.040 135.835 3 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.050 135.786 4 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.056 135.757 5 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.104 135.525 6 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.112 135.487 7 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.113 135.482 8 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.144 135.333 9 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.162 135.246 10 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.191 135.107 11 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.198 135.073 12 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.212 135.006 13 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.218 134.978 14 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.241 134.868 15 39 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.245 134.849 16 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.265 134.753 17 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.274 134.710 18 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.320 134.492 19 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.337 134.411 20 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.405 134.089 21 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.418 134.028 22 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.458 133.839 23 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.459 133.835 24 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.462 133.821 25 22 Joey Logano Penske Racing Ford 28.471 133.778 26 51 A. J. Allmendinger Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 28.471 133.778 27 83 David Reutimann BK Racing Toyota 28.501 133.637 28 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Ford 28.545 133.431 29 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.579 133.273 30 98 Michael McDowell Phil Parsons Racing Ford 28.639 132.993 31 93 Travis Kvapil BK Racing Toyota 28.655 132.919 32 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.658 132.905 33 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 28.698 132.720 34 19 Mike Bliss Humphrey Smith Motorsports Toyota 28.749 132.485 35 35 Josh Wise Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.854 132.002 36 33 Landon Cassill Circle Sport Chevrolet 28.881 131.879 37 32 Ken Schrader FAS Lane Racing Ford 28.953 131.551 38 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO-Jay Robinson Racing Toyota 29.048 131.121 39 7 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 29.053 131.098 40 36 J. J. Yeley Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 29.120 130.797 41 52 Morgan Shepherd Brian Keselowski Motorsports Toyota 29.689 128.290 42 30 David Stremme Swan Racing Toyotacolspan="2" 43 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Time disallowedSource:

Notes 1. David Stremme hit the wall in turn 2 of his qualifying lap, failing to complete it. 2. Jimmie Johnson initially qualified 2nd, but his time was disallowed when his car was found to be too low during post-qualifying inspection.

Race results