2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (Start Your Engines!)
The 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 65th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 42nd modern-era Cup series season.
The 2013 season was the first season using the New Body Program carbody, the SC-13 body, and marked the return to the qualifying procedure that was used before the 2005 season. However, at the two road courses on the schedule drivers qualified in groups instead of single laps. In September 2012, NASCAR removed a ban introduced in the 2008 season on testing at tracks that were on any of the premier series' schedules.
Teams and drivers
Complete schedule
| Manufacturer | Team | No. | Race driver | Crew chief |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | 98 | Shane Hmiel | |
| Earnhardt Childress Racing | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Kevin Manion | |
| 3 | Kevin Harvick | Gil Martin | ||
| 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Tony Eury Jr. | ||
| 30 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Shane Wilson | ||
| 31 | Jeff Burton | Drew Blickensderfer | ||
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chad Knaus | ||
| Furniture Row Racing | 78 | Kurt Busch | Todd Berrier | |
| Hendrick Motorsports | 5 | Jerry Nadeau | Lance McGrew | |
| 25 | Ricky Hendrick | Alan Gustafson | ||
| 35 | Landon Cassill | |||
| 50 | Brad Keselowski | Steve Letarte | ||
| Kennedy Racing | 03 | Melvin Kennedy | Mark Cutter | |
| 04 | Louise Kennedy | |||
| Phoenix Racing (Finch)Phoenix Racing (Scott) | 51 | Regan Smith | Nick Harrison
Jimmy Elledge | |
| Austin Dillon | ||||
| Bobby Labonte | ||||
| Jacques Villeneuve | ||||
| Owen Kelly | ||||
| Ryan Truex | ||||
| Mike Bliss | ||||
| Justin Allgaier | ||||
| Michael McDowell | ||||
| Kyle Larson | ||||
| Stewart-Haas Racing | 10 | Danica Patrick (R) | Tony Gibson | |
| 14 | Tony Stewart | Greg Zipadelli | ||
| 39 | Ryan Newman | Matt Borland | ||
| 61 | Mark Martin | Steve Addington | ||
| Tommy Baldwin Racing | 36 | Victor Gonzalez Jr. (R) | Joe Lax | |
| 107 | Dave Blaney | Tommy Baldwin Jr. | ||
| Justin Marks | ||||
| Dodge | AK Racing | 7 | James Kulwicki | |
| Bill Davis Racing | 22 | Jeff Gordon | ||
| 23 | Jason Leffler | |||
| 24 | Scott Wimmer | |||
| Chip Ganassi Racing | 40 | Jamie McMurray | ||
| 41 | Bryan Clauson | |||
| 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | |||
| Evernham Motorsports | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Kenny Francis | |
| 19 | Casey Elliott | Ernie Elliott | ||
| Kelman Racing | 86 | Ryan Kelman | Wally Rogers | |
| McDuffie Racing | 170 | Crissy Hillsworth | ||
| Moroso-Rudd Racing | 82 | Rob Moroso | ||
| 83 | Brendan Gaughan | |||
| Pacific Coast Racing | 60 | Chloe Johnson | Jed Luke | |
| 69 | Jenny Smith | Barry Baker | ||
| 80 | Tim Johnson | Charlie Davis | ||
| 85 | Belle Armstrong | Scott Smith | ||
| Penske Racing | 02 | Joey Logano | Todd Gordon | |
| 2 | Blaise Alexander | Paul Wolfe | ||
| 12 | Paul Menard | |||
| Petty Enterprises | 43 | Aric Almirola | Todd Parrott | |
| 44 | Chad McCumbee | Sammy Johns | ||
| 45 | Adam Petty | Drew Blickensderfer | ||
| 46 | Austin Petty | Steve Reis | ||
| Ford | Brett Favre Racing | 15 | Tim Steele | |
| 90 | Parker Kligerman (R) | |||
| DGB-Medallion Racing | 09 | Marcos Ambrose | ||
| FAS Lane Racing | 65 | Terry Labonte | Frank Stoddard | |
| Ken Schrader | ||||
| Timmy Hill (R) | ||||
| Boris Said | ||||
| Front Row Motorsports | 34 | David Ragan | Jay Guy | |
| 35 | Josh Wise | Steve Lane
Derrick Finley Todd Anderson | ||
| Michael McDowell | ||||
| 38 | David Gilliland | |||
| Germain Racing | 13 | Casey Mears | Bootie Barker | |
| Roush Racing | 16 | Greg Biffle | Matt Puccia | |
| 66 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (R) | Scott Graves | ||
| 99 | Carl Edwards | Jimmy Fennig | ||
| Yates Racing | 28 | Clifford Allison | ||
| 88 | Jeremy Mayfield | |||
| 96 | J. J. Yeley | |||
| Toyota | BK Racing | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Todd Anderson
Mike Ford Dale Ferguson |
| 183 | David Reutimann | Pat Tryson
Doug Richert | ||
| Joe Gibbs Racing | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Darian Grubb | |
| 18 | Kyle Busch | Dave Rogers | ||
| 20 | Matt Kenseth | Jason Ratcliff
Wally Brown | ||
| Michael Waltrip Racing | 17 | Clint Bowyer | Brian Pattie | |
| 55 | Brian Vickers | Rodney Childers
Scott Miller | ||
| NEMCO-Jay Robinson Racing | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Scott Eggleston | |
| Tomy Drissi | ||||
| Swan Racing | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Steve Lane | |
| David Stremme | ||||
| Cole Whitt | ||||
| Kevin Swindell |
Technical changes
2013 marked the completion of the New Body Program, with the introduction of the SC-13 body. The body was the culmination of five years of development starting in 2008 shortly after a meeting between NASCAR and Detroit automakers.
The goal of the SC-13 body was to update the look of the cars to better match their showroom counterparts. The NC-06 body introduced in 2006 did not reflect the car design trends of the early 2010s, as cars had become taller than the low-slung Sprint Cup Series cars. Not helping matters was the fact the Nationwide Series had switched to a different body in 2011, the NW-11 body, colloquially known as the Muscle Body, that was meant to better represent the cars in showrooms; the NW-11 body was half-successful, as while the Chevrolet Impala bore little resemblence to any Chevrolet model (gaining the derogatory nickname "Frankenpala"), and the Toyota Camry was too boxy compared to its street counterpart, the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger were universally well-received for being nearly-identical to their showroom counterparts.
For the SC-13 body, all four manufacturers were told to make the cars as stock-looking as they could while still staying within NASCAR's guidelines. Chevrolet replaced the Impala with the new Chevrolet SS (really a rebadged Holden Commodore for the American market), while Ford, Dodge, and Toyota continued using the Fusion, Charger, and Camry, respectively; Dodge also offered the Dart as an optional bodystyle, with McDuffie Racing running the full 2013 season with a Dart.
The SC-13 body received universal acclaim for its appearance while still maintaining the high-quality racing that the NC-06 body had come to be associated with.