Atlanta Motor Speedway is a four-turn quad-oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long.[3] The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the 2,332-foot (711 m) front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the 1,800-foot (550 m) back stretch are banked at five.[3] The track's racing surface width varies from 55 feet to 60 feet.[3]Denny Hamlin was the race's defending winner after winning the event in 2012.[4]
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. started first on the grid after winning the pole position.
Three practice sessions were held before the race. The first session, scheduled on August 30, 2013, was 90 minutes long. The second and third, held a day later on August 31, 2013, were 55 and 50 minutes long.[7] In the first practice session, Brad Keselowski was the quickest with a best lap time of 29.168 seconds.[8] Edwards followed in second, ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya and Kurt Busch in third and fourth.[8] Bowyer was scored fifth-quickest with a best lap time of 29.491, more than three-tenths slower than Keselowski.[8] Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Mark Martin, Biffle, and Kenseth completed the top-ten.[8]
During the qualifying session, Rookie of the Year contender, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. recorded his first Sprint Cup Series career pole position[9] with a lap time of 29.227 seconds and a speed of 189.688 mph (305.273 km/h).[10] Edwards, who completed his lap in 29.330 seconds, will start alongside Stenhouse on the grid, in front of Montoya, Hamlin, and Jeff Gordon.[10] Kenseth, with a lap time of 29.492 seconds, was scored sixth ahead of Truex and Earnhardt in seventh and eighth.[10] Kyle Busch and Johnson completed the first ten grid positions with lap times of 29.570 and 29.572 seconds.[10]
In the first Saturday session, Edwards was quickest with a fastest lap time of 30.224 seconds, six-thousandths of a second faster than Kahne in second. Keselowski managed to be third-quickest with a fastest lap time of 30.290. Bowyer and Kenseth followed in the fourth and fifth positions.[11] Johnson, Kyle Busch, Montoya, Harvick, and Biffle completed the first ten positions.[11] In the final practice session, Johnson was quickest with a time of 29.735 seconds and a best speed of 186.447 mph (300.057 km/h).[12] Bowyer followed in second, ahead of Edwards and Montoya in third and fourth.[12] Kahne, who was second-quickest in second practice,[11] managed fifth.[12] In the second session, Harvick had the quickest ten consecutive lap average with a speed of 176.789 miles per hour (284.514 km/h),[11] while Edwards had the best average in the final session with a speed of 179.527 miles per hour (288.921 km/h).[12]
Race
Start
The race went underway at 7:30 p.m. EDT, with Juan Pablo Montoya leading the field to the green flag, A couple of laps later, the first caution came out on lap 25, this was a scheduled competition caution, the race restarted on lap 30 and the second caution came out for a one car wreck in the entrance of pit road by Kasey Kahne, the race restarted on lap 39, with Carl Edwards, the race leader.
Second half
Debris on the track brought out the third caution on lap 58, the race restarted on lap 63 with Jeff Gordon the race leader, A couple of laps later, the fourth caution came out on lap 193 when Clint Bowyer blew an engine, the race restarted on lap 198, The fifth caution came out on lap 206 when Denny Hamlin spun out in the back straightaway, the race restarted on lap 212 with Joey Logano the race leader, the sixth caution came out with 42 laps to go when Jimmie Johnson spun out, the race restarted with 33 laps to go, the seventh caution came out when Brian Vickers caught the grass, with 31 laps to go, the race restarted with 28 laps to go, the eighth caution came out for a two-car wreck involving Jeff Burton and Austin Dillon, the race restarted with 22 laps to go with Martin Truex Jr. the race leader, Kyle Busch won his race at Atlanta.
