The 2013 DRIVE4COPD 300 was a NASCAR Nationwide Series race held on February 23, 2013 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was the first race of the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series season. The race was the 32nd running of the event, and the pole position given to Roush Fenway Racing's Trevor Bayne with a lap speed of , while Tony Stewart of Richard Childress Racing won the race. Sam Hornish Jr. finished second and Alex Bowman finished third.
Race
The race was marred by two crashes. On lap 116, 13 cars were involved in the first one. It started when Austin Dillon tried to turn down infront of Michael Annett but misjudged it and got turned by Annett in turn 1. Dillon turned down into Elliott Sadler and he and Annett went back up the track taking out more cars with them. Annett pounded the outside wall head on which led to Annett suffering a bruised sternum, which kept him out of the next eight races of the season. During the wreck, Dillon was riding the outside wall and took a couple of driver side hits in the process from Kasey Kahne and Jeffery Earnhardt. The wreck collected Elliott Sadler, Austin Dillon, Danny Efland, Kasey Kahne, Michael Annett, Hal Martin, Mike Bliss, Johanna Long, Jamie Dick, Jason White, Jeffery Earnhardt, Joe Nemechek, and Matt Kenseth, who spun late to avoid the crash. Dick, Long, and Martin were also treated and were released. This crash brought out a 20-minute red flag. The second crash occurred on the final lap. This one started when Regan Smith got turned while trying to block Brad Keselowski. Kyle Larson, who was collected in the crash, got the worst of it, as his car went airborne into the catchfence, ripping out everything from its firewall forward, except for the hood, most of which flew into the grandstand (including its engine and both wheels), as did some debris into the second level. Ultimately, 28 fans were injured, with two of them in critical condition. In the midst of the chaos, Tony Stewart escaped the wreck, and won the race, tying Dale Earnhardt for the most Nationwide Series wins at the track with seven. Alex Bowman; Dale Earnhardt Jr.; and Parker Kligerman closed out the Top 5 while Brian Scott, Justin Allgaier, Eric McClure; Robert Richardson Jr.; and Travis Pastrana rounded out the Top 10.
Much of the tragedy was due to the car hitting a crossover gate in the catch fence, where the fence is not as strong. In the aftermath of the incident, Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway added cables and tethers to the crossover gates, with Daytona's being installed in time for the Sprint Cup Series' Coke Zero 400 in July. The crash also resulted in a rule prohibiting teams from making consistent contact during drafting in turns ("locking bumpers") in turns at superspeedway circuits.
The picture of Larson's car getting shredded by the catch fence remains as one of the most well-known and reproduced images in the sport's history.
Results
Standings after the race
References
External links
NASCAR settles with fan injured in race at Daytona International Speedway (The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Feb 7, 2017) USAF Thunderbirds, Daytona 2013 - More Than a Flyover (YouTube, posted May 3, 2013) Thunderbird 9, Maj. Michael Carletti (YouTube, NASCAR Feature for ESPN, posted July 4, 2013)