2013 Bojangles' Southern 500

Darlington Raceway, the race track where the race was held.

Darlington Raceway is a four-turn 1.366 mi (2.198 km) oval.[3] The track's first two turns are banked at twenty-five degrees, while the final two turns are banked two degrees lower at twenty-three degrees.[3] The front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch is banked at six degrees.[3] Darlington Raceway can seat up to 60,000 people.[3] Jimmie Johnson was the defending race winner after winning the event during the 2012 race.[4]

Before the race, Johnson was leading the Drivers' Championship with 383 points, while Carl Edwards stood in second with 342 points. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. followed in the third with 324, seven ahead of Matt Kenseth in fourth, and eight ahead of Clint Bowyer in fifth. Brad Keselowski, with 314, was in sixth; fifteen points ahead of Kasey Kahne. Eighth-placed Aric Almirola was three points ahead of Paul Menard and eight ahead of Kyle Busch in ninth and tenth. Greg Biffle was eleventh with 280, while Kevin Harvick completed the first twelve positions with 279 points.[5] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 68 points, five points ahead of Toyota. Ford was third after recording only 52 points during the first ten races.[6]

Kurt Busch (shown here in 2012) won his sixteenth career pole position

Two practice sessions were held in preparation for the race; both on Friday, May 10, 2013. The first session lasted for 120 minutes, while second session was 45 minutes long.[7] During the first practice session, Menard, for the Richard Childress Racing team, was quickest ahead of Bowyer in second and McMurray in third.[8] Earnhardt, Jr. was scored fourth, and Edwards managed fifth.[8] Kyle Busch, Martin Truex, Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya, Kenseth, and Biffle rounded out the top ten quickest drivers in the session.[8]

Montoya was quickest in the second and final practice session, ahead of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in second and Edwards in third.[9] Jeff Burton was fourth quickest, and Kurt Busch took fifth.[9] Biffle, Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Truex, Jr., and Kyle Busch followed in the top ten.[9]

During qualifying, forty-three cars were entered.[10] Kurt Busch clinched his first pole position of the season, with a record time of 27.032 seconds.[11] After his qualifying run, Kurt Busch commented, "Wow, what an incredible lap. The way the team gave me the confidence right when we first unloaded, the team deserves all the credit. This gives me a great shot to stay ahead of the field and win by two-thousandths of a second this time."[12] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Johnson.[11] Kyle Busch qualified third, Kahne took fourth, and Truex, Jr. started fifth.[11] Denny Hamlin, Kenseth, Gordon, Biffle, and Harvick completed the first ten positions on the grid.[11]