2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

The 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 65th season of NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 42nd modern-era Cup season. The season began on February 16, 2013, at Daytona International Speedway, with the Sprint Unlimited, followed by the Daytona 500 on February 24.^[1] The season ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 17.

The 2013 season was the first season using the Generation 6 race car, the Car of Tomorrow's successor, 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, replacing it with a testing limit.

Chevrolet entered the season as the reigning Manufacturer's Champions, while Brad Keselowski was the reigning Drivers' Champion.^[2] However, because Keselowski failed to make the Chase, he was unable to defend his title. By the end of the season, Jimmie Johnson claimed his sixth Sprint Cup Championship.

This would be the first season without Dodge since 2000 and the first without NASCAR legend Bill Elliott since 1974, and Robby Gordon since 1990.