2013 Pocono IndyCar 400

The 2013 Pocono IndyCar 400 fueled by Sunoco, the twentieth running of the event, was an IndyCar Series race held on July 7, 2013, at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The race was the eleventh in the 2013 IndyCar Series season. The event made a return to the IndyCar schedule after a 23-year hiatus. Marco Andretti of Andretti Autosport won the pole position, while Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon won the race.

Background
Pocono Raceway held an IndyCar race from 1971–1989, though as a 500-mile race, with the event ending after Pocono owner Joseph Mattioli chose not to return, citing the rivalry between the USAC and CART as a factor. The final race at the track was won by Danny Sullivan.



On October 1, 2012, IndyCar announced that the Pocono race will make a return for 2013. However, the race was shortened by 100 miles to 400, as a request by ABC to fit the time window. The race became a part of the IndyCar Triple Crown of Motorsport, in which if a driver wins the Indianapolis 500, the Pocono IndyCar 400, and the season-ending MAVTV 500, they will win $1 million.

The first ten races of the 2013 season were split by Andretti Autosport and other teams, with Andretti drivers James Hinchcliffe winning three races and teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay winning two. The other five races were won by Takuma Sato (A. J. Foyt Enterprises), Tony Kanaan (KV Racing Technology), Mike Conway (Dale Coyne Racing), Simon Pagenaud (Sam Schmidt Motorsports) and Hélio Castroneves (Team Penske).

Qualifying
Marco Andretti of Andretti Autosport won the pole position after recording a lap speed of 221.273 mph, breaking the record set by Emerson Fittipaldi in 1989, who had a speed of 211.175 mph. Andretti's teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay (220.892 mph) and James Hinchcliffe (220.431 mph) started second and third, respectively. The last time a team swept the front row in qualifying was in the 1988 Indianapolis 500 with Penske Racing. Will Power (220.286 mph) started fourth, while Tony Kanaan (219.625 mph) and Hélio Castroneves (219.581 mph) started fifth and sixth, respectively. Scott Dixon (219.500 mph, Takuma Sato (219.124 mph), Simon Pagenaud (218.859 mph) and Simona de Silvestro (218.590 mph) rounded out the top ten.

Meanwhile, the fourth Andretti driver, E. J. Viso, was in position to start in fourth until he hit the wall during qualifying; Alex Tagliani had also hit the wall while qualifying. Viso and Tagliani started 22nd and 24th, respectively. For Dixon, despite qualifying in seventh, was penalized ten spots due to conflicts between manufacturer Honda and IndyCar regarding the 2000 mi engine change rule. Dixon was not the only driver penalized for unapproved engine changes; among those forced to move back were: Dario Franchitti, Pippa Mann, Justin Wilson, Viso and Tagliani.

Race
Singing the National Anthem was Christian Porter, a Pennsylvania-native and contestant on season 4 of The Voice. The command to start engines was given by Fuzzy Zoeller, winner of the 1979 Masters Tournament, whose company Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka was sponsoring IndyCar's Triple Crown Award. NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon was in attendance after racing in the 2013 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway the night before.

When the green flag was waved, the front row got into single file formation by the end of the frontstretch. After starting third, James Hinchcliffe lost control in turn one and impacted the wall with the left side of the car. Hinchcliffe was checked by the medical crew and joined the ABC broadcast booth to call the rest of the race on television.

When the race restarted, Andretti extended his lead. By leading the race and not conserving fuel, Andretti was forced to refuel earlier than other teams. He made his first pit stop on lap 29 and returned to lead when all other cars pitted by lap 35.

On lap 61, Ryan Hunter-Reay was hit from behind by Takuma Sato while entering pit lane, suffering right front wheel and right wing damage, and was forced to go to the garage. It brought out the second and final caution of the day.

Tony Kanaan took the lead by virtue of being on pit road at the moment the caution flag was displayed. He exited pit road before Andretti passed him on the race track. The lead was short-lived as Andretti passed Kanaan as soon as racing resumed. Andretti held the lead for the next 23 laps until making a green flag pit stop. During the cycle of pit stops, Kanaan passed Andretti for the lead. Scott Dixon took the lead after Kanaan pitted. Dixon entered pit road on lap 101 and returned to the track in the lead.

Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan led portions of the race, but at lap 109 he clipped his front wing passing Scott Dixon for the lead. While Kanaan was able to continue, the team was forced to change the front wing under green flag conditions, ending any chance Kanaan had at winning the second leg of the Triple Crown. Kanaan finished a disappointing 13th.

Marco Andretti, led a race high 88 laps, but was informed by his crew to begin saving fuel with 39 laps remaining. It was unclear if Andretti could make it to the finish with just one pit stop. He pitted for the final time with 33 laps remaining. He was forced to conserve fuel to make the finish but ran out of fuel as he took the checkered flag.

Scott Dixon made his final pit stop with 29 laps remaining and did not need to save fuel to reach the finish. He was followed on track by his teammates Charlie Kimball and Dario Franchitti.

Scott Dixon, who had led only one lap all season (at the Indianapolis 500), led 38 laps, including the final 28 laps, and won the race by less than half a second.

It was the 100th win for Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda's 200th win in Indy car racing, and Dixon's 30th career victory. The win was Dixon's first since 2012 at Mid-Ohio. His teammates Charlie Kimball and Dario Franchitti finished second and third, marking the first time a team swept the podium since 2011, when Team Penske had Will Power, Hélio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe in the top three at Sonoma Raceway, and at a Triple Crown race since Bobby Unser, Rick Mears and Mario Andretti of Team Penske finished in the top three spots at Ontario Motor Speedway in 1979. Power finished fourth, Josef Newgarden fifth, Simon Pagenaud sixth, Justin Wilson, Castroneves, Ed Carpenter, and Andretti closed out the top ten. Hunter-Reay finished 20th, and Hinchcliffe finished 24th.

Broadcasting
The race was broadcast by ABC with lead announcer, Marty Reid, and color commentators Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever Jr. Reporting from pit lane were Jamie Little and Vince Welch. After his crash on lap one, James Hinchcliffe joined the broadcast booth to call the conclusion of the race.

In the United States, ABC's broadcast had a 1.1 overnight TV rating, tied with the June 8th race at Texas for most watched race outside of the Indianapolis 500. The final rating was 0.9, with approximately 1.3 million viewers.

This would ultimately be the final IndyCar race for ESPN color commentator Marty Reid after 31 years working with ESPN. Reid would later call his final race at the NASCAR Nationwide Series 2013 Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway, before retiring at the end of 2013.