2013 VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200

The 2013 VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 was the ninth stock car race of the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series and the 31st iteration of the event. The race was held on Friday, May 10, 2013, in Darlington, South Carolina, at Darlington Raceway, a 1.366 miles (2.198 km) permanent egg-shaped oval racetrack. The race took the scheduled 147 laps to complete. At race's end, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch would dominate the race to win his 56th career NASCAR Nationwide Series win and his fifth win of the season. To fill out the podium, Elliott Sadler and Matt Kenseth of Joe Gibbs Racing would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.

Entry list

Practice

The only practice session was held on Friday, May 10, at 8:30 AM EST, and would last for two hours. Brian Vickers of Joe Gibbs Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.737 and an average speed of 171.124 miles per hour (275.397 km/h).

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Friday, May 10, at 3:35 PM EST. Each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap.

Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing would win the pole, setting a time of 28.494 and an average speed of 172.584 miles per hour (277.747 km/h).

Two drivers would fail to qualify: Jason Bowles and Derrike Cope.

Full qualifying results

Race results