His teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 2nd while Mark Martin, Brad Keselowski, and Ryan Newman rounded out the Top 5.

The race was the final Daytona 500 start for Mark Martin, Dave Blaney, Juan Pablo Montoya, Travis Kvapil, David Reutimann, Scott Speed, and Jeff Burton.

[5] The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.

[7] In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, USCC, SCCA, and Motocross.

[12] During the first session on the morning of January 10, 2013, thirty-four drivers participated; Kenseth, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, was quickest with a speed of 192.757 mph[13] while Denny Hamlin had the highest speed of 195.712 mph during the second session in the afternoon.

[13] The third test session, held during the morning of January 11, was led by Jeff Burton after having the highest speed of 194.805 mph.

[14] During that fourth session, held during the afternoon, thirty-two drivers participated with 2011 race winner Trevor Bayne being quickest with a speed of 199.650 mph.

[14][15] During the fifth session, held on the morning of January 12, twenty-one drivers participated; Kenseth was quickest with a speed of 194.062 mph.

[18] Danica Patrick was just off Dillon's pace, followed by Paul Menard, Burton and Kasey Kahne.

"[23] Michael Waltrip was quickest in the third practice with 45.375 seconds, followed by David Ragan, Stewart, Menard and Kyle Busch.

[27] Biffle qualified fifth ahead of Kahne, Juan Pablo Montoya, Dillon, Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer.

[27] Aric Almirola was fastest in fifth practice with a 45.699 seconds lap, ahead of Burton, Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte and Michael McDowell.

[32] On the final lap of the Nationwide Series race, Regan Smith got turned into the wall while trying to block Brad Keselowski, causing a chain reaction, in which Kyle Larson's car flew into the catch fencing.

[32] Local officials reported that 19 people were taken to the hospital, including two in critical condition, while others were treated on-site at the infield care center.

[33] On lap 90, she passed Michael Waltrip on a restart following a caution, which was brought out for debris, and she became the first woman to lead the Daytona 500.

As the field checked up, a total of 6 more cars were collected: Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Brad Keselowski.

Later, on lap 136, as cars checked up in front of them in turn 2, Keselowski got turned sideways by Trevor Bayne, who then got sideways himself, came up the track, and collected 7 more cars (totaling nine in all): Austin Dillon, Carl Edwards; Ricky Stenhouse Jr.; David Ragan, David Gilliland, Josh Wise, and Terry Labonte.

He emerged from the pack with 16 laps to go and seized control with 10 to go, racing past Keselowski on the final restart.

[34] Greg Biffle and Danica Patrick had entered the final lap in second and third place respectively before both were shuffled back by Earnhardt and Martin.