Carl Edwards won the pole position, holding the lead until lap 51 when Johnson passed him.

A total of 95,000 people attended the race, while 5.288 million watched it live on television.

Five additional drivers had clinched spots in the Chase—in order of placement, Jeff Burton, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Denny Hamlin.

[9] Greg Biffle, who was 11th in the standings with 3,110 points, needed only a finish of 42nd place in the race to secure his spot in the Chase.

Going into the race, Col. Mary Salcido, director of recruiting and retention for the Air National Guard, expressed his belief that the sponsorship would allow the organization to achieve its recruitment goals; saying that "with NASCAR having one of the largest fan bases next to the NFL, the marketing and number of people that an event like this reaches are in the millions.

[15] Ryan Newman placed second, ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya, Edwards, and David Reutimann in the third, fourth and fifth positions respectively.

[17] Edwards clinched his sixth career pole position, with a time of 21.133 seconds.

[18] The five drivers who failed to qualify for the race were Terry Labonte, Michael McDowell, Todd Bodine, Scott Riggs, and Brian Keselowski.

At the end of the races you are going to see guys keeping track position and doing whatever it takes to be up front to have that opportunity to win.

"[3] The race, the twenty-sixth out of a total of thirty-six in the season, began at 7:30 pm EDT and was televised live in the United States on ABC.

[20] Chaplain Rick Jenkins began pre-race ceremonies by giving the invocation.

Next, Synthia Seymour performed the national anthem, and Lieutenant General Harry Wyatt III gave the command for drivers to start their engines.

[20] On the pace laps, Mattias Ekström moved to the rear on the grid, after changing his engine.

As part of the procedure for replacing Bliss for the race, Labonte also had to concede his original starting position to the rear.

After two laps of racing, Brad Keselowski had moved up two positions into sixth on the grid.

On lap 27, Jamie McMurray moved into nineteenth, passing Mark Martin, as Montoya was catching Edwards.

Two laps later, Bowyer claimed second away from Johnson, as Stewart moved into the fourth position.

On lap 80, Johnson reclaimed third, from Stewart, as McMurray moved into thirteenth, after passing Menard.

On lap 172, Kyle Busch moved into the seventh position, as Bowyer passed Hamlin for the lead.

On lap 226, light rain showers arrived, prompting NASCAR officials to give the third caution.

Ten laps later, he gave up the lead to Hamlin because of him making a pit stop.

On lap 270, Allmendinger fell to the sixth position, as Joey Logano passed Marcos Ambrose for twelfth.

Four laps later, Hamlin reclaimed the lead, ahead of Montoya, Bowyer, Johnson and Kyle Busch in the top five positions.

Hamlin maintained this lead, crossing the line to win the race ahead of Busch, who followed in second.

Hamlin appeared in victory lane to celebrate his sixth win of the season in front of 95,000 people who attended the race.

"[22] After finishing second, Kyle Busch was asked if he thought he had a car capable of contending for wins on a regular basis.

"[24] Bowyer, who finished sixth, clinched the final Chase spot and explained, "I was trying to make a statement -- I wanted to win.

"[25] Johnson, meanwhile, was pleased with his third-place finish and was also optimistic about his championship chances: "I know the tracks on the schedule, and we all know how good they are for me, and they all give me a lot of hope and excitement moving forward.

"[22] The race result left Hamlin leading the Drivers' Championship with 5,060 points after the standings were reset for the Chase.

[26] Stewart and Biffle followed in a tie for sixth, ten points ahead of Jeff Gordon, Edwards, and Burton.