Contested over 250 laps, it was the second race of the 2010 Sprint Cup Series season.

The result moved Johnson up 23 spots to tenth in the Drivers' Championship, 78 points behind of leader Kevin Harvick and one ahead of Kyle Busch.

[5] The standard track at Auto Club Speedway featured four turns and was 2 miles (3.2 km) long.

[9] In the first practice session, the fastest drivers were Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Burton, and Clint Bowyer.

[10] During the second practice session, Jimmie Johnson, Martin, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, and Greg Biffle had the quickest times.

[11] Martin, Bowyer, Johnson, McMurray, and Jeff Gordon led the final practice session.

[14] Bowyer qualified third, Kasey Kahne took fourth, and Dave Blaney started fifth.

[14] Casey Mears, Johnny Sauter, and Terry Cook were the three drivers who failed to qualify.

[14] The race, the second out of a total of thirty-six in the season, began at 3 p.m. EST and was televised live in the United States on Fox.

[1] Pre-race ceremonies began with Motor Racing Outreach's Jeff Hamilton giving the invocation; then Katharine McPhee, season five American Idol runner-up turned RCA Records recording artist, performed the national anthem.

Actor Andy García gave the traditional command, "Gentlemen Start Your Engines!"

Before the race, Denny Hamlin moved to the back of the starting grid because his team changed engines after his qualifying run.

[15] At 3:19 p.m. EST, polesitter Jamie McMurray led the 43-car field to the green flag, but his lead was short-lived.

The second caution flag was waved on lap 92 because Kasey Kahne collided with Montoya.

Then, on lap 140, the third caution came out because Montoya's engine failed, causing him to collide with the turn one wall.

The fifth caution flag was waved on lap 192 because light rain was moving through the area; the leader at the time was Denny Hamlin.

"[18] Although Burton was leading near the end of the race, the caution was issued as Johnson was exiting the pit lane.

"[18] The race result left Harvick leading the Driver's Championship with a total of 331 points.