It was twice stopped because a large pothole developed between turns one and two, due to moisture, cold weather, and heavy cars scraping the tarmac surface as they ran low to the ground for better aerodynamic efficiency.

[9] For the 2010 race, NASCAR announced that it would stop policing bump drafting after responding to a growing resentment from its fan-base and drivers about the lack of on-track aggression and emotion.

[14] NASCAR's vice-president of competition Robin Pemberton said that the changes would give control back to the drivers, "'Boys, have at it' and have a good time.

[16] An spokesperson for the track's owner and operator International Speedway Corporation said, "Whenever we have an incident that impacts any of our systems, we take that opportunity to more closely scrutinize it and look at it across the company.

[18][19] NASCAR moved the second practice session to Saturday to provide eight drivers who did not set a lap time with some on-track running.

David Gilliland led the session with a 48.072-second lap, ahead of Jeff Fuller, Terry Cook, and Derrike Cope.

[21] Qualifying was held a day early to avoid clashing with Super Bowl XLIV, which was moved forward one week by the National Football League.

[20] Matt Kenseth led the third practice session on February 10 with a 46.331-second lap, followed by Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers, Jeff Burton, Edwards, Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Reutimann, Kevin Harvick, and Joey Logano.

[26] Marcos Ambrose led the fourth practice session later that day with a 46.535-second lap, with Kyle Busch, Reed Sorenson, Logano, Kahne, Kenseth, Paul Menard, Greg Biffle, Elliott Sadler, and Edwards following in the top ten.

[29] One of Vickers' tires failed exiting turn two three minutes later, and he spun through grass on the backstretch with minimal structural damage.

[1][26] Just after green flag running resumed, Mike Bliss oversteered on the left exiting the fourth turn, and rammed into Logano.

[1] Due to the various crashes, Bowyer, Reutimann, Cope, Bliss, Johnson, and Logano would switch into their back-up cars for the Gatorade Duels.

The 11 drivers that failed to qualify were Casey Mears, Todd Bodine, Gilliland, Cook, Cope, Aric Almirola, Dave Blaney, Sorenson, Mike Wallace, Norm Benning, and Fuller.

[1] In the final practice session, held in cold and cloudy weather on February 13,[32] Burton led with a 46.108-second lap, ahead of Harvick, Ambrose, Reutimann, and Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Sam Hornish Jr., Regan Smith, Montoya, and Hamlin.

[34] Live television coverage of the race began in the United States at midday Eastern Standard Time (EST) (UTC−05:00) on Fox.

Commentary was provided by lap-by-lap analyst Mike Joy, with analysis from three-time Cup Series champion Darrell Waltrip, and former crew chief Larry McReynolds.

Singer and Grammy Award winner Harry Connick Jr. performed the national anthem, and Junior Johnson, former Daytona 500 champion and NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, commanded the drivers to start their engines.

[39] During the pace laps, Gordon, Burton, and Waltrip moved to the rear of the field because they switched into a back-up car, and Allmendinger, and Edwards did the same for changing their engines.

[38][39] The first caution was given for a multi-car accident on lap seven; Brad Keselowski's right-rear tire failed, and he struck the turn-two wall, collecting Smith, Hornish, Bliss, Max Papis, and Boris Said,[38][39][40] and littering debris on the track.

[38][39] On lap 65 Joe Nemechek spun into the turn-four wall; Hornish avoided hitting him, but the second caution was called.

[43] They fixed the pothole with two compounds that did not hold owing to moisture and cold weather; a third attempt permitted the race to continue.

[38][39] During the 136th lap, Harvick made it three abreast on the backstretch, putting Sadler in the middle of the track, and Bowyer reclaimed the lead.

The seventh caution came six laps later, when Sadler lost control of his car on the backstretch and struck the barrier, collecting Kvapil and Newman.

[38][39] Biffle passed Bowyer for first on the backstretch before an eighth caution was waved for an accident on lap 199: Elliott and Logano collided in the third turn, collecting Said.

[a][1] Earnhardt, Biffle, Bowyer, Reutimann, Truex, Harvick, Kenseth, Edwards and Montoya completed the top ten.

[42] The pothole's reemergence was attributed to the cars' 3,000 lb (1,400 kg) weight uprooting the surface patch, and enlarging it to twice its original size.

He stated that no issues were discovered during a pre-race inspection,[47] and believed cars running too low to the ground for better aerodynamic efficiency had caused the pothole.

[47] A week of heavy rain that flooded the track in May 2009, the pre-race downpour, below-average ground temperatures, and cars bottoming out and scraping the tarmac surface all contributed to the pothole forming.

[54] Earnhardt said he was unsatisfied with the reviewed green-white-checker finish rules because he was uncertain about drivers' actions, but he did not believe it was overdone, "I feel like the fans deserve probably more of a show, so that's what they got.

Bowyer, Harvick, Reutimann, Truex, Kenseth, Montoya, Edwards, Martin, and Burton rounded out the top twelve drivers.