Hamlin held onto first to claim his first Sprint Cup Series win at Michigan and his fifth of the season.

[6] The standard track at Michigan International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long.

[12] In the first practice session, which was held under mostly cloudy conditions, Juan Pablo Montoya was fastest, ahead of Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch in second and third.

[14] During the third practice session, Jimmie Johnson, was the fastest, ahead of Paul Menard in second, Denny Hamlin in third, Jeff Gordon in fourth, and Kevin Harvick in fifth.

The three drivers that failed to qualify were Dave Blaney, Michael Waltrip and Johnny Sauter.

[16] The race, the fifteenth out of a total of thirty-six in the season, began at 1 p.m. EDT and was televised live in the United States on TNT.

Geoff Rose, OSFS, from Lumen Christi High School in Jackson, Michigan, gave the invocation.

[18] Then, the Army Chorus A Capella Team performed the national anthem, and, in a dedication to the troops, Adam Sandler and Kevin James sang the command, "Gentlemen, start your engines!

", in a wacky, drawn out and musical manner, which has since been cited as the greatest command in NASCAR history by many fans.

By lap 3, Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson had passed McMurray to put him in the fourth position.

On lap 7, Kahne started catching the leader, and McMurray announced on the team's radio that his car was loose.

On lap 11, Max Papis went to the garage (the place where teams repair or park their car) because of overheating problems.

Afterward, most drivers made pit stops for fuel and tires while Joe Nemechek decided to stay out to lead one lap.

On lap 22, the green flag waved, as Tony Stewart led Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Kasey Kahne on the restart.

On lap 33, the top-five positions were single file with Kurt Busch in first, Kahne in second, Johnson in third, Denny Hamlin in fourth and Stewart in fifth.

Robby Gordon and David Gilliland stayed out while the other teams made pit stops.

Gordon and Gilliand made pit stops the next lap and gave the lead to Kurt Busch.

Kurt Busch brought the field to the green flag with Hamlin in second, Montoya in third, Johnson in fourth, and Kahne in fifth on lap 51.

Denny Hamlin, who was in the first position, came to pit road on lap 92, but had problems leaving which gave Kurt Busch the lead.

After the green flag pit stops, Kahne was first, Kurt Busch in second, Hamlin in third, Montoya in fourth and Jeff Gordon in fifth.

On lap 99, Scott Speed spun after contact with his teammate Casey Mears, and brought out the third caution.

On lap 103, Hornish Jr. led Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Hamlin and Kahne on the restart.

On lap 146, Hamlin was in first, Kahne in second, Kurt Busch in third, Jeff Gordon in fourth, and Greg Biffle in fifth.

Four laps later, Ryan Newman told his crew that his car was not running correctly from hitting a piece of aluminum.

With twenty laps to go, Hamlin was first, Kahne was second, Kurt Busch was third, Jeff Gordon was fourth, and Biffle was fifth.

Kurt Busch maintained third while Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart finished fourth and fifth.

"[21] Kasey Kahne, who finished second, said, "I hung with him for about three laps running in his kind of dirty air.

We narrow the gap to try to pick him up knowing he's not going to be there, and we start winning races, even with a driver that is not 100 percent.