Contested over 90 laps, it was the twenty-second race of the 2010 Sprint Cup Series season and the second of two road course competitions on the schedule.

Watkins Glen International is one of two road courses to hold NASCAR races, the other being Infineon Raceway.

[8] Before the race, Kevin Harvick led the Drivers' Championship with 3,080 points, and Jeff Gordon stood in second with 2,891.

Denny Hamlin was third in the Drivers' Championship with 2,820 points, Jimmie Johnson was fourth with 2,803, and Jeff Burton was in fifth with 2,757.

[12] Hamlin and Paul Menard followed in the second and third positions, but were ahead of Burton and Kurt Busch in fourth and fifth.

[12] In the Friday afternoon practice session, Biffle remained the quickest with a fastest lap time of 1:11.092.

[13] Juan Pablo Montoya followed in the second position, less than a second faster than Marcos Ambrose and Kurt Busch in third and fourth.

[15] The three drivers that did not qualify were J. J. Yeley, Dave Blaney, and Tony Ave.[15] The race, the twenty-second 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 ESPN.

[16] Dan Fife, of Bentley Creek Wesleyan Church, began pre-race ceremonies, by giving the invocation.

Next, American Idol runner-up, Bo Bice performed the national anthem, and Heluva Good!

senior vice president of operations, Scott Blake gave the command for drivers to start their engines.

[16] During the pace laps, Kyle Busch had to go to pit lane because of problems with his race car.

On lap 5, Biffle moved into the fourth position, as Elliott Sadler made a scheduled pit stop for fuel.

On lap 49, Martin Truex Jr. had a tire rubbing against the car, which caused him to spin as the race resumed.

On lap 60, Montoya and Ambrose made pit stops,[17] as Ryan Newman became the leader.

[17] The green flag waved on lap 75 with Montoya leading the field back up to speed.

[17][19] Following his win, he added, "The last few weeks have been really frustrating for the whole team because we’ve been so close to victory.

"[19] In the subsequent press conference, Montoya said, "Last year, we were so hung up on making the Chase that it was all about numbers, it wasn't about being fast or slow.

"[17] After expressing his win, Montoya said, "I think from Day One we worked so hard to bring the performance of the cars to where they are now.