Tony Kanaan, who had started in the final position, ran as high as second during the race before finishing eleventh.

[15] * Includes days where track activitywas significantly limited due to rain ROP — denotes Rookie Orientation Program Comm.

Several drivers put in safe speeds, including John Andretti, Sarah Fisher, Vítor Meira, Alex Lloyd, Bruno Junqueira.

A. J. Foyt IV parted ways with his grandfather's team and Jaques Lazier was drafted as his replacement.

As of 1:00 p.m., the rear of the field consisted of the following drivers: At about 1:10 p.m., a break in the qualifying line occurred, and the track was opened up for general practice.

At 5:23 p.m., Tony Kanaan took to the track in his repaired back-up car, and bumped his way into the field with a safe speed of 224.072 mph (360.609 km/h).

As of approximately 5:30 p.m., the rear of the field consisted of the following drivers: Mario Romancini withdrew his speed, and re-qualified, this time much faster.

When Tracy withdrew his earlier attempt (223.892 mph (360.319 km/h)), Sebastián Saavedra's car was re-instated to 33rd position, and he held on to make the field, while lying in a hospital bed.

[22][23] In just the half-lap of green-flag racing, however, Dario Franchitti had taken the lead, while Tony Kanaan had moved from the 33rd, final starting position to 25th.

However, on a pit stop, Power left before the fuel hose had been completely detached, leaving a coil dangling from his car.

While Power would repeatedly work his way towards the front of the field, additional pit problems later in the race would lead to only an 8th-place finish.

[22] While most drivers came into the pits on the yellow, Tomas Scheckter stayed out, briefly taking the lead, but Franchitti quickly took it back after the race returned to green-flag status.

[22] A spin by rookie Sebastián Saavedra on lap 161 brought out another caution, and most drivers came into the pits, but Mike Conway, Justin Wilson, Castroneves, and Graham Rahal all stayed out, taking the top four spots, respectively.

Conway's teammate Ana Beatriz spun into the inside wall while avoiding the crash ahead of her.

This brought out a final caution, and Franchitti led the field to the checkered flag, winning his second Indianapolis 500.

After skulling the traditional bottle of milk for the winner, Franchitti stated "this tastes just as good the second time", referring to his victory in the 2007 race.

"[22] However, Franchitti also had additional fuel, with 1.6 gallons remaining in his tank at the end of the race, even after taking a cool-down lap.

[35] Hélio Castroneves, who started from the pole and was considered a pre-race favorite, finished ninth after his problematic pit stop, and his late-race fuel strategy failed to pan out.

"[26] Tony Kanaan, who had started in last place and had run as high as second, finished eleventh after he had to pit for a final splash of fuel, but still garnered much applause from nearby fans as he exited his car after the race.

(*) Lloyd, Dixon, Patrick, and de Silvestro's finishing positions were adjusted downward after the race, for passing under yellow.

The race was televised in high definition in the United States on ABC, the 46th consecutive year on that network.

"Fast Friday" Practice, Time trials, and Carb Day were shown live in high definition on Versus.

For the second time, Paul Page and Bob Jenkins joined the booth to offer commentary and observations.

The turn one vantage point was eliminated due to the fact that the booth announcers had a clear view of that part of the track, and it allowed better continuity.

The driver expert was Indy Lights competitor James Hinchcliffe, who joined the crew for the first time.

For the fourth year in a row, Davey Hamilton was part of the crew serving as live in-car reporter.

For 2010, a special change was made for the famous out-cue "Stay tuned for the greatest spectacle in racing."