On the last lap, four 2-car drafting teams contended for the win (Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr.; Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin; Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick; Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle), and all eight cars finished within about three car-lengths of each other.

[5] The race, the eighth in the season, started at 1:08 p.m EDT, and was televised live in the United States on Fox.

[6] The green flag waved at 1:22 p.m. To start the race, the front row drivers, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, picked up their respective teammates, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin, as drafting partners.

On lap 28, the first caution of the day waved as Cassill turned down and accidentally knocked Brian Vickers out of control in the back straightaway.

Earnhardt Jr. also got some damage as he brushed with Jimmie Johnson while dodging Vickers' car, which had come to a rest in the middle of the track.

On lap 34, Matt Kenseth briefly was in the lead, but Bowyer regained it before the field returned to the finish line.

A lap later, Bowyer used the advantage of Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski switching places to take the lead.

On lap 46, Bowyer pushed Jeff Burton to the front, where he led until being temporarily passed by Kurt Busch and Keselowski.

It started when Kurt Busch turned Keselowski into the wall, causing a chain reaction that collected Kasey Kahne, Ambrose, Ragan, and Bayne.

Kahne's car coasted down the apron on fire, and replays showed that Ragan's engine blew up heading into the wreck.

[6] During this caution, most of the field pitted, and Kurt Busch, pushed by his brother, led at the restart on lap 96.

He held that lead until Clint Bowyer passed Regan Smith and Kurt Busch on lap 109.

On lap 128, the third caution flag waved for debris that appeared to have come off of Bowyer's car.

At the lap 144 restart, the four Richard Childress Racing cars - Harvick, Burton, Menard, and Bowyer were in front.

Three laps later, the sixth caution flag was waved when Newman spun out on the back straightaway.

On lap 185, Blaney spun out off of Kurt Busch's bumper, falling out of line, and Bowyer claimed the lead.

Heading down the back straightaway, Gordon and Martin were on the inside lane, and were soon overtaken by Bowyer and Harvick.

Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. began to move up and were a car length behind the two lead pairs exiting turn 4.

They squeezed to the far inside lane between Martin and Gordon and the double yellow out-of-bounds line.

Johnson accelerated, and Bowyer lost speed as he hit a pocket of air, and Johnson inched ahead to beat Bowyer to the finish line by 0.002 seconds, the closest ever recorded finish at a restrictor plate race.

At the finish line, the first eight cars were four wide, as Edwards and Biffle were running on the far outside, squeezed between the wall and Bowyer.