Carl Edwards finished second, while David Gilliland, Bobby Labonte, and Kurt Busch rounded out the Top 5.

Bayne had taken the lead shortly before the final restart and maintained it to win his first Cup Series race and Wood Brothers' fifth Daytona 500.

NASCAR vice president for competition Robin Pemberton stated, "We'll have to get back and talk to the teams and look at the speeds from the last two days of testing.

I think we have some high-water marks at 197-and-a-half [miles per hour (318 km/h)] which, depending on where they pulled up in the draft, it may be a little quick, but it's hard to say.

During the fourth session, held during the afternoon, 34 drivers participated with Denny Hamlin being quickest with a speed of 196.868 mph (316.828 km/h).

[17] Several drivers decided to leave after the session, which included Reutimann, Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson, and Bowyer.

[17] During the fifth session, held on the morning of January 22, 29 drivers participated, and Joey Logano was quickest with a speed of 197.516 mph (317.871 km/h).

[19] After the two-car draft style dominated the 2011 Budweiser Shootout, NASCAR reduced the front grille opening to 50 square inches (320 cm2) and the overflow valve for the cooling system would be supplied by NASCAR and set at 33 pounds per square inch (230 kPa; 2.3 bar).

[20] Also, high speeds in the race caused NASCAR to reduce the size of the restrictor plate by 1⁄64 inch (0.40 mm), with the expectations of cutting 10 horsepower from the engines.

Also in the second practice session, McMurray collided into the wall after his tire failed, and had to move to his back-up car.

[31] Once the qualifying session completed, Earnhardt commented, "The main thing [the pole] does for me is take the pressure off Thursday's race.

"[31] Kyle Busch was quickest in the rain-delayed third practice with 44.943 seconds,[24] followed by Greg Biffle, Earnhardt, Johnson, and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Regan Smith qualified fifth ahead of Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Waltrip, Matt Kenseth, and Kyle Busch.

Drivers who failed to qualify were 1990 winner Derrike Cope, Kevin Conway, Todd Bodine, Michael McDowell and Casey Mears.

Burton was fastest in fifth practice with a 45.767 seconds lap, ahead of Menard, Ragan, Marcos Ambrose and Hamlin.

Dr. L. Ronald Durham, senior pastor of the Greater Friendship Baptist Church of Daytona Beach, Florida, began pre-race ceremonies by giving the invocation.

Country music artist Martina McBride performed the national anthem, and Josh Duhamel, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and movie director Michael Bay of the upcoming film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, gave the command for the drivers to start their engines.

Transformers themed vehicles painted in the color schemes of Earnhardt Jr.'s, Juan Pablo Montoya's, and Jimmie Johnson's cars led the field during the pace laps as well.

On lap 3, NASCAR held a moment of silence to honor Dale Earnhardt, who died ten years ago in the 2001 race.

Under caution, he made a pit stop to have his car's toe plate checked and to have the front end aligned.

Some of the drivers who have led made pit stops during the caution, while McMurray and Montoya out in front as the race restarted lap 35.

Under caution, the leaders made pit stops, giving the first and second positions to Terry Labonte and Dave Blaney at the restart.

The front runners made pit stops during the caution, as McMurray and Montoya reclaimed the first two positions at the restart.

On lap 197, the fifteenth caution was given after Smith spun sideways, as Bowyer was also involved and sustained major damage.

On the ensuing restart, Ragan was black flagged for changing lanes before the start / finish line just before the sixteenth caution came out after a three-car accident, involving Earnhardt Jr.; Newman; and Truex Jr. During the caution, Ragan drove to pit road, giving the lead to Trevor Bayne, with Labonte second.

On the final lap of a second green-white-checker finish, Edwards and David Gilliland mounted a charge on the inside lane.

With the win coming in his second start in the Sprint Cup Series, Bayne also matched Jamie McMurray for quickest victory at the start of a career; however, since Bayne was racing for the Nationwide Series points championship, he did not earn any Sprint Cup points for the win.

"[44] Following the race, which experienced a record 16 cautions and 74 lead changes, among 22 different drivers,[45] Edwards commented, "A new winner, up-and-coming guy that's tied to so much history.

"[44] In the post-race press conference, the third-place finisher, Gilliland, said, "It's a credit to NASCAR and their new rules, trying to get the (cars) closer, to let teams like us have a chance to be competitive.

[47] Gilliland, who finished third, was second with 41, which was tied with Bobby Labonte and was one point ahead of Kurt Busch.