[8] Before the race, Greg Biffle led the Drivers' Championship with 338 points, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. stood in second with 333.

"[17] The race, the tenth in the season, started 2:05 p.m. EDT and was televised live in the United States on Fox.

[18] Rain showers before the scheduled start time of 1 p.m. EDT delayed the event by 45 minutes to 2:05 p.m.

[18] At the drop of the green flag on lap 1, polesitter Jeff Gordon maintained his lead, but was soon passed on the backstretch by the Richard Petty Motorsports tandem of Marcos Ambrose and Aric Almirola.

By the time the field returned to the finish line, Matt Kenseth had shoved Tony Stewart to the lead.

Stewart led until lap 16, when the first caution of the day waved after Regan Smith's engine blew.

One lap later, Jimmie Johnson's car returned to the garage for a broken oil pump belt.

As they coasted down the apron on the back straightaway, the second caution flag was waved for a nine car wreck in turns 3 and 4.

It started when Aric Almirola, trying to get back above the yellow line, knocked Dave Blaney into the wall.

Several more cars piled in: Landon Cassill, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Terry Labonte.

As a result, they and several other drivers, including Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte - were moved to the back of the field when the race restarted on lap 150.

On lap 175, the third caution was waved after Casey Mears cut a tire and spun in turn 2, also brushing and spinning out Trevor Bayne as he came down the banking.

Denny Hamlin, Michael Waltrip, Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray pitted on lap 176.

[18] On lap 181, the fourth caution waved as Kurt Busch spun out in the tri-oval off of Brad Keselowski's bumper.

In a notorious move, Busch drove wrong way back to the pits instead of going around the circuit, but was still scored on the lead lap.

The drivers involved in the wreck were Menard, Hamlin, Biffle, Waltrip, Harvick, Burton, Robert Richardson Jr., Stewart, and Logano.

While driving back to pit road, the left rear tire on Hamlin's car disintegrated, shredding the fender and a panel onto the track.

Keselowski held off Busch, Kenseth and Biffle to win his second Talladega race.