Carl Edwards, who won the pole position by posting the fastest lap in qualifying, was immediately passed by Biffle before the first turn.

The race was stopped for two hours and five minutes after Juan Pablo Montoya hit a jet dryer on lap 160, causing fuel to seep onto the track and catch fire.

The 2012 Daytona 500 was the first of 36 scheduled stock car races of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series,[3] and the 54th edition of the event.

The decision was based on the possibility of an extended National Football League schedule; the Daytona 500 was moved to avoid a potential clash with the Super Bowl.

[14] After the two-car style draft—also called tandem racing—dominated races held on restrictor plate tracks during 2011, NASCAR reduced the size of the radiators from five liters to two and the air intakes were moved towards the cars' fascia section.

The size of the restrictor plate was reduced by 1⁄64 inch (0.4 mm) and the cars were required to run with softer springs and a smaller rear spoiler.

These changes were intended to reduce the effectiveness of two-car style drafting and to make the cars more challenging to turn.

[19] During the fifth session, held on the morning on January 14, 30 drivers took part; Kasey Kahne and Gordon were both quickest with a speed of 201.545 mph (324.355 km/h).

Jeff Gordon, Bayne, Paul Menard, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Aric Almirola and Carl Edwards rounded out the session's top ten drivers.

[2] Bowyer who recorded the 22nd fastest time, had his car twice fail the post-race inspection for height sticks and was required to start at the rear of the field in the second Gatorade Duel race.

Bayne, Stenhouse, Ambrose, Martin, Bowyer, Michael McDowell, Kevin Harvick, Menard, and Kahne followed in the top ten.

[28] During the session (where drivers ran in packs and drafted off each other),[2] Juan Pablo Montoya made contact with Kahne, who was sent spinning into the grass on the frontstretch which caused parts of his car's nose to be torn off.

Earnhardt, Regan Smith, Ambrose, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton and Elliott Sadler completed the top ten.

[34] During the final practice session, Kurt Busch hit a bird which tore a small hole in the bottom of his radiator causing water to be drained from his car.

[35] The race, broadcast live on television in the United States by Fox and by TSN2 in Canada,[1][37] was due to start at 1:00 pm.

EST,[2] but heavy rain prompted NASCAR officials to delay it until the afternoon of February 27, making it the first Daytona 500 to be postponed; because of this, wrestler John Cena, who was supposed to wave the green flag, was in Portland for a WWE commitment.

[39] Commentary was provided by Mike Joy, with analysis given by retired driver Darrell Waltrip and former crew chief Larry McReynolds.

[38] Johnson and Ragan were forced to retire but Patrick, Bayne and Kurt Busch drove back to their garages for repairs.

By lap 25, Hamlin was still leading with Menard, Ragan, Logano, Jeff Burton, Ambrose and Truex in the top seven positions.

Three laps later, the fourth caution of the race was prompted when Jeff Gordon's engine failed and flames appeared from his car going into turn three.

[3] Ambrose made contact with Terry Labonte coming off the fourth turn on lap 88 and rested at the side of the pit road; the race's fifth caution was issued.

Kenseth carried extra momentum and drove to the high side of the fourth turn to take the lead from Logano on the 146th lap.

[38][49] Keselowski gained a large amount of attention during the red flag when he used an iPhone to photograph the accident scene and post it to Twitter.

[50] Dave Blaney, Landon Cassill, Tony Raines and Gilliland were the leaders prior to the red flag, having not made pit stops under caution.

[46] Five laps later, however, a multi-car collision occurred on the frontstretch after Jamie McMurray cut a tire, veered off and collided with Kahne, triggering an eleven car chain-reaction accident involving Edwards, Stewart, Almirola, Keselowski and Smith.

I could get a pretty good start on the bottom and either Denny or Dale Jr. could push me for awhile and then they just couldn't stay attached and I would get away from them just in time to get in front of Greg and the two of us together could make some unbelievable speed.

"[47] Montoya's car was examined by NASCAR officials before it returned to Earnhardt Ganassi Racing's shop in Concord, North Carolina.

[47] NASCAR did not fine Keselowski for tweeting during the red flag period and was allowed to keep his iPhone in his pocket for the rest of the season.

[5] An estimated 36.5 million total viewers watched all or part of the race, which was a 22 percent increase from the previous year's event.

It became the most viewed NASCAR race in Fox's history and was the network's highest rated Monday night since Game Five of the 2010 World Series sixteen months previously.