Contested over 160 laps, it was the fourteenth race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

Logano's win moved him to 15th position in the drivers' championship, 125 points behind leader Matt Kenseth and 18 ahead of Kasey Kahne in 16th.

[13][14] Top speeds at the end of the front straightaway approached 212 miles per hour (341 km/h), however NASCAR determined that the use of restrictor plates would not be required.

[16] Before the race, Greg Biffle led the Drivers' Championship with 486 points, and Matt Kenseth stood in second with 485.

[21] Kahne, Biffle, Brad Keselowski, Allmendinger, and Marcos Ambrose rounded out the first ten positions.

[21] Also in the first practice session, Stephen Leicht struck a groundhog with his car, after Truex Jr. brushed the SAFER barrier attempting to avoid it.

[24] After having problems with oil-dry in turn one,[23] Logano of Joe Gibbs Racing clinched the fourth pole position of his Sprint Cup Series career, with a time of 50.112 seconds, which beat the old track record.

"[23] The race, the fourteenth in the season, began at 1:20 p.m. EDT and was televised live in the United States on TNT.

[2] Mike Kloton, Archdiocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania began pre-race ceremonies, by giving the invocation.

[19][26] Next, Naomi Scott performed the national anthem, and Dr. Rose Mattioli, chairman of Pocono Raceway, gave the command for drivers to start their engines.

Two laps later, J. J. Yeley, Tony Raines and Reed Sorenson crashed into the wall, prompting the second caution.

Also under the caution, Montoya drove to the garage after having damage to the right side of his car, as Bowyer received a pit road speeding penalty.

Hamlin, who had won four previous times at Pocono Raceway, continued to extend his lead to 1.1 seconds by the 25th lap.

At lap 42, Gordon and Ambrose started the second set of green flag pit stops.

Kyle Busch, Harvick, David Reutimann and Newman were also given a pit road speeding penalty.

Also during the caution, Jeff Burton became the 17th driver to be penalized for speeding on pit road, as Johnson chose the wave-around to return to the lead lap.

McMurray, Hamlin, Kahne and Johnson pitted during the caution, as Kyle Busch drove to the garage.

On the 83rd lap, the race resumed with Biffle the leader ahead of Martin, Earnhardt Jr., Logano and Kenseth.

Only some of the drivers chose to pit during the caution, leaving Logano and Martin in the first two positions for the restart on lap 143.

Logano maintained the first position to claim his second Sprint Cup Series career win.