[5] Before the race, Greg Biffle led the Drivers' Championship with 226 points, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. stood in second with 220.

Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. followed in the next four positions with 214 points.

Jimmie Johnson, with 189, was ten points ahead of Carl Edwards in eleventh.

The second and final practice session was held on the following day and lasted 90 minutes.

[10] Harvick was just off Biffle's pace, followed by A. J. Allmendinger, Regan Smith, and Marcos Ambrose.

[11] Harvick was sixth after posting a time of 29.355 seconds, while Hamlin and Kurt Busch followed in seventh and eighth.

[13] Newman, Ambrose, Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, and Johnson rounded out the first ten positions.

[13] The drivers who failed to qualify for the race were David Stremme, Joe Nemechek and Stacy Compton.