Practice and qualifying
Three practice sessions were scheduled before the race, one before qualifying on Friday, June 4, 2010, and two on Saturday, June 5, 2010.[7] In the first practice session the quickest five drivers were Jimmie Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and A. J. Allmendinger.[8] In the second practice, Jimmie Johnson was quickest, while Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, and Kyle Busch followed.[9] During the final practice session, Jeff Burton was first fastest, Jimmie Johnson second, Denny Hamlin in third, fourth is Jamie McMurray, and Kevin Harvick fifth.[10]
In qualifying, Kyle Busch won the pole position, while Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, and Denny Hamlin completed the top-five positions.[11] There were 45 entries for the race,[12] but only 43 can race which meant that two drivers would not make the race; they were Terry Cook and Ted Musgrave.[11]
Race summary
At 12:00 p.m. EDT, Turner Network Television started broadcasting with the "Countdown to Green".[13] At the start of the race, weather was predicted to be mostly cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. At 12:55 p.m. EDT, pre-race ceremonies began with Mrs. Phil DeRea delivered the invocation, then Clarke Luis performed the national anthem. To start engines, WWE Champion John Cena and the Gillette ProGlide Believers all said the command, "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!". While under the pace laps, inclement weather moved in the area to cause a two-hour rain delay. During the rain delay, NASCAR decided that there would be a competition caution on lap 15.[13]
At 3:07 p.m. EDT, the green flag waved to start the race. On lap 5, Denny Hamlin passed Kyle Busch for the lead. Ten laps later, the competition caution came out, then most of the drivers came down to make their pit stops. On lap 18, Bobby Labonte stayed out to lead one lap, then he came down to pit. Kyle Busch, on lap 20, led to field on the restart. Kyle Busch led the race until Clint Bowyer passed him on lap 38. Nine laps later, green flag pit stops began. On lap 79, Clint Bowyer made a pit stop and gave the lead to Denny Hamlin, but two laps later, Bowyer regained the lead.
Penalties
At the time when the race was about to resume after the rain delay, Sprint Cup Series officials noticed that the rear tires of Travis Kvapil's Ford were nearly flat. They made a pit stop while the rest of the field were under the pace laps. After the race, their car went under inspection which showed that the car was using bleeder valves, which were installed on the valve stems to regulate tire pressure. The infraction has one of the severest penalties in NASCAR.[15] The infraction cost the Front Row Motorsports #38 team 150 owner points (Doug Yates is listed as the owner of the #38), Kvapil 150 driver points, USD $100,000, and the suspension of three crew members for twelve weeks.[16] Front Row Motorsports appealed the decision, which knocked the team from 32nd to 36th, forcing the team to qualify on time.[17] The penalties were upheld by NASCAR on June 22, 2010.[18] In an unusual move, the penalty moved the #7 Robby Gordon Motorsports entry back into the Top 35, despite failing to qualify with Ted Musgrave (Robby himself was competing in a Trophy Truck race so Musgrave qualified the car for him).
