Live television coverage of the race began at 1:00 p.m.
Eastern Daylight Time in the United States on
ABC. Around the start of the race, weather conditions were sunny and clear with the air temperature at ; a ten percent chance of rain was forecast. Dan Schafer, Pastor of Calvary Assembly of God in
Hightstown, New Jersey, began pre-race ceremonies with an
invocation. A tire from
Dale Jarrett's pit stall rolled onto the fast lane of pit road, and several cars avoided striking it. Ragan could not do so as the tire rolled in front of his car and he hit it. Johnson's rear-right tire shredded on lap 188, glancing the back stretch wall on his way to pit road, where his team changed all four tires. That lap, the ninth caution came out for
John Andretti who lost control of his car, and made contact with Raines on the back stretch after leaving the second turn. Eight laps later, the race was
red-flagged for five minutes for on-track debris and fluid clearing. Robby Gordon lost control of his car in the second turn on the 381st lap, and clouted a wall alongside the track, necessitating the eleventh caution. Edwards still led at the restart four laps later. The following lap, a
multi-car accident prompted the twelfth caution and later the race's second red flag to clear debris and fluids in turn three. A car component broke on Kurt Busch's car, and he went into the backstretch wall on lap 386. Truex could not avoid Kurt Busch, and drove into his car, which ricocheted into Sorenson. Kahne could not negotiate his way through and crashed. Other drivers involved were
J. J. Yeley, Labonte,
Jeff Green, Riggs, Johnson,
Elliott Sadler, and Newman. It was the 100th victory for Roush Fenway Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series since Martin won the team's first race at the 1989 AC Delco 500. Edwards' teammate Biffle finished second, ahead of Earnhardt in third, Martin in fourth, and Kyle Busch fifth. Mears, Burton, McMurray, Stewart and Montoya rounded out the top-ten finishers. Biffle was satisfied with his second-place finish but said that he felt he could have challenged his teammate towards the end of the race, "I know he's in the Chase and he had a little cushion [Sunday], and I needed a win pretty bad, but we were going to race him clean, but I wish I had a chance at him. It was a pretty good run for us. We hadn't been running like this all season, so it's nice to be back running decent again." Third-placed Earnhardt called it "an adventurous race" for him and several drivers, "We had a lot of luck on our way but we worked really hard to get to where we got. We got a lap down but we were able to get it back. It was a good run for us. It's going to help us getting into the next couple of races." Hamlin asserted he did not intentionally crash into Petty, and threatened to assault him the next time round, "You smack me on the helmet and I'm going to punch you in the face, bottom line. So I'd like for him to call me some time this week. You don't come to my car. You don't come to my pit. You meet me somewhere else and we'll settle it. I have the utmost respect for Kyle, but don't lay your hands on my head." Although NASCAR determined that no malice was committed, Two days after the race, Roush Fenway Racing was given penalties for "actions detrimental to stock car racing", "car, car parts, components and/or equipment not conforming to NASCAR rules" and for the rear of Edwards' car failing to meet the
Car of Tomorrow ride height regulations. The penalties included a $25,000 for crew chief
Bob Osborne who was placed on probation until December 31, 2007. Edwards and car owner Jack Roush incurred the loss of 25 driver and owner points. Roush Fenway Racing president Geoff Smith stated the team saw no logic to the penalty, which they felt was not fair, and announced their decision to appeal. However,
The Denver Post's Mike Chambers argued that the penalty should remain consistent in all races after quoting Roush Fenway Racing's opinion on having no more than ten points deducted from a driver in the chase who has been penalized. The appeal was heard before a three-member National Stock Car Racing Commission on October 9. All three unanimously upheld NASCAR's original penalty. Afterward, Edwards said he was pleased to have his viewpoint heard, but then called for an arbitrator to preside over the case, "I was impressed with the guys who came and heard our side of it. They're all volunteers. It was awesome that they did that. But they are all really appointed by NASCAR, I guess. If I could have brought three or four of my friends to hear it, I'm sure it would have been different." In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet maintained the lead with 219 points. Ford remained in second with 162 points, ahead of Dodge in third with 143 points, and fourth-placed Toyota with 89 points. The race took three hours, 55 minutes and 39 seconds to complete, and the margin of victory was 0.617 seconds.
Race results == Standings after the race ==