The race began at 3:15 p.m.
Eastern Standard Time and was televised live in the United States on
ABC. Dr. Roger Marsh began pre-race ceremonies by giving the
invocation. The
Texas Christian University Marching Band performed the
national anthem, and rock band
ZZ Top gave the command for drivers to start their engines. During the
pace laps, two drivers moved to the back of the grid due to unapproved changes: Bill Elliott because of a transmission change, and Andretti because he changed his engine. Jeff Gordon retained his pole position lead into the first corner. who was sent up the track and into the left-hand side door on Johnson's car. Johnson collided with the outside
wall with the right-rear of his car, and damaged multiple car components; Kurt Busch passed Jeff Gordon on the inside of the track for the lead position three laps later. After starting twenty-ninth, Robby Gordon had moved up thirteen positions to sixteenth by lap 34. One lap later, Johnson's car was fitted with a new
driveshaft. Johnson rejoined the race on lap 115 after repairs took 68 minutes to complete, albeit without his car's rear bumper. Kyle Busch had built up a one and a half second lead over Kurt Busch by lap 116. Johnson drove to pit road to resolve tire rubbing problems two laps later. Martin moved into the top ten positions by lap 122, as Gordon fell down to fourteenth four laps later. On lap 134, Johnson rejoined the track, but returned to pit road eight laps later as the green flag pit stop period began. Hamlin gained the lead on lap 146. After pit stops, Kyle Busch reclaimed the first position. Two laps later, Kyle Busch was told by his team to slow. Hamlin conserved enough fuel to finish second; he had collided with the barrier earlier in the race while attempting to recover positions from being delayed by slow stops on pit road. Kenseth placed third, ahead of Martin in fourth, and Harvick in fifth. Stewart, Bowyer, Biffle, Burton and Allmendinger rounded out the top ten finishers. There were thirteen lead changes among four different drivers during the race. Kyle Busch led six times for a total of 232 laps, more than any other racer. Kurt Busch led for six periods in the race, for a total of 89 laps. earning $440,575 in race winnings. Hamlin, who finished second, said "Hats off to
Mike (Ford, crew chief) and this whole FedEx Office Camry team. We have a really good car, we just had to learn to stay in the pits. We just lost too many spots on pit road that we couldn't overcome that track position. I was trying to make something happen and got in the wall which ended up killing our car. The good part about that is I was able to save fuel because there was no pressure from behind. I was able to save fuel and our Camry got the best fuel mileage it got all day." Kyle Busch did not speak to the press after the race. Johnson initially blamed the third-lap accident that saw him place 38th and his Drivers' Championship lead reduced to 73 points on Hornish losing control of his car. Hornish attributed blame for the accident on Reutimann making contact with his car and him having no time to correct his vehicle. Five days after the race, Johnson changed his mind after briefly reviewing the race and speaking to Reutimann; he now thought that Hornish was dealing with handling difficulties and had slowed more than Reutimann thought. Two days after the race,
Earnhardt Ganassi Racing were given penalties for Truex's car. Earnhardt Ganassi Racing's penalty, for actions "detrimental to stock car racing", race equipment that did not conform to NASCAR rules, and for the ride height of Truex's car being too low, included a fine of $50,000 for crew chief
Kevin Manion, and the loss of 50 owner and driver points for
Teresa Earnhardt and Truex. Manion was also placed on probation until December 31, 2009. The car and power plant of race winner Kurt Busch, the vehicle and power unit of second-place finisher Hamlin, Martin's fourth-place entry and Jeff Gordon's engine were transported to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in
Concord, North Carolina for inspection. The race result left Johnson leading the Drivers' Championship with 6,297 points. Martin stood in second, seventy-three points behind Johnson, and thirty-nine ahead of Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch who finished first, moved into fourth position with 6,126 points. Stewart was fifth, as Montoya, Biffle, Hamlin, Newman, and Kahne followed in the top ten positions. The final two positions available in the Chase for the Sprint Cup was occupied with Edwards in eleventh and Vickers in twelfth. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet maintained their lead with 247 points. Toyota remained second with 192 points. Ford followed with 158 points, seven ahead of Dodge in fourth. 5.82 million people watched the race on television. The race took three hours, twenty-four minutes and eighteen seconds to complete, and the margin of victory was 25.686 seconds.
Race results == Standings after the race ==