Background Kentucky Speedway is one of ten
intermediate tracks to hold
NASCAR races. The standard track at Kentucky Speedway is a four-turn
tri-oval track that is long. The track's turns are
banked at 14
degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is 8 degrees. The back stretch, opposite of the front, is at only 4 degrees. The track is also the most recent addition to the schedule since the
2001 season, when
Chicagoland Speedway and
Kansas Speedway were added to the schedule. Before the race,
Kevin Harvick led the
Drivers' Championship with 586 points, and
Carl Edwards stood in second with 581.
Kyle Busch was third in the Drivers' Championship with 576 points, six ahead of
Kurt Busch and twelve ahead of
Matt Kenseth in fourth and fifth.
Jimmie Johnson with 564 was 30 ahead of
Dale Earnhardt Jr., as
Jeff Gordon with 519 points, was 14 ahead of
Clint Bowyer, and 21 in front of
Ryan Newman. In the
Manufacturers' Championship,
Chevrolet was leading with 112 points, 10 ahead of
Ford.
Toyota, with 90 points, was 20 points ahead of
Dodge in the battle for third.
Practice and qualifying took fast time during the one official Sprint Cup practice (29.540 seconds). When qualifying is rained out after official practices, the grid is set by practice times. Four practice sessions were scheduled to be held before the Saturday race—two on both Thursday and Friday. The first session lasted 240 minutes, while the second session was 120 minutes long. The third session was scheduled to be 60 minutes, but was cancelled because of race, Thursday's sessions was also used to test
fuel injection, which the Sprint Cup Series will switch to for the
2012 season. Johnson was quickest with a time of 30.703 seconds in the first session, five-hundredths of a second faster than
Paul Menard.
Travis Kvapil was about one-tenth of a second slowing than Menard's pace, followed by Kyle Busch,
Greg Biffle, and
David Ragan. Gordon was seventh, still within a second of Johnson's time. Edwards took third place, ahead of Menard, Newman and Johnson.
Mark Martin only managed 7th place. The third practice session, the first practice only for the race and qualifying, was cancelled because of wet weather. Kyle Busch was quickest during final practice with a time of 29.540 seconds.
Juan Pablo Montoya following in second, ahead of Kurt Busch,
Kasey Kahne, and Johnson. Forty-eight cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three raced because of NASCAR's
qualifying procedure. However, after half of the cars qualified, wet weather soaked the track, therefore cancelling the session and making final practice times determine the qualifying
grid. Kyle Busch, after finishing the final practice in first, won the
pole position for
Joe Gibbs Racing He was joined on the front row of the grid by Montoya. At 6:00 pm, the
Kentucky State Police (KSP) reported backups of more than in both directions on I-71, and backups of on side roads in the area. The KSP added that traffic was still backed up for miles at about 8:55 pm, halfway through the race. Some fans were reported to have parked their cars on the highway and leave them to catch a glimpse at the race. Others would try back roads, with some taking
Kentucky Route 35, with more successful results at getting into the track. At 9:30 pm, traffic patterns were switched to outbound, and many fans who were still trying to get to the track were turned away. Several fans who managed to make it to the race were turned away because there wasn't enough available parking. Those who made it to the race were only reported having to wait half an hour or more to use the restroom due to a shortage of
port-a-johns. Others reported shortages at the concession stands.
Bruton Smith, CEO of Speedway Motorsports, had joked on the day before the race that "we expect everyone to be home by Tuesday."
Race The race, the 18th in the
season, began at 7:30 pm EDT and was televised live in the United States on
TNT. Raceway Ministries pastor John Roberts began pre-race ceremonies, by giving the
invocation. Next,
Nick Lachey performed the
national anthem, and
Steve Beshear, Kentucky's Governor, gave the command for drivers to start their engines. Two drivers had to start at the end of the grid because of changes that were not approved during practice; they were Hamlin and
Dave Blaney. ==Results==