With a bold three-wide pass on the outside, Tony Stewart overtook polesitter Matt Kenseth to grab the lead at lap 36. Stewart charged through the field after starting from the eighth position to overhaul Kenseth, who led the first 35 laps from the top starting spot.
Martin Truex Jr., A..J. Allmendinger, and David Reutimann round out the top five, with Marcos Ambrose sixth. Championship leader Carl Edwards runs 7th after starting ninth. The remainder of the top-10 is Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, and Mark Martin. Cole Whitt, making his Sprint Cup debut, was scored 15th at the time of the caution flag.
The first yellow flew on lap two when David Ragan and Regan Smith both spun and backed into the turn-three wall. Ragan was able to continue despite his damage, while Smith was forced to take his Chevrolet to the garage area for repairs. On the restart from that yellow, Geoff Bodine spun on the frontstretch but was able to avoid contact with the wall.