Jimmie Johnson has picked up right where he left off at Dover last September, pulling away from the field on the green flag. A.J. Allmendinger held second place and has remained there. A spin by Joey Logano at lap 20 reset the field, but Johnson again pulled away quickly. Carl Edwards, who started 11th after winning yesterday's Nationwide Series race, is up to third place ahead of Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Harvick's four-race probation has gotten off to an interesting start. Twice within the opening laps of the race, he was nearly involved in incidents with Brian Vickers and Kurt Busch. The first, on the opening lap of the race, occured when Harvick appeared to get loose under Martin Truex Jr. and nearly clipped Vickers, who went down and brushed the inside wall on the frontstretch.
Kyle Busch, who had to start from the rear of the field, had already raced his way into the top-five at the point of the first caution flag.