The two Ganassi cars led 420 of the race's 721 laps, with the No. 01 car leading 231 laps and the No. 02 entry 190 laps. The cars were strong from the start, but both encountered early issues. The No. 01 car needed a new gear cluster at the end of the first hour to prevent the engine from bouncing off of the rev limiter on the straights and a subsequent camber adjustment. The No. 02 entry suffered two flat tires in the first hour and then two broken front splitters. Once the team resolved those issues, the cars ran trouble-free to the finish.
With about three hours to go, it looked like the No. 02 car might be in position to win after race officials assessed Hand a 30-second, stop-and-go penalty for hitting a tire during a pit stop. The penalty dropped Hand to fourth, 52 seconds behind Dixon. By the end of his stint behind the wheel, Hand had worked his way up to second. "We go that penalty call and I was at ramming speed and was a little ticked-off with the call," said Hand. "I just tried to put my head down and get as much back as I could. I knew if I could get a lot of it back, that Scott was getting
