Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—one on Friday, August 31, and two on Saturday, September 1. The first session lasted 90 minutes, and the second for 55 minutes. The third and final session finished after 50 minutes.[8] Truex Jr. was quickest with a time of 29.932 seconds in the first session, less than one tenth of a second faster than Kyle Busch.[9] Stewart was just off Busch's pace, followed by Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, and Bowyer. Kenseth was seventh, still within four tenths of a second of Truex's time.[9]
Forty-seven cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure.[10] Stewart clinched the fourteenth pole position of his career,[11] with a time of 29.787 seconds.[12] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Biffle.[12] Kyle Busch qualified third, Kenseth took fourth, and Gordon started fifth.[12]Mark Martin, Hamlin, Johnson, Joey Logano and Marcos Ambrose rounded out the top ten. The four drivers that failed to qualify for the race were Michael McDowell, Josh Wise, Stephen Leicht and Mike Bliss.[12] Once the qualifying session concluded, Stewart stated, "That pole is 100 percent due to Ryan Newman. I'm not sure if we'd have run the line I'd planned on running we'd have been that fast. It's awesome having a teammate like that. I don't ever remember being here and seeing anybody run up at the top like he did."[11]
Denny Hamlin won the race after leading the most laps (105).
In the second practice session, Biffle was quickest with a time of 30.629 seconds.[13] Kenseth, with a time of 30.675, was second-quickest, ahead of Earnhardt Jr., Truex Jr., and Bowyer.[13] Gordon, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Johnson, and Keselowski completed the first ten positions.[13] Kenseth was scored quickest through the third practice session with a time of 30.653, 0.022 seconds faster than his fastest lap during the second session.[14] Gordon was second-quickest in the session, while Hamlin was scored third.[14] Kyle Busch followed in the fourth position ahead of Biffle, Keselowski and Stewart.[14] Truex Jr., Martin and Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the first ten positions in eighth, ninth and tenth, respectively.[14]
Race
The race, the 25th in the season, began at 7:30 p.m. EDT and was televised live in the United States on ESPN.[1] Hamlin won the race over second-placed Gordon after coming off of pit lane in the first position during the final caution for Jamie McMurray's crash on the front stretch.[15]
^Brown, Brian (August 28, 2012). "The AdvoCare 500". Rotoworld.com. NBC Sports. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
