The early part of the race was all about Denny Hamlin, who passed early leader Carl Edwards shortly before NASCAR's lap 40 ‘competition caution.' Hamlin continued to pace the field comfortably through the 100-lap mark, at which point the first of several rounds of green flag pitstops shuffled the order. As Hamlin waited longer than everyone else before pitting he initially ceded top spot back to Edwards although the second caution of the day on lap 120 gave everyone another chance to pit and it was Hamlin's crew who got their man out in front.
Hamlin led all the way through another round of green flag stops and it wasn't until the lap 220 mark that the handling on the #11 Chevrolet began to go away resulting in the first real battle of the lead seen so far. First a resurgent Ryan Newman and then the typically consistent Matt Kenseth passed Hamlin and a subsequent round of yellow flag pitstops relegated the erstwhile leader back to fifth.
As the race reached the lap 250 mark the first signs of patience amongst the drivers wearing thin began to surface as the number of ‘Darlington stripes' increased markedly. Kenseth assumed the lead thanks to a quick pitstop on lap 253 only to be hauled in by Newman before Hamlin once again took control on lap 289. However Hamlin soon found himself with a problem in the form of the lapped car of Juan Montoya, who was not keen on Hamlin passing which, in turn, allowed Jimmie Johnson to take the lead away with an audacious move on lap 300.
Johnson then threatened to run away with the race, leading with ease through what could have been the final round of stops on lap 333 only to lose the race when he, and several others Hamlin and Kenseth included, chose to make another stop for fresh tyres under the ninth caution of the day on lap 345. Johnson's decision to pit allowed Gordon to assume the lead and while the four-times champion had to endure one final restart when David Stremme's engine blew, he was never headed thereafter.
![Jeff Gordon - DuPont Chevrolet [pic credit: image.net]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/303466.jpg)
