2011 Toyota/Save Mart 350

Prior to the race, Carl Edwards led the Drivers' Championship with 532 points, and Kevin Harvick stood in second with 512 points. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was third in the Drivers' Championship with 505 points in a Chevrolet, Kyle Busch was fourth with 503 points, and Jimmie Johnson was in fifth also with 503 points.[3] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 102 points, 13 points ahead of Ford. Toyota, with 81 points, was 23 ahead of Dodge in the battle for third.[4]

Infineon Raceway is one of two road courses to hold NASCAR races, the other being Watkins Glen International. The standard road course at Infineon Raceway is a 12-turn course that is 2.52 miles (4.06 km) long;[5] the track was modified in 1998, adding the Chute, which bypassed turns 5 and 6, shortening the course to 1.95 miles (3.14 km).[5] The Chute was only used for NASCAR events such as this race, and was criticized by many drivers, who preferred the full layout.[6] In 2001, it was replaced with a 70-degree turn, 4A, bringing the track to its current dimensions of 1.99 miles (3.20 km).[7]

Joey Logano became the youngest pole sitter in a Cup Series road course race.

Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—one on Friday, and two on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes. The Saturday afternoon session lasted 45 minutes, and the evening session lasted 75 minutes.[8] In the first practice session, Kurt Busch was the quickest, leading Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex, Jr., who were in second, third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.[9] During qualifying, forty-four cars were entered, but only forty-three were able to race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure.[10] Joey Logano clinched his second career pole position, with a time of 1:16.82.[11] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Jamie McMurray.[11] Paul Menard qualified third, Hamlin took fourth, and Ryan Newman started fifth.[11] The driver that failed to qualify was Tony Ave.[11]

In the second practice session, McMurray was the fastest with a fastest lap time of 1:17.62, less than two-tenths of a second quicker than second-placed Kurt Busch.[12] Clint Bowyer took third place, ahead of fourth-placed Kyle Busch and A. J. Allmendinger.[12] The Saturday evening session was held around the same time of day the race would start.[13] Brad Keselowski was the quickest, posting a time of 1:18.10, narrowly faster than both McMurray in second and Kurt Busch in third.[13] Juan Pablo Montoya and Bowyer, rounded out the top five positions.[13]