2012 AAA Texas 500

Texas Motor Speedway, the race track where the race was held.

Texas Motor Speedway is one of ten intermediate tracks to hold NASCAR races; the others are Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.[5] The standard track at Texas Motor Speedway is a four-turn quad-oval track that is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long.[6] The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is five degrees. The back stretch, opposite of the front, also has a five degree banking.[6] The racetrack has seats for 191,122 spectators.[6]

Before the race, Jimmie Johnson led the Drivers' Championship with 2,291 points, and Brad Keselowski stood in second with 2,289 points.[7] Clint Bowyer followed in third with 2,265 points, three points ahead of Kasey Kahne and twenty-three ahead of Denny Hamlin in fourth and fifth.[7] Jeff Gordon with 2,237 was nine points ahead of Martin Truex, Jr., as Matt Kenseth with 2,226 points, was four points ahead of Greg Biffle and six ahead of Tony Stewart.[7] Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was eleventh and twelfth with 2,203 and 2,151 points, respectively.[7]

In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 222 points, twenty-five points ahead of Toyota.[8] Ford, with 164 points, was twenty-one points ahead of Dodge in the battle for third.[8] Stewart is the defending race winner after winning the event in 2011.[9]

Jimmie Johnson won the pole position, his fourth of the 2012 season.

Three practice sessions are scheduled to be held before the race; the first on Friday, which lasted 90 minutes. The second and third are both scheduled on Saturday afternoon with the first being 50 minutes long, while the second is scheduled for 60.[10] Truex, Jr. was quickest with a time of 28.310 seconds in the first session, 0.044 seconds faster than Mark Martin.[11] Keselowski was just off Martin's pace, followed by Bowyer, Stewart, and Aric Almirola. Kenseth was seventh, still within a half of a second of Truex's time.[11]

Forty-six cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure.[12] Johnson clinched the twenty-ninth pole position of his career and fourth of the season, with a time of 28.261 seconds.[3][13] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Biffle.[13] Kyle Busch qualified third, Bowyer took fourth, and Truex, Jr. started fifth.[13] Joey Logano, Trevor Bayne, Keselowski, Carl Edwards and Kenseth rounded out the top ten[13] The three drivers that failed to qualify for the race were Stephen Leicht, Kelly Bires, and David Stremme.[13]

In the second practice session, Keselowski was fastest with a time of 28.888 seconds, one-hundredth of a second quicker than second-placed Johnson.[14] Hamlin took third place, ahead of Biffle, Edwards and Bowyer.[14] Kyle Busch only managed seventh place, while Stewart was only quick enough for eighth position.[14] In the third and final practice, Keselowski remained quickest with a time of 29.300 seconds.[15] Bowyer followed in second, ahead of Kenseth and Johnson.[15] Edwards was fifth quickest, with a time of 29.375 seconds.[15] Hamlin, Sam Hornish, Jr., Kyle Busch, A. J. Allmendinger, and Earnhardt, Jr. rounded out the first ten positions.[15]