Sunoco Rookie leader Sean Caisse swapped the lead with Moore for much of the race and finished third, while last year’s top rookie, Ryan Seaman, charged from tenth to fourth in the final ten laps. It was the first career top-five for both Caisse and Seaman. Yet another young gun, Tim Andrews, was fifth. Ted Christopher, Dale Quarterley, Matt Kobyluck, Mike Stefanik, and west coast invader Brett Thompson completed the top ten. Stefanik lost second place in the standings and now trails his teammate Santerre by 70 points.

Santerre’s chances appeared to be doomed when he was sent to the tail of the lead lap cars for breaking the pit lane speed limit on lap 88. But he charged back into the top ten by lap 102 and into the top five ten laps later. With 30 laps to go he was second but could make no impression on leader Moore. Santerre’s break came when Jerry Marquis tagged the second turn wall with 16 laps left, sliding down the back straight with flames licking from under the car. Marquis was uninjured, but a red flag was called for track cleanup. The double-file restart placed Santerre alongside Moore. The reigning champion seized the lead and held it by running a high line, despite Moore’s low-side charges which brought him alongside in the turns but cost him momentum coming off the corners. At the checkered flag, the margin was almost too close to call without video replay.