 Co-director of Raceway Windy City Ministries Glenn Spoolstra began the pre-race ceremonies by giving the invocation.Afterward, Jim Cornelison, the Chicago Blackhawks national anthem singer, performed the United States National Anthem while Duncan Keith gave the command to start engines.Jamie McMurray maintained the first position going through turns one and two, but Johnson, who had started second passed McMurray to lead the first lap.